We've just begun a pilot program that will allow the submission of an
electronic thesis or dissertations.  This will REQUIRE the conversion of
the file of choice to PDF.  We are very early in the pilot and the team
understands my concerns about the files maybe not being accessible.  I've
gone to the Adobe site to  see what they are doing to help make PDFs
accessible and found this
"http//www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_booklet.html" How to Create
Accessible Adobe PDF Files.

Has anyone tried this?

Debbie





At 09:35 AM 3/3/2003 -0500, joe j lazzaro wrote:
>This is very misleading, and I doubt that this program can make "ALL" PDF
>files accessible.
>
>
>
>Joseph J. Lazzaro
>HTTP://JoeLazzaro.Com
>
>On Mon, 3 Mar 2003, MACMAHON, Tom wrote:
>
>> Please excuse a cross-posting, but I thought some list members might find
>> this info (posted to an Australian list today) of interest and I don't
>> recall reading  about this on the EASI list.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Tom.
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Sent: Monday, 3 March 2003 8:12
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [arata-ls] PDF files now accessible using text-to-speech software
>>
>>
>> Hi all
>>
>> Just thought you might like to know about a very clever little program
>> released last month from textHELP - called "PDFAloud".
>>
>> As many of you will be aware, PDF (or Portable Document Files) files are a
>> real problem for people with reading difficulties or mild visual
impairments
>> who rely on the computer to speak out text for them. It is difficult for
>> standard text-to-speech programs to read them aloud - because you can't
>> highlight the text within a PDF file. As a result, PDF files are
effectively
>> inaccessible to readers who rely on text-to-speech support for their
>> reading.
>> PDFAloud works as a simple add-in tool bar for Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat
>> Reader and reads any page instantly - with various buttons to activate
>> speech within the PDF document as and when required.
>>
>> I guess the most significant leap with this little program is that it is
the
>> only tool currently available to read PDF files with synchronised coloured
>> highlighting right there on screen within the original PDF document. This
>> obviously offers struggling students much more direct support with
>> comprehension of the text and relating it to the off-computer print copy of
>> the PDF documents. Prior to PDFAloud being available, PDF files had to be
>> converted and read as "text only files" - losing all of their graphics and
>> formatting and not always translating well for pages with complex
>> formatting.
>>
>> At this stage, the program is only available in Australia within textHELP!
>> Read & Write Version 6.0 or Gold ... but if you have these programs
>> installed already - you are able to download the program for free from the
>> textHELP website at http://www.texthelp.com/techdown.asp?section=support
>> <http://www.texthelp.com/techdown.asp?section=support>
>>
>> More info is available on the Spectronics website at
>> http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/library.asp?article=14343
>> <http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/library.asp?article=14343>  or email me off
>> the listserv and I am happy to answer any questions.
>>
>> Cheers
>>  ...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>