>In researching PDF conversion, Omnipage 11 did come up as a possibility
>for conversion of image pdf to text and audio
>output.  Canada's  Accessibility organization gave it good reviews as well
>as an OCR expert.


>We choose to try Kurzweil 1000 due to the flexibility in licensing and a
>few other issues. Testing Omnipage 11 along side Kurzweil 1000 is
>something we may still be considering.  IF we have the resources this
>avenue may be pursued.


>  I would be interested in any one's comments who are using Omnipage 11
> for the purpose of imaged based PDF conversions to OCR.-success or lack of.


Kathy Konicek


>Hi Axel,
>
>Yep to your first question. This is how it works:
>
>1. We open the E-Reserve PDF reading in Acrobat reader and check the
>quality and the formating.
>
>2. Save the Pdf file to the hard disk.
>
>3. Open Omnipage 11 and set it to load file (as opposed to scan) - set
>the formating to columns tables etc - and point it to the pdf file and
>it OCRs page by page the images.
>
>4. Once the text has been extracted it can be read at a basic level
>using the speech output built into omnipage 11 (very basic though) or be
>saved as a WORDPAD RTF file for export to other programs like k3000 or
>JAWS etc.
>
>This method seems to work well but is obviously not as good as being
>able to extract text from within a program like K1000. I have been
>assure by staf at Kurzweil that the K3000 will have this PDF facility
>soon.
>
>Hope this helps.
>
>Trevor
>
>Trevor Wilks - Manager
>Adaptive Technology Centre
>Student Support Services
>Student, Alumni and Community Services
>University Services
>Auchmuty Library
>University of Newcastle
>University Drive Callaghan
>NSW 2308 Australia
>Ph-02 49218684
>Mobile-0418 753739
>Fax-02 49217410
>Email- [log in to unmask]
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 04/17/02 09:22am >>>
>Hi Trevor,
>
>I'm, once again, a bit puzzled, and I would like to ask you for some
>clarification: What exactly did you mean by "Omnipage 11 ... will OCR an
>image only PDF file."
>
>1. Can Omnipage access an image-only PDF file directly--without any
>intermediate steps involving a printer and scanner?
>
>2. Or is Omnipage's access to image-only PDF files more indirect: first
>print it and then OCR the print-out it as it is being scanned?
>
>3. Or is there a third meaning to what you said?
>
>The reason I'm asking is the response I got from a colleague to whom I
>forwarded your contribution:
>
>She and her colleagues had looked closely at both Omnipage and Kurzweil
>1000 and found that Omnipage is *not* similar to Kurzweil 1000 in the
>way they are using it: They use Kurzweil 1000 without any scanner; they
>have Kurzweil 1000 take an electronic image-only PDF file, OCR it and
>audio-output the text. In my colleague's view, you can't do this with
>Omnipage (not without a scanner).
>
>I look forward to your clarification.
>
>Axel
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Trevor Wilks [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 12:50 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Docutek's electronic reserve product (ERes)--update
>
>Hi Axel,
>
>Our E-reserve just uses PDF format. Last year this was really
>problematic and we had to test the Acrobat 5.0 OCR plug-in (Paper
>Capture 3.0) which was a unsuitable both to students and Library staff.
>
>This year we purchased Omnipage 11 which will OCR an image only PDF file
>and we teach students to do this themselves. Its not always very
>accurate depending on the quality of the original scanned material but
>it seems to be working quite well.
>
>Trevor
>
>Trevor Wilks - Manager
>Adaptive Technology Centre
>Student Support Services
>Student, Alumni and Community Services
>University Services
>Auchmuty Library
>University of Newcastle
>University Drive Callaghan
>NSW 2308 Australia
>Ph-02 49218684
>Mobile-0418 753739
>Fax-02 49217410
>Email- [log in to unmask]
>
>Trevor Wilks - Manager
>Adaptive Technology Centre
>Student Support Services
>Student, Alumni and Community Services
>University Services
>Auchmuty Library
>University of Newcastle
>University Drive Callaghan
>NSW 2308 Australia
>Ph-02 49218684
>Mobile-0418 753739
>Fax-02 49217410
>Email- [log in to unmask]
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 04/13/02 08:38am >>>
>Hi there,
>
>Electronic library reserve systems continue to be a very problematic
>with regard to accessibility. When, last fall, I talked to a
>representative of Docutek, which I believe to be the leading company in
>this area, my assessment of the situation was that this company has so
>far not undertaken substantial efforts to make its products accessible.
>In response to my recent inquiry (a few days ago), the Docutek rep
>provided me with the attached document (a word doc containing a table).
>It appears that Docutek has undertaken major steps towards compliance
>with the Access Board standards with their e-reserve product (even
>though the company's web site continues to be utterly inaccessible).
>
>Have any of you any comments on the accessibility of Docutek's ERes
>product or of e-reserve systems in general?
>
>Greetings,
>
>Axel
>
>
>PS: In my response to the Docutek rep, I included the following points:
>
>1. Would you please let me know when your company will have completed
>the process of adding (meaningful) alt tags to non-text elements?
>
>2. 3. Unfortunately, your website itself is fraud with accessibility
>problems. Users with screen readers are likely to hear the following (or
>something similar to it):
>
>[INLINE] [LINK]
>    [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE]
>    [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE]
>    [INLINE] [INLINE]
>    [INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [LINK]
>[INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [INLINE]
>    [INLINE] [INLINE]
>    [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE]
>    [LINK]
>    [INLINE]
>    [LINK] [LINK]
>    [INLINE]
>    [INLINE]
>    [LINK]
>    Join the Docutek User Group! To join, simply send email to
>    [log in to unmask] with the word Subscribe in the subject line.
>      Copyright 2001-02: Docutek Information Systems, Inc.  All Rights
>    Reserved.  [LINK]
>
>May I point out that the accessibility of a company's web site is taken
>by me, and by many of my colleagues, as a first indication of how
>serious this company is about accessibility for all.
>
>3. I'm still concerned about the optional DocuFax module. Speaking as a
>librarian, and in general terms, any attempt to create a fully
>accessible information system needs to consider not only the
>accessibility of the web pages that lead up to the ultimately desired
>information resource but also the accessibility of the information
>resource itself. For e-reserves (and your product is no exception in
>this regard), this is a big problem. Solutions are not that easy to come
>by. (I don't think that fax-based systems could be part of the
>solution.) But one thing, I believe, is for sure: Especially in an
>environment that is more and more shaped by federal accessibility
>requirements under Section 508 (in addition to ADA), the companies that
>will develop a solution are going to have the edge over their
>competitors (unless they do not care about doing business with the
>feds).
>
>
>
>**********************************
>Axel Schmetzke, Ph.D.
>Associate Professor
>Library
>University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
>900 Reserve
>Stevens Point, WI 54481
>[log in to unmask]
>Tel: 715-346-4658