Hi, All:

A colleague is attempting to persuade her employer not to use "PDF" files on
their website (see below).  I will forward any responses I receive on this
issue, and am particularly interested in those who have attempted to use the
plug-ins and other conversion approaches.

Thanks, Peter 



>
> Peter, have you had a chance to try out this new Adobe plug in that's
> supposed to solve the screen reader/PDF problem?  Is this a reasonable
> accommodation?  Does it work easily for you?  I'm trying to get my
> company to get rid of all the PDF files and they're throwing this
> solution at me.  Help!
>
> http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200004/20000418acr
> .html
> About Adobe Press Room Press Releases 
> Adobe Enhances Accessibility of Adobe Acrobat Software for the Disability
> Community 
> Adobe Works with Leading Screen Reader Vendors to Make Acrobat and Adobe PDF
> Documents More Accessible; Supports Microsoft Active Accessibility API 
>
> FOSE, WASHINGTON, DC., (April 18, 2000) Building on its efforts to deliver
> software solutions to the disability community, Adobe Systems Incorporated
> (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced plans to make Adobe® Acrobat® software more
> accessible with support from Microsoft Corporation, GW Micro and
> Henter-Joyce. As part of today’s news, Adobe also announced its intention to
> support the Microsoft® Active Accessibility (MSAA) Application Programming
> Interface (API) in future releases of Adobe Acrobat software for the Windows®
> platform. 
>
> By enhancing the accessibility of Adobe Acrobat software and the Adobe
> Portable Document Format (PDF), Adobe is enabling businesses and government
> agencies to easily distribute a wide range of web-based content such as
> forms, newsletters and other documents to the broadest number of users, even
> those with disabilities. The ability to access everything from IRS tax forms
> to consumer catalogs narrows the gap for members of the disability community
> to easily tap the wealth of information available on the Internet. 
>
> "Adobe’s support for accessibility in Acrobat software extends the value of
> Adobe PDF as a web standard for electronic documents and opens up the vast
> amounts of information available in Adobe PDF to a much larger audience,"
> said Sarah Rosenbaum, group product manager at Adobe. "Now users with
> disabilities can more easily use the Internet to collaborate and exchange
> information critical to their work and everyday lives." 
>
> Microsoft Active Accessibility is an API that allows programs to expose
> information about their content and user interface to assistive technologies.
> Through support of MSAA and relationships with the assistive technology
> vendors such as GW Micro and Henter-Joyce, Adobe will enable users with
> disabilities to not only more easily use Adobe Acrobat software, but to
> easily access documents in PDF. 
>
> "It is great news for the disability community when popular mainstream
> programs like Adobe Acrobat become more accessible," said Gary Moulton, group
> product manager for the Accessibility and Disabilities Group at Microsoft.
> "By taking advantage of MSAA, Adobe has made it much easier for individuals
> with disabilities to tap into the full benefits of the Windows platform." 
>
> Technology Demonstration at FOSE
> Adobe will be demonstrating Adobe Acrobat software working with GW Micro’s
> Window-Eyes screen reader at the Adobe booth #1550 at FOSE this week in
> Washington, DC. For this technology demonstration Adobe Acrobat software
> developers utilized the MSAA API to make Adobe Acrobat and PDF files
> accessible via the Window-Eyes screen reader. The demonstration illustrates
> how blind or vision-impaired people can use Adobe Acrobat in a Windows
> environment. 
>
> Current Adobe Solutions for the Disability Community
> Since 1997, Adobe has offered web-based services at http://access.adobe.com
> that enable sight-impaired users to convert Adobe PDF files into formats,
> including HTML and plain text, that screen readers can understand. Adobe has
> also developed a plug-in for Acrobat for Windows that provides similar
> functionality on a user’s local system. 
>
> About Adobe Systems Incorporated 
>
> Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems Incorporated (www.adobe.com) builds
> award-winning software solutions for Web and print publishing. Its graphic
> design, imaging, dynamic media, and authoring tools enable customers to
> create, publish and deliver visually rich content for various types of media.
> Headquartered in San Jose, California, Adobe is the fourth largest U.S.-based
> personal software company, with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. 
>
> This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
> uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors
> that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
> limited to, delays in shipment of the Company’s new products and major new
> versions of existing products; lack of market acceptance of new products,
> introduction of new products by major competitors, and dependence on third
> parties. For further discussion of the risks and uncertainties, readers
> should refer to the Company’s SEC filings including the 1998 annual report on
> Form 10K and the quarterly reports on Form 10Q available at
> http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/main.html. 
>
> ### 
>
> © 2000 All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo and Acrobat are either
> registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the
> United States and/or other countries. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of
> Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their
> respective owners.
> Copyright ©2000 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
> Terms of Use
> Online Privacy Policy


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