[Athen] [EXTERNAL] - Accessible PDFs without Acrobat

[foreigntype at gmail.com]

Thanks for a good, detailed and honest response Bevi.

Wink

On Mon, Dec 7, 2020 at 5:03 PM <chagnon at pubcom.com> wrote:


> Andrea D. asked:

>

> “Are there any good tools to use if you’re forced to start with a PDF

> file?”

>

>

>

> Note: this is a long, detailed answer.

>

> Sure, but it’s going to depend on:

>

>    1. How complex the document is,

>    2. Whether it was created in InDesign, Word, or PowerPoint … or

>    something else. Reading orders get botched up with documents from InDesign

>    and PowerPoint, unless the creator has had specific training in how to make

>    them accessible. And those from non-Adobe/non-Microsoft programs just don’t

>    get accessibility at all and are a ripping mess to correct.

>    3. And whether it has maths and STEM in it.

>

> Therefore, there is no magic wand that will fix all your files with one

> magic keystroke.

>

> Today, anyone using MS Word should be able to generate a simple accessible

> Word document and matching accessible PDF without any extra effort, other

> than using a good accessible Word template and having a 2-3 hour training

> session in how to do it. It’s not rocket science!

>

> Stop the hemorrhaging of your institution’s funds!  Get your staff trained

> immediately and reduce the drain of money and time. Remediate the original

> source file when you can, and especially if it will be re-used later for

> another document. Invest your time wisely for maximum benefit.

>

> OK, *so when you can’t remediate the source file and it’s a doozie of a

> PDF*, some of the tools we find helpful are:

>

>    - Acrobat’s built-in remediation tools, like AutoTag and Preflight.

>    And you need training in how to use them.

>    - CommonLook PDF, is especially good with correcting tables. And you

>    need training in how to use it.

>    - AxesPDF Quick Fix is meh, IMHO. And you need training in how to use

>    it.

>    - Outside remediation cloud-based technologies. Today, vendors are

>    crawling out of the woodwork claiming that their A I (artificial

>    intelligence) will magically create accessible PDFs in seconds and cost you

>    pennies. Artificial Intelligence is not yet very intelligent, especially

>    for those problematic documents. We still need humans to determine what’s

>    in a PDF, how it should be tagged and presented, and what a logical reading

>    is for that document. My firm recommends only a handful of companies to our

>    clients, and if you’re interested, contact me off list for our

>    recommendations. I’m not here in Athen to promote one over the other.

>

> Bottom line: start fixing the problem rather than buying expensive band

> aids. Otherwise you’ll eventually run out of money.

>

>

>

> *— — —*

>

> Bevi Chagnon  *| *Designer, Accessibility Technician* |*

> Chagnon at PubCom.com

>

> *— — —*

>

> *PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing*

>

> consulting • training • development • design • sec. 508 services

>

> *Upcoming classes* at www.PubCom.com/*classes*

> <http://www.pubcom.com/classes>

>

> *— — —*

>

> Latest blog-newsletter

> <https://mailchi.mp/e694edcdfadd/class-discount-3266574> – *Simple Guide

> to Writing Alt-Text

> <https://www.pubcom.com/blog/2020_07-20/alt-text_part-1.shtml>*

>

>

>

> *From:* Andrea L. Dietrich <adietrich at cornell.edu>

> *Sent:* Monday, December 7, 2020 4:25 PM

> *To:* chagnon at pubcom.com; Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* RE: [Athen] [EXTERNAL] - Accessible PDFs without Acrobat

>

>

>

> Using Microsoft’s built-in tools is great if you’re starting from scratch

> building the document. But often we work on remediating preexisting PDF

> files (I work a lot with document conversion for students, and we get

> publisher PDFs.) Are there any good tools to use if you’re forced to start

> with a PDF file? Or is it better to convert the PDF to Word, fix up the

> order and such, and then turn that into a PDF?

>

>

>

> -Andi :)

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *chagnon at pubcom.com

> *Sent:* Monday, December 7, 2020 3:03 PM

> *To:* 'Access Technology Higher Education Network' <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [EXTERNAL] - Accessible PDFs without Acrobat

>

>

>

> We find that Microsoft’s built-in PDF export utility (in Office 365) does

> a much better job, comparable to Acrobat’s PDF Maker plug-in which comes

> with Acrobat Pro.

>

> In most cases, MS’s matches Acrobat’s conversion. And it’s free.

>

>

>

> But your IT department will have to make sure they keep MS Office up to

> date: earlier versions of their PDF export utility were awful.

>

>

>

> Another alternative is FoxIt’s PDF plugin, but given that FoxIt makes the

> one built into Microsoft Office, why would you pay for what’s essentially

> the same product?

>

>

>

> Question: wouldn’t it make more sense (and cents!) to train your faculty

> and staff in how to make accessible documents? Doing the job right from the

> start is always more cost effective than remediating everything after it’s

> made.

>

>

>

> It’s a teach-a-person-to-fish strategy.

>

>

>

> *— — —*

>

> Bevi Chagnon  *| *Designer, Accessibility Technician* |*

> Chagnon at PubCom.com

>

> *— — —*

>

> *PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing*

>

> consulting • training • development • design • sec. 508 services

>

> *Upcoming classes* at www.PubCom.com/*classes*

> <http://www.pubcom.com/classes>

>

> *— — —*

>

> Latest blog-newsletter

> <https://mailchi.mp/e694edcdfadd/class-discount-3266574> – *Simple Guide

> to Writing Alt-Text

> <https://www.pubcom.com/blog/2020_07-20/alt-text_part-1.shtml>*

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *Greenfield, Mark

> *Sent:* Monday, December 7, 2020 11:39 AM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [EXTERNAL] - Accessible PDFs without Acrobat

>

>

>

> We are exploring the use of AxesPDF (https://www.axes4.com/).  It doesn’t

> require Acrobat Pro, and in my experience is easier to use than Acrobat

> Pro.   Remediating PDFs has been an ongoing challenge for us because we

> don’t have a campus-wide license for Acrobat Pro and most faculty don’t

> have it.

>

>

>

> Mark

>

>

>

> Mark A. Greenfield

> Web Accessibility Officer

>

> Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

> 406 Capen Hall

> State University of New York at Buffalo

> Buffalo, N.Y.  14260

>

>

>

> telephone: (716)645-2811

> e-mail: markgr at buffalo.edu

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> *From: *athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> on

> behalf of "Hayman, Douglass" <dhayman at olympic.edu>

> *Reply-To: *Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Date: *Monday, December 7, 2020 at 11:12 AM

> *To: *Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject: *Re: [Athen] [EXTERNAL] - Accessible PDFs without Acrobat

>

>

>

> Rachel,

>

>

>

> My institution provided me with a laptop to work from home which has both

> Microsoft Office and also Acrobat Pro to let me work on remediation of

> documents.  Are your remote staff having to use their own computers?

>

>

>

> Doug Hayman

>

> IT Accessibility Coordinator

>

> Information Technology

>

> Olympic College

>

> dhayman at olympic.edu

>

> (360) 475-7632 (currently working remotely and don’t have access to this

> phone)

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *Rachel Ford

> *Sent:* Monday, December 7, 2020 7:56 AM

> *To:* athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> *Subject:* [EXTERNAL] - [Athen] Accessible PDFs without Acrobat

>

>

>

> CAUTION: This email came from a non-OC system or external source. Beware

> of phishing and social engineering!

>

>

>

> Hello All,

>

>

>

> With our faculty working from home, I’ve run into an issue where some

> faculty don’t have access to Acrobat Pro to create accessible PDFs. Does

> anyone have a good alternative to Acrobat or just generally using PDFs? Any

> suggestions would be really helpful.

>

>

>

> Thank you,

>

>

>

> Rachel Ford

>

> Web Accessibility Manager

>

> Henry Ford College

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

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

>

-- 
Wink Harner Assistive Technology Consulting and Training Alternative Text
Production Portland OR. foreigntype at gmail.com 480-984-0034
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20201207/822835b8/attachment.html>