[Athen] Creating Accessible PDF Forms in Word

[chagnon at pubcom.com]

Abbyy FineReader has many of the same features that are in Acrobat Pro:

—OCR of scanned images and text.

—Edit PDFs.

—Convert PDFs to other file formats, such as Word.

—Commenting and review tasks.

 

It has nothing in common with Adobe InDesign, which is a graphic design page layout program. InDesign is used to create visually rich documents such as books, newspapers, magazines, brochures, catalogs, billboards, business cards, and just about every other type of document on the planet. 

 

It is used to create the source document from which PDFs are exported. It does not have any OCR capabilities whatsoever, nor capabilities to edit or modify PDFs.

 

InDesign is also used to create PDFs for press and print, which are a different type of PDF than those we read on a computer screen. These press-quality PDFs are made to the exacting technical requirements of the printing industry and have no accessibility.

 

InDesign can also create accessible PDFs, as well as accessible EPUBs.

 

And as Karen McCall stated earlier, it definitely is not an accessible application itself.

 

—Bevi Chagnon

 

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Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO  |   <mailto:Bevi at PubCom.com> Bevi at PubCom.com 

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Upcoming classes at  <http://www.pubcom.com/classes> www.PubCom.com/classes 

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From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Robert Spangler
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:41 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Creating Accessible PDF Forms in Word

 

My understanding is that Abbyy Finereader is a competing product to Adobe Pro/InDesign.  Can one not create a form from a scanned image using Adobe?

 

 

On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 5:59 PM Karlen Communications <info at karlencommunications.com <mailto:info at karlencommunications.com> > wrote:

You would use ABBYY FineReader if you are starting the form from a scanned image.

 

Bevi is correct about current versions of InDesign as a tool for accessible forms, however, desktop publishing authoring tools aren't accessible either. You are working with frames, threading frames so that content flows and AT doesn't support the content in the frames or the placement and sizing of frames.

 

Cheers, Karen

Sent from my iPad


On Sep 17, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Robert Spangler <rspangler1 at udayton.edu <mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu> > wrote:

OK so you're saying that one would have to do this directly using Adobe Acrobat Pro or Abbyy FineReader?

I am assuming that this process would not be accessible since it involves editing a PDF.

 

 

On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 5:09 PM Karlen Communications <info at karlencommunications.com <mailto:info at karlencommunications.com> > wrote:

As far as I know, you have to add the form controls in the PDF document. Neither the old ActiveX or the newer Content Controls are converted as form controls in a PDF document.

 

Cheers, Karen

Sent from my iPad


On Sep 17, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Robert Spangler <rspangler1 at udayton.edu <mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu> > wrote:

Hello:

 

I am able to create forms with fields and other controls by using the developer tab, which I had to enable in Word options.  I am able to create these forms then use the restrict editing feature to make them fillable only.  When I go to save as PDF, however, the fields are not retained.  Is it possible to create fillable PDF forms in Word and, if so, could someone please explain?  I understand that Adobe Pro could also be used to do this but if we can do it from Word this would be better.  Thanks!


 

-- 

Robert Spangler
Disability Services Technical Support Specialist
rspangler1 at udayton.edu <mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu> 
Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023
Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)
University of Dayton  | 300 College Park  |  Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302 
Phone: 937-229-2066

Fax: 937-229-3270

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Web Site: http://go.udayton.edu/learning

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-- 

Robert Spangler
Disability Services Technical Support Specialist
rspangler1 at udayton.edu <mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu> 
Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023
Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)
University of Dayton  | 300 College Park  |  Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302 
Phone: 937-229-2066

Fax: 937-229-3270

Ohio Relay: 711 (available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing)

Web Site: http://go.udayton.edu/learning

_______________________________________________
athen-list mailing list
athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu <mailto:athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu> 
http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

_______________________________________________
athen-list mailing list
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http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list




 

-- 

Robert Spangler
Disability Services Technical Support Specialist
rspangler1 at udayton.edu <mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu> 
Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023
Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)
University of Dayton  | 300 College Park  |  Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302 
Phone: 937-229-2066

Fax: 937-229-3270

Ohio Relay: 711 (available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing)

Web Site: http://go.udayton.edu/learning

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