[Athen] Making accessible info with InDesign?

[Philip Kiff]

On the topic of the history of InDesign and accessibility, it may be 
interesting to point here out that I actually started using InDesign 
specifically because unlike QuarkXpress (its primary competitor in 
professional-level desktop publishing at the time), InDesign could 
actually generate a tagged PDF! I think I was comparing InDesign CS3 to 
QuarkXpress 7 or something?

Back in the mid-2000's, I was evaluating whether to migrate a non-profit 
research institute over to using InDesign for their posters and 
newsletters and other print materials. QuarkXpress was the clear market 
leader, and the preferred software of professionals at the time, but 
when I reached out to QuarkXpress on their discussion forums and 
directly via email about accessible PDFs, no one even bothered to 
respond. Nothing. Just crickets....(later) Hah, I found the discussion 
thread, check it out:
Quark to PDf accessibility:
https://forums.quark.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16806

While Adobe InDesign at this same time not only included the ability to 
associate tags with text objects, and to properly control reading order 
of a PDF generated from an InDesign layout, but they actually included 
an entire accessibility section in their online materials. So, funnily 
enough, in my case, it was precisely Adobe's focus and attention to 
accessibility that actually drove me to use InDesign in the first place.

Phil.

Philip Kiff
D4K Communications


On 2021-05-10 19:03, John Gardner wrote:

>

> Hi, I do appreciate the comments and advice from all of you on 

> InDesign. Susan Kilmer’s comments on origin/development explain why 

> the problem exists. As a businessman I well understand about 

> investment and economic incentive. However, as a blind person I am not 

> so willing to forgive Adobe for what is such a difficult application 

> to use accessibly. I know InDesign is a complex application designed 

> for making pretty paper copy. But it will not sell today unless it can 

> produce on-line content too, and if it had been created with 

> accessibility in mind, a user would not need so much training on how 

> to make things accessible. Depending on the user, she may need 

> training on using InDesign, but then the accessibility should come 

> moreor less automatically. It does not, and the fact that we 

> understand why it is inaccessible is, in the end, just an excuse.

>

> John

>

> ue on” job of an older inaccessible app and there is no economic 

> incentive for Adobe to do a re-design, then I can understand why we 

> are stuck with it. And will be forever unless an economic 

> justification comes over the horizon.

>

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

> Behalf Of *chagnon at pubcom.com

> *Sent:* Monday, May 10, 2021 2:17 PM

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

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

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Making accessible info with InDesign?

>

> Susan K’s comments below about Adobe InDesign are correct.

>

> And I’ll add one more factor:

>

> Yes, you can make a nearly fully accessible PDF from an InDesign 

> layout…If you have training in both accessibility concepts and how to 

> use InDesign’s advanced tools.

>

> InDesign is not a word processing program like Word and Google Docs. 

> It’s used to create documents that are much more complex than word 

> processing, and it’s also a professional typesetting and graphics 

> design layout tool. Given that, it’s not the type of tool you can just 

> pick up and learn on your own. You must be trained in how to use InDesign.

>

> And if you want to make accessible PDFs from InDesign, you’ll need 

> advanced training in that process.

>

> Just like when you want to make accessible PDFs from Word or 

> PowerPoint, you’ll need advanced training.

>

> There are no “easy buttons” for accessibility in any software program. 

> The industry is decades away from having automatically building 

> accessibility into the files we create.

>

> Places to learn accessibility with Adobe InDesign:

>

> ·My classes, of courses and books! (shameless PR) 

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

>

> ·My conference sessions at AHG and other industry conferences 

> https://accessinghigherground.org/ <https://accessinghigherground.org/>

>

> ·Creative Pro conference next week (I’m hosting one session there, and 

> my colleagues are hosting others) https://creativeproweek.com/ 

> <https://creativeproweek.com/>

>

> There are extremely few online video training courses I recommend 

> because nearly all of the ones I’ve reviewed have either inaccurate 

> information, insufficient information, or really don’t understand what 

> an accessible PDF requires. I have a lot of people in my classes who 

> learned elsewhere, and then had to be retrained in the correct methods.

>

> *RE: Adobe’s commitment put into perspective …*

>

> I’ve been connected to Adobe since John Warnock developed scalable 

> PostScript fonts in 1985. Never a paid employee, but I am an unpaid 

> beta tester, unpaid advisor, and unpaid ACP (Adobe Community 

> Professional) in Adobe’s online forums. I’ve also been in similar 

> positions with Microsoft and over 100 other software development 

> companies.

>

> Although far from perfect, Adobe does have a solid commitment to 

> accessibility. I just spent a couple of days in the ISO standards 

> committees for PDFs with Adobe’s engineers and a few dozen other 

> software engineers from around the world. You might not see that 

> commitment, but I do, first hand and up close. But I sure wish they’d 

> do even more, of course.

>

> Microsoft is also dedicated to accessibility, but I don’t see them in 

> the ISO committees for PDF. However, we all see M S do a fair amount 

> of advertising about their accessibility tools, like Immersive Reader. 

> For some reason, Adobe’s marketing department doesn’t do a shred of 

> advertising about their accessibility work, even though it’s there.

>

> And to be frank, no company that creates accessible PDFs could do that 

> without Adobe’s foundation work on PDFs and accessibility. Adobe’s 

> work comes first in creating the accessibility standards for PDF as 

> well as the first programs, and then other companies follow Adobe’s 

> lead. And take all the glory, too.

>

> In sum, it’s a mixed bag from all of our software manufacturers.

>

> *— — —*

>

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

> Chagnon at PubCom.com <mailto: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 

> <mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> *On Behalf Of 

> *Dan Comden

> *Sent:* Monday, May 10, 2021 2:12 PM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network 

> <athen-list at u.washington.edu <mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Making accessible info with InDesign?

>

> Adobe has had over 20 years to figure out how to make the PDF process 

> and products accessible. After all this time, it is difficult to come 

> to any conclusion other than the company does not really care about 

> accessibility.

>

> On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 7:22 AM Susan Kelmer 

> <Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu <mailto:Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu>> wrote:

>

>     Okay, to be fair...

>

>     InDesign is for laying out material.  It is what Adobe Pagemaker

>     used to be (for those of you who have been around a while).  You

>     make text boxes and add pictures and manipulate layout, and come

>     up with a file that can be printed onto paper.  Ala 1990. InDesign

>     and Pagemaker were a replacement for the manual labor of

>     physically creating the paper print using exacto knives and glue

>     and light boards (for those that have been around even longer). 

>     In operation, it is not intended to be a program that provides all

>     that accessibility for the outputted file.  I do not fault Adobe

>     for this.  There is, as far as I know, NO program that will do

>     this completely effectively.

>

>     If you want to have an accessible output, you will have to do what

>     you've always done - work it out in Adobe Acrobat Pro on the

>     completed file.  InDesign is not a text-based program, like Word

>     is.  Word is easy to output into a reasonably accessible PDF. 

>     InDesign was never intended for that purpose, and runs on an old

>     Pagemaker backbone that would have to be written from the ground up.

>

>     And the only way for that to be a priority for companies like

>     Adobe is if there is money in it.  No one is clamoring to Adobe to

>     make InDesign produce accessible PDFs.  Until  they are, that

>     won't change.

>

>     Susan Kelmer

>     Alternate Format Production Program Manager

>     Disability Services

>     Division of Student Affairs

>     T 303 735 4836

>     www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices

>     <http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices>

>

>

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