[Athen] [EXT]Re: PDF remediation help

[Philip Kiff]

A couple corrections and a re-interpretation after re-reading things 
this morning.

The media release was from May 17, the day before GAAD, not on May 18.

Adobe isn't claiming they are going to release a stand-alone version of 
the PDF Accessibility Checker . I must have heard that somewhere else, 
but wherever I heard it, it doesn't sound like that's true based on the 
media release. I'm not quite sure what the release is saying about the 
checker - I think Adobe needs someone with clear language training to 
help write their media releases!:
"The PDF Accessibility Checker, available in Acrobat via an API, will 
enable organizations to quickly and easily evaluate the accessibility of 
existing PDFs at scale."

So the PDF Accessibility Checker will probably also be an API connecting 
to a cloud-based function? And when you use it in Acrobat, it will use 
the cloud-based API, instead of running locally on your computer using 
code run by Acrobat. It's too bad that they are calling it "PDF 
Accessibility Checker", since that will mean it gets confused with the 
per-existing free PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) tool.

I guess we'll see.

Phil.

On 2023-05-19 01:31, Philip Kiff wrote:

>

> So I found Adobe's media release [1] from yesterday (GAAD, May 18) 

> that sparked the Forbes and other article (links at end of emal).

>

> Adobe has a page in their Developer documentation area [2] with more info.

>

> They have a free demo [3] (requires login) where you can test it out.

>

> I think that what Adobe are announcing is the new API aimed at 

> developers, not just a new iteration of the Auto-Tag feature that has 

> been built into Adobe Acrobat Pro for many years.

>

> Adobe seems to be suggesting that this API is partially driven by 

> their so-called "AI" branded as "Sensei". It is not clear to me that 

> the AutoTag feature in Acrobat Pro runs  the exact same code as that 

> in their (new?) API. Leaving aside the misleading marketing language 

> around the phrase "artificial intelligence", I have the impression 

> that Acrobat Pro's AutoTag feature depends entirely on code run 

> locally on your computer, whereas the AutoTag API will run somewhere 

> in Adobe's Cloud. Maybe the results will be similar. Who knows.

>

> Is that different than the AutoTag in the "new Acrobat" that you're 

> talking about Bevi?

>

> Like Bevi and Susan, I find the AutoTag feature currently included in 

> Adobe Acrobat Pro to be mediocre. Though I often still use it as a 

> starting point when I am remediating files.

>

> But I can see a value in having an API that developers can incorporate 

> into their own PDF generation processes or when trying to automate 

> large-scale remediation efforts on collections of files. There are 

> already some other document accessibility companies that offer 

> automated solutions for remediation of PDF files in bulk, I think, so 

> I expect this signals that Adobe has decided to enter into this 

> business market more aggressively.

>

> There are two other items worth noting that appear towards the end of 

> Adobe's press release. This fall, they plan to release a stand-alone 

> PDF accessibility checker and they plan to include the AutoTag feature 

> in the free Adobe Reader instead of it requiring the purchase of the 

> expensive and overpriced Adobe Acrobat Pro. I'll be curious if the 

> accessibility checker will be a new product that checks against a full 

> set of WCAG or PDF/UA criteria to compete with offerings from 

> CommonLook and PAC, or if it will simply be a stand-alone version of 

> the rudimentary Accessibility Check feature currently built into Adobe 

> Acrobat Pro.

>

> [1] Media Release:

> https://news.adobe.com/news/news-details/2023/Media-Alert-Adobe-Scales-PDF-Accessibility-With-Adobe-Sensei-AI/default.aspx 

>

>

> [2] Developer AutoTag API page:

> https://developer.adobe.com/document-services/apis/pdf-accessibility-auto-tag/

>

> [3] Demo Sign Up:

> https://acrobatservices.adobe.com/dc-accessibility-playground/main.html

>

> Phil.

>

> Philip Kiff

> D4K Communications

>

> On 2023-05-18 18:45, chagnon at pubcom.com wrote:

>>

>> We’ve been testing the new Acrobat for a year or so, and keep testing 

>> the AutoTag feature.

>>

>> It gets better with every new edition, but it’s been around for a few 

>> years and we still can’t depend on it for much.

>>

>> It did do one PDF just ok, sort of: it was a one-page document with 

>> one heading and several paragraphs of body text. Tagged the title at 

>> the top of the page as <H5>, which from our testing seems to be the 

>> default heading tag AutoTag uses for the first heading.

>>

>> Duh.

>>

>> It seems to be sales hoopla from Adobe in honor of GAAD day. Time 

>> will tell if we actually get anything of substance from Acrobat.

>>

>> Sure wish Adobe would focus on making a more accurate PDF from MS 

>> Office and InDesign so that we don’t have to remediate the PDF after 

>> it’s made, but maybe that’s asking too much!

>>

>> *— — —*

>>

>> 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> 

>> *On Behalf Of *Susan Kelmer

>> *Sent:* Thursday, May 18, 2023 4:53 PM

>> *To:* enews at toptechtidbits.com; Access Technology Higher Education 

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

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [EXT]Re: PDF remediation help

>>

>> To quote from the article:

>>

>> “For example, before using the new Adobe API, a global financial firm 

>> spent more than 9 hours to make each individual presentation slide 

>> deck accessible. With Adobe’s new API, the firm has automated 70–80% 

>> of that process.”

>>

>> Should we tell them?  Should we tell them that had they just created 

>> the file correctly in the first place, it would have taken only a few 

>> minutes, and no 9 hour remediation would have been required?

>>

>> NINE HOURS?   What the heck were they doing?  Oh yeah, they were 

>> using Adobe to fix an Adobe file.  That works.

>>

>> /sarcasm

>>

>> *Susan Kelmer *

>>

>> Alternate Format Production Program Manager

>>

>> Disability Services

>>

>> Health and Wellness Services

>>

>> *T*303 735 4836

>>

>> *_www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices 

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

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>>

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

>> *On Behalf Of *Top Tech Tidbits

>> *Sent:* Thursday, May 18, 2023 2:49 PM

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

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

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [EXT]Re: PDF remediation help

>>

>> Here’s some additional information released by Forbes:

>>

>> Adobe Wants To Help Make PDF Documents More Accessible With AI-Based 

>> Auto-Tag API | May 17, 2023 | Steven Aquino | Forbes

>>

>> https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2023/05/17/adobe-wants-to-help-make-pdf-documents-more-accessible-with-ai-based-auto-tag-api/?sh=5d0d4855b24c

>>

>> *Aaron Di Blasi, PMP*

>>

>> **

>>

>> Publisher (2020-Present)

>>

>> *Top Tech Tidbits*

>>

>> The Week's News in Adaptive Technology

>>

>> https://toptechtidbits.com <https://toptechtidbits.com/>🌐

>>

>> *From:* chagnon at pubcom.com <chagnon at pubcom.com>

>> *Sent:* Thursday, May 18, 2023 2:09 AM

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

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

>> *Cc:* enews at toptechtidbits.com

>> *Subject:* RE: [Athen] [EXT]Re: PDF remediation help

>>

>> Hi Aaron,

>>

>> I don’t know why the article is being posted as news. It’s grossly 

>> out of date and is from the Microsoft news network portal.

>>

>> Adobe's New AI Automates PDF Accessibility Tags

>>

>> https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/adobe-s-new-ai-automates-pdf-accessibility-tags/ar-AA1biX4V

>>

>>   * The photo captions reference software releases in 2013, “Adobe

>>     announced Monday, May 6, 20*_13_*…” and the rest is pure nonsense.

>>   * The AutoTag feature has been in Acrobat Pro for quite a few

>>     years. It’s had marginal improvement every year, but overall

>>     still sucks at correctly tagging a document, separating text from

>>     graphics, and creating a logical reading order. We teach our

>>     clients and students how to use it only when there’s no better

>>     way to remediate a bad PDF.

>>

>> We’re beta testers for Adobe and I don’t see anything substantial on 

>> the horizon for Acrobat anytime soon, other than an overhaul of the 

>> user interface (which is getting bad reviews). We still have hope for 

>> the future, however.

>>

>> I’m chalking up this news release as stale and inaccurate.

>>

>> *— — —*

>>

>> 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 *Top Tech Tidbits

>> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 17, 2023 5:52 PM

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

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

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] [EXT]Re: PDF remediation help

>>

>> Per recent discussions, this article was just released 8 hours ago. I 

>> think we should expect a number of updates from Adobe regarding PDF 

>> accessibility, remediation and AI in the coming months.

>>

>> Adobe's New AI Automates PDF Accessibility Tags

>>

>> https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/adobe-s-new-ai-automates-pdf-accessibility-tags/ar-AA1biX4V

>>

>> *Aaron Di Blasi, PMP*

>>

>> **

>>

>> Publisher (2020-Present)

>>

>> *Top Tech Tidbits*

>>

>> The Week's News in Adaptive Technology

>>

>> https://toptechtidbits.com <https://toptechtidbits.com/>🌐

>>

>

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