Here, here! Well said. Denis Anson Steuerwalt, Jon C. wrote: >Hi Kathy and Richard and other interested listers. > >In Maine state government we have a web accessibility policy that >requires that an accessible alternative - either ASCII text or HTML text - >be >posted along with each posting in PDF format. > >Personally, I believe it's a massive waste of resources to spend time trying >to make PDF files accessible - both on the part of the document's author as >well as on the collective part of all the individuals who use screen readers >who must first locate the correct version of Acrobat Reader, download it, >install it, and learn how to operate it. After all that effort and the use >of valuable bandwidth and time to download the bloated PDF version of a >document that they want to access, screen reader users often cannot access >the document anyway. >And there is no "access" version of Acrobat Reader for Macintosh computers >or for several other operating systems. > >I think authors and/or webmasters would better serve their readers if they >spent the time and energy they would otherwise use learning how to make >"accessible" PDF and instead learned how to make accessible HTML. It is, >after >all, the web page authoring language and it works well for that purpose. >PDF is a good tool for creating a hard copy that appears the same regardless >of what operating system you have on your computer, but forcing it to render >easily accessible contents to screen readers is a waste of everyone's time >and effort. After all, it's the information that needs to be accessible, >not the PDF. Jon > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Richard Jones [mailto:[log in to unmask]] >Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 3:12 PM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Creating accessible PDFs > > >The PDF file is more restrictive in terms of accessibility than HTML. The >newer versions of Acrobat doesn't change that. There is a perceived freedom >from Web standards when proprietary documents are attached to a web site. >HTML files should be accessible according to W3C, Priority One or Sec. 508, >depending on the state and the agency. When using PDF, you are dependent on >the version of Adobe Acrobat that created the file, the expertise of the PDF >author, and the type of material being inserted into the PDF file. The >structure of Adobe Acrobat and the Adobe marketing is completely against the >effort used to make some Acrobat files accessible. Acrobat is still a >proprietary system. If you use PDF based documents, you should also have, >on the same page, an HTML document. >You might want to look at the Adobe Acrobat web site. >http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html Acrobat Accessibility is in >the smallest type used on the page and id inserted between "Language >Versions" and "Licensing Programs." This is much better than it used to be >when there was nothing on the Adobe pages about accessibility. They kept an >unpublished web site for accessibility. Now you can get, with some effort, >to information on the work necessary to make a PDF file accessible. >Accessibility is not a major selling point for Adobe Acrobat and they have >provided obtuse and constrained software tools that match their dedication >to accessibility. >It is doubling the effort of web masters to make a PDF file accessible. It >is better to slam up a dirty PDF and add a link to an accessible HTML file. > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Kathleen Cahill [mailto:[log in to unmask]] >Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 8:50 AM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Creating accessible PDFs > > >Hello everyone; >I'm wondering what some of you are telling your web developers regarding >PDFs these days. We have a number of departments who put up course >information in PDF; however, the information in the PDF also contains >diagrams, charts and math notation. Even if we recommended that these >documents were put up in HTML format, there would still be accessibility >issues around making the non-textual elements accessible. Are any of you >recommending that PDFs be converted into accessible versions? How well is >it working? Are people able to follow the instructions from Adobe >regarding the creation of accessible PDFs? >Many thanks, >Kathy >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >Kathy Cahill >MIT Adaptive Technology (ATIC) lab >77 Mass. Ave. 7-143 >Cambridge MA 02139 >(617) 253-5111 >[log in to unmask] > -------------------- Denis Anson, MS, OTR Assistant Professor College Misericordia 301 Lake St. Dallas, PA 18612 Phone: 570-674-6413