Alternate Media Workflow Strategies for PDF

Why PDF? Portable document format (PDF) Reads the same on any computer Looks like the book Contains all the text Smaller than TIFFs Easy for publishers

Types of PDF Documents Text-based – Text can be selected Graphical – Picture of text (i.e., a graphic) – Text cannot be selected Use text-select tool to tell the difference

PDFs and Publishers Fairly easy for publishers – Usually even small publishers can create a PDF Most accurate format Will be complete – But watch out for teacher’s editions Look for format choice on request forms

Requesting through ATPC Use the ATPC request form – In notes field at bottom, request PDF If additional processing is required, send syllabus! Please note: atpcnet.net is old URL; new URL is atpc.net

Security Issues PDF files can be locked in various ways Some files can be read but no text extracted Some files cannot be read Sometimes OmniPage and/or FineReader can OCR locked files Sometimes nothing can open the files

Different Acrobats Adobe Reader 8 – Free – Useful for students who need minimal accessibility features – Adobe Acrobat Professional 8 – $39 – Useful for alt media specialists – Extract text, create accessible PDFs, enabled Adobe Reader features

Access with Acrobat Reader Reads aloud – But does not highlight or track Enlarges text – Nice reflow feature Changes text/background colors Text highlighting, sticky notes, and comments Access text-based PDFs

Adobe Reader Reality Check As good as Kurzweil? – NO As good as PDF Aloud? – NO Appropriate as only assistive technology? – NO Nice as a free, widely available option? – YES

Process with Acrobat Pro Cropping Enlargement for printing Tiling Combining Some text extraction Works with text-based PDF

Processing Graphical PDFs Must use OCR program Use virtual printer with Kurzweil – Creates KESI files – Will not work with locked files Use OmniPage or FineReader – Sometimes work with locked files – OP handles tighter security than FineReader does – Nothing works on “armadillo wrappers”

OCR Programs Treat the same as a TIFF Load image file Zone Create templates

PDF Strengths Good format for large print – Cropping – Fit to page on large pages – Print sections on large pages (tiling) Adobe Reader has some nice features for free – Change colors – Reflow – Voicing Easy for most publishers to create

PDF Weaknesses Not always fully accessible – Screen readers do not always like them – Reading order can be problematic May be graphics May have too much security

Summary Source files vs. end-user files – Source files = for you to create alt media from – End-user files = alt media formats PDF – Consider PDFs as source files (files to process) that sometimes double as end- user files (for certain students with limited access issues)