<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Someone else made that same argument at the AHEAD conference. I would agree that it's definitely easier to edit a Word document than a PDF. To make a PDF, it's best to create the document in Word, apply all of the accessibility features and other formatting, then convert it to PDF. <br><br></div>Some years back I would have frowned at having to use a PDF but now I have no problems with them whatsoever. (I'm a blind screen reader user).<br><br></div>Thanks,<br></div>Robert<br><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 3:21 PM, Christine Robinson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:crobinson@ggc.edu" target="_blank">crobinson@ggc.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<span style="color:black">Hi all,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">I don’t know how many from this group are also in Georgia Tech’s WAG (Web Accessibility Group) listserv, so pardon the cross-posting if you get both.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">Someone in WAG started a thread about Adobe’s PDF accessibility checker and the challenges of making PDFs accessible. It sparked me to ask a couple of questions about PDFs vs. Word documents. I’m cross-posting because I’d love to hear
the ATHEN folks’ thoughts.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">I’m still comparatively new at accessibility of electronic documents, but over the past several months, I’ve been thinking there are major advantages to using MS Word documents
<i>instead of PDFs</i>. And so far, I’ve only been doing training in accessible Word documents, because I don’t believe my institution is quite ready to approach PDFs.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">To summarize my thinking: <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="m_4690709597973487730MsoListParagraph"><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"><span>1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">It’s easier to make Word documents accessible than PDFs.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="m_4690709597973487730MsoListParagraph"><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"><span>2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Before you can make an accessible PDF, you really have to understand how to make an accessible Word doc first.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="m_4690709597973487730MsoListParagraph"><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"><span>3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">If you save your Word doc in Read-Only format, it still protects the document from inadvertent changes, and it’s easier for a reader with a disability
to change the typeface, font size, etc., to something that works better in their case.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="m_4690709597973487730MsoListParagraph"><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"><span>4.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">A couple of traditional advantages to PDFs are that (a) the reader doesn’t have to have the same software as the document author before they can
read the doc, and (b) it preserves the appearance of the doc, in case the reader doesn’t have the same font set. But in an educational setting, I think (?) all our students have access to MS Office, and even if they don’t have the same font set as the author,
Word will default to using a font that is still accessible. Consequently, I don’t believe PDF format is as necessary in edu settings as it used to be, particularly for documents that are primarily text.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">Use of PDFs is so deeply ingrained in our practices, however, that often people don’t seem to
<i>hear</i> the advantages of Word. They just want to push forward for training in PDFs.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">So my first question is: Am I off-base for putting priority on MS Word?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">Second question: If you’ve been having issues in getting PDF files accessible, could you please detail some of those issues for me? I’m collecting such examples, to determine whether I should build a stronger case for getting our faculty
and staff solid in Word before attempting PDFs.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<u></u> <u></u></p>
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Thanks!<u></u><u></u></p>
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Chris<u></u><u></u></p>
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<u></u> <u></u></p>
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<b><span style="color:#007048">Christine Robinson</span></b><span style="color:#007048">
</span><span style="color:black">| </span>Technical Trainer/Writer | Center for Teaching Excellence<u></u><u></u></p>
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<b><span style="color:#007048">Georgia Gwinnett College</span></b> | 1000 University Center Lane, L-2158 | Lawrenceville, GA 30043<u></u><u></u></p>
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678-407-<b><u><span style="color:#00704a">5193</span></u></b><u></u><u></u></p>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Robert Spangler<br>Disability Services Technical Support Specialist<br><span><a href="mailto:rspangler1@udayton.edu" target="_blank">rspangler1@udayton.edu</a><br></span>Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023<br>Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)<br>University of Dayton | 300 College Park | Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302 <br>Phone: 937-229-2066<br></div><div>Fax: 937-229-3270</div><div>Ohio Relay: 711 (available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing)<br></div><div>Web Site: <a href="http://go.udayton.edu/learning" target="_blank">http://go.udayton.edu/learning</a><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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