Hi David and all,

My concern here is that this press release will hoodwink folks into
thinking that this program will solve the problems with PDF. The only
answer to making PDF accessible is in Adobe's hands, and they've dropped
the ball on this for so long that they have very little credibility with
me. I seriously doubt that Adobe will make PDF accessible until a lawsuit
is filed!


Joseph J. Lazzaro
HTTP://JoeLazzaro.Com

On Mon, 3 Mar 2003, David Poehlman wrote:

> yeah, we should send him a pdf document with no text just images of text in
> it and see what happens.  I have little faith in ad-ins and plug ins except
> that the access plug in for 4.05 worked fairly well for what it did.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "joe j lazzaro" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 9:35 AM
> Subject: Re: FW: PDF files now accessible using text-to-speech software
>
>
> 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
> >  ...
> >
> >
> >
> >
>