RE: PDF to HTML conversion

As a real world example of what I'm talking about I urge anyone to convert
the following URL to text using Acrobat's tools.

http://www.boston.com/globe/acrobat/today.pdf

You can simply email that URL to the address of pdf2txt@adobe.com and
you'll get back a converted file.

The technical reasons and solutions presented here are all good
suggestions.  But if it is hard enough convincing people creating web
pages to consider accessibility, it is going to be that much more
difficult to ask them to explore the production and installation of their
tools for creating .pdf files.

Below is a partial excerpt of the URL I mentioned.  Apparently in this
case the converter doesn't know that the alphabet has a letter "f".


From pdf2txt@Adobe.COM Fri Aug 21 05:22:49 1998
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 05:20:17 -0700
From: pdf2txt <pdf2txt@Adobe.COM>
To: Kelly Ford <kford@teleport.com>


 *Pages 1--1 from  Untitled*
By Brian McGrory and Chris Black GLOBE STAFF 
WASHI GTO _ The United States launched night missile attacks yesterday on what o icials de-scribed 
as a '' terrorist university'' in the hills o A -ghanistan and on a terrorist-sponsored chemical plant 
in the Sudan, in retaliation or the bombings o two US embassies in A rica two weeks ago. 
The attacks ollowed US intelligence reports say-ing that key terrorist leaders rom the Middle East 
had gathered at the A ghanistan training acility be-lieved to be operated by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, 
the top suspect in the embassy bombings whom Presi-dent Clinton yesterday called one o the prime terror-ist 
threats in the world. The attacks also ollowed intelligence by US o i-cials 
anticipating additional terrorist attacks on US targets, possibly at overseas embassies. 
Clinton gave inal orders or the attacks, which produced no US casualties, early yesterday morning 
rom his vacation compound on Martha's Vineyard. He made a hasty announcement in Edgartown in the early 
a ternoon, then rushed back to Washington or meet-ings in the White House situation room and to deliver 
an Oval O ice address. The operation had been planned in secret or the 
past two weeks, senior o icials said. '' Today we have struck back, '' Clinton said in the 
makeshi t brie ing room at the Edgartown School be-ore he le t. He added: '' Terrorists must have no doubt 
that in the ace o their threats, America will protect its citizens. ''

Received on Friday, 21 August 1998 08:28:16 UTC