[Irl-dean] Accessibility of PDF Documents

[Gerry Ellis]

Hi,

I wrote a while back that I am in contact with Adobe in relation to the 
accessibility of their products including documents in PDF format.

Please find below some questions I asked and answers from their 
accessibility manager in the States (his answers are preceeded by the 
letters AWK).

I will meet him shortly when he is in Dublin. I would be interested in your 
comments on the answers below ASAP so that I can have further discussions 
with him before he arrives.

Thanks.



Take Care,

Gerry Ellis

Tel +353-(0)1 282-7791
Mob +353-(0)85 716-8665

If you don't know where you're going,
How will you know when you get there?


=======  Original Message  =======

1. We understand that the free Adobe Acrobat Reader deliberately slows down 
the opening of PDF documents as compared with the professional product. If a 
screen reader or other assistive technology is detected this slowing down 
should be skipped.

AWK: This is not true, totally opposite. Acrobat9 /Reader 9 even include 
something known as Delay Load Plugins so if a PDF document doesn't need a 
plug-in, like Forms, then the app launches much faster for everyone. There 
isn't a difference for AT users, except if the document isn't tagged, in 
which case there is a delay while Acrobat adds the tags.

2. Navigating around PDF documents is dreadfully poor as compared to doing 
so in a WORD or Text document or on a web site. For instance, when the user 
performs a search he/she cannot then return to the body of the document.

AWK: we'll need more info here, can you navigate a word document by 
headings? I'm not sure this is true about Search but also need more detail 
or a demo.

3. Access to Tables within PDF documents is particularly poor.

AWK: is this for tables that have been authored correctly also?

4. When reading documents that contain more than one column of information 
or which contain boxes within the main texxt, the text is jumbled when read 
using a screen reader.

AWK: sounds like poor authoring for the PDF in question. We can do a demo.

5. Exporting PDF documents to text does not help as the results are often 
the same as described in 4. above.

AWK: sounds like poor authoring - if the document is tagged well do you get 
the same result?

6. Using forms within PDF documents is particularly troublesome. This is 
greatly increased when the dynamic forms facility is used to increase the 
complexity of the forms.

AWK: we'll need more info here - the comment is a little too abstract.

7. Problems using Adobe PS and Flash were also reported and several aspects 
of these products are inaccessible. This includes an inability to access 
some buttons and to export the data to more accessible formats.

AWK: This is using the Flash authoring tool and Photoshop authoring tool?

8. Guidelines
There seems to be two distinct pieces of work being done on Guidelines:
a) EUAIN. (The Adaptive Content Network)
www.euain.org
This project has worked with CEN leading to a workshop on accessible 
documentation. Details can be found at:
<http://www.cen.eu/cenorm/businessdomains/businessdomains/isss/activity/ws-dpa.asp>

b) AIIM - The Enterprise Content Management Association
www.aiim.org
The Universal Accessibility Group of AIIM is working with the National 
Federation of the Blind and others in the U. S. to develop guidelines on 
making PDF documents accessible. See
http://www.aiim.org/standards/article.aspx?ID=27861

Are these two initiatives compatible? Are they working towards a common set 
of guidelines? What is being done to implement these guidelines? How can we 
as users know that a document is developed according to these guidelines?

AWK: I need to learn more about EUAIN to comment.will read up.

9. Interoperability
There is a great need to develop the ability to convert PDF and PS documents 
gracefully and without jumbling text into other formats including XML, 
DAISY, CHM, html and .BRF (Braille).

AWK: Will be interested in how you prioritize this list of formats.

10. Updating the Software
A box frequently appears asking if the software should be updated. This is 
just an annoyance. Also, the download is very large so is not suitable to be 
download by many people who can only afford relatively old computers and 
slow Internet access. There is a high unemployment rate amongst people with 
disabilities, thus they frequently do not have the disposable income to 
afford faster machines and Internet access.

AWK: A familiar comment - this doesn't impact AT users disproportionately, 
it is troublesome for many. You can uncheck "check for updates" in the 
preferences, but the updates are valuable when there are patches for 
security or other issues.