I know that there was a discussion on this PDF topic several weeks ago.
However, I wanted to provide some further information that I received today
from one of our project associates, Steven Mendelsohn. Steve specializes in
disability laws, policies, and regulations. He is an attorney who happens to
be blind. Also, Steve was the principal researcher and author for the latest
National Council on Disability's report: "The Accessible Future" at:
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/accessiblefuture.html

Excerpted from the Executive Summary:

"No one would dispute that people with disabilities have the same right and
need for information everyone else has. Paradoxically, at the very time when
many people comfortably assume that technology is steadily bringing people
with disabilities more opportunities for access than they have ever known
before, this same technology (coupled with the attitudes and expectations of
those who use it) may in many cases be reinforcing patterns of exclusion and
isolation.

This report looks at federal enforcement of key laws (i.e., the Americans
with Disabilities Act [ADA], Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of
1996, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended) and how such
enforcement relates to electronic and information technology. As used in
this report, E&IT particularly involves the Internet, the World Wide Web,
and select information/transaction machines."


Status of PDF Under Section 508 (from Steven Mendelsohn, Esq.)

In my view PDF if used by itself without providing an HTML or
other text version of a document or form is not sufficiently
accessible to meet the requirements of Section 508.  This is not
to say that PDF cannot or should not be used, only that it should
not be the sole available version of a document.

Many people have asked whether the accessibility enhancements
incorporated in Acrobat Reader 5 suffice to make PDF accessible.
The answer is somewhat, but not completely.  Based upon
information received from a number of sources the following
significant limitations exist.

1.  Files created in earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat may not be
readily convertible to accessible formats.

2.  Other features of the new PDF restrict the ability to copy
files even if they are converted.

3.  The reliable conversion of formatting and other nuances
(tables for example) is not certain.

_____________________________________
Carol Boyer
Project Associate
RESNA Technical Assistance Project
1700 N. Moore Street, Suite 1540
Arlington, VA 22209
703/524-6686, x- 309 (V)
703/524-6639 (TTY)
703/524-6630 (Fax)
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http://www.resna.org/taproject