>Adobe And TRACE Launch Enhanced PDF Access Via  Email
>--New service enables conversion via email attachments
>(http://access.adobe.com)
>
>Adobe Systems and the TRACE Research Center are happy to
>announce a new service to enhance the accessibility of PDF
>documents to visually impaired users.
>
>Ever since we launched our popular server-based
>accessibility solutions on http://access.adobe.com in
>March 1997, the single most oft voiced request has been the need
>to convert PDF documents on a local disk or CDROM to ASCII
>or HTML.  In response, we have set up a a conversion service
>hosted by the TRACE Research Center (http://trace.wisc.edu).
>
>You can send PDF documents as email attachments to:
>
>    [log in to unmask] -- for plain text
>    [log in to unmask] --  for HTML
>
>and receive the result of the conversion in the reply.
>
>Adobe would like to thank Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden and the
>TRACE Research Center for helping us host this service.
>
>Attached is a summary of accessibility services provided by
>Adobe.  Our WWW site (http://access.adobe.com) has been
>revised in conjunction with the launch of this new service;
>please take a momement to visit us and refresh your
>bookmarks.
>
>
>--Raman (and the access.adobe.com team)
>
>
>                         ----------------------------
>Welcome To Access At Adobe!
>                         ----------------------------
>
>Please visit http://access.adobe.com
>
>This page is your launching point for learning more about
>universal access to Adobe products.  The primary focus at present
>is enhancing the accessibility of PDF.
>
>  Portable Document Format (PDF) is a platform-independent means
>  of exchanging visually rich documents.  PDF is fast becoming a
>  pervasive means of communicating richly formatted information
>  on electronic networks including the Internet and its most
>  popular segment, the World Wide Web (WWW).  PDF documents are
>  rich in visual layout, and are popular among users capable of
>  appreciating the high-fidelity visual presentation.  However,
>  visually impaired users have found PDF documents hard to
>  access.  Conventional screen reading technologies ---software
>  that enables a visually impaired user listen to the contents of
>  a computer display--- prove ineffective when reading the rich
>  visual presentation.
>
>In the last two years, Adobe has been working on a
>  platform-independent solution aimed at enhancing the
>  accessibility of PDF to visually impaired users on diverse
>  computing platforms.  This new strategy relies on standard
>  WWW protocols and clients to bring PDF accessibility to
>  the standard HTML browser that users already use for
>  surfing the WWW.  We have implemented a PDF2HTML
>  translator that converts textual content from PDF
>  documents to HTML.  You can now use this conversion
>  technology to more readily access PDF documents using your
>  favorite WWW browser and screen access application.  1)
>  You can submit a URL to any PDF file you wish to read
>  using an interactive WWW form. The document will be
>  converted to HTML and presented in your WWW browser.
>
>2) You can mail a URL to a PDF document in the body of an email
>message to [log in to unmask] (for plain text) or to
>[log in to unmask] and have the convertor mail back the result of
>translating the PDF file.
>
>3) You can mail a URL to a PDF document or attach the PDF
>document itself as a MIME attachment in the body of an email
>message to [log in to unmask] (for plain text) or to
>[log in to unmask] and have the convertor mail back
>the result of translating the PDF file.
>
> For a detailed description of these accessibility services, read
>http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/access.html
>
>Note: All of these services are based on tools I developed for my
>own use at Adobe; I have been using these tools on a daily basis
>for over nine months now and find them indispensable for my work.
>I hope they are equally helpful to readers on this list.
>
>--Raman (and the access.adobe.com team)
>
>--
>Best Regards,
>--raman
>
>      Adobe Systems                 Tel: 1 (408) 536 3945   (W14-612)
>      Advanced Technology Group     Fax: 1 (408) 537 4042
>      (W14 129) 345 Park Avenue     Email: [log in to unmask]
>      San Jose , CA 95110 -2704     Email:  [log in to unmask]
>      http://labrador.corp.adobe.com/~raman/        (Adobe Intranet)
>      http://cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/raman.html    (Cornell)
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>    Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are my own and in no way should be
taken
>as representative of my employer, Adobe Systems Inc.
>____________________________________________________________
>
>