First, thank you everyone for the enthusiastic responses to my question! I
really enjoy the online discussions by this listserv.    Furthermore, I am
happy if our search finds a bullet of a lesser metal! :>  Guess there are
not too many alternatives being offered to what I've suggested?: Omni page,
PDF2Text, Magellan.

On PDFs, I cannot turn back the clock for grand fathered corporate
documentation, so PDFs are our reality to deal with. Making as many, if not
all, online documents as accessible as possible is the goal. Modifying
policy to make PDF formatted documents an 'alternate' format and making
straight HTML format the primary offering could be a useful recommended
strategy.
Cheers.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Gardner [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: May 1, 2002 5:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: PDF (Was: Opera browser and screen readers)


I recommend reading a recent white paper on PDF by the American Foundation
for the Blind.  People looking for magic bullets that make PDF accessible
will learn that there aren't any magic bullets that will work all the time,
or even most of the time.
         http://www.afb.org/AboutPDF.asp

At 11:46 AM 5/1/02 -0400, Joe Lazzaro wrote:
>PDF files are barely accessible, and Adobe has been less than helpful
>about fixing bugs that stand in the way of accessibility. If you read the
>information about PDF accessibility from the Adobe site, you will get a
>false impression of just how accessible PDF really is. In summary, avoid
>PDF if you can. But if you must go PDF, look at the fac on www.webaim.org
>as it's fair and balanced.
>
>
>
>Joseph J. Lazzaro
>HTTP://JoeLazzaro.Com
>
>On Wed, 1 May 2002, C.L. Sanders wrote:
>
> > Hi There, I am very interested in any PDF to HTML or text converters,
which
> > produce a product well read by screen readers. Our web development team
is
> > looking for an answer.  Thus far I have found that Magellan is not
usable,
> > as it applies layering, the PDF2Text product seems alright, but needs
hands
> > on to complete conversions.  I will be looking at OmniPage, OCR, as
well.
> >
> > This is an excellent group to survey for acceptable products, for those
of
> > us in the web field.  I appreciate your feedback on what has worked for
you
> > when handling PDF formatted documents.
> >
> > Thank you
> >

John Gardner
Professor and Director, Science Access Project
Department of Physics
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-6507
tel: (541) 737 3278
FAX: (541) 737 1683
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://dots.physics.orst.edu