- From: Carol Foster <c.foster@umassp.edu>
- Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 16:35:52 -0500
- To: William R Williams/R5/USDAFS <wrwilliams@fs.fed.us>
- CC: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
I agree with Jakob Nielsen, though some people really like PDF's. I tend to get annoyed when I click on a link and a PDF suddenly starts slowly appearing without warning. I believe to meet WAI priority 1 checkpoints, an HTML version is required. The new more accessible PDF's that can be created with Adobe 5.0 and the Make Accessible Plugin are definitely an improvement over the old ones for screen readers, and if I understand this correctly, I believe that they alone will satisfy Section 508 without an alternative, though an HTML version is still recommended. As a web developer, I'm afraid that those of us who want to make our sites as accessible as possible are now in the position of not only having to create an HTML version, which can be easy or very time consuming (depending on what we have to start with), but also to make sure the PDF is itself accessible, which can also be easy or very time consuming, depending on how the PDF was created, what hardware and software one has, and how well one knows the new PDF tagging language and update facilities. Carol William R Williams/R5/USDAFS wrote: > Hello, > > It's been debated often, I suspect; yet, if my experience means anything, > much disagreement exists about the "true" accessibility of pdfs on the web. > Certainly, Adobe has promoted the application and worked diligently to make > them accessible, but others - such as Jakob Nielsen - suggest avoiding pdfs > for on-screen delivery. > > I know there are definite usability issues, but how does this group stand > on the accessibility of PDFs? > > Thanks! > ====================== > Bill Williams > Communication Technician > USDA Forest Service, Region 5 > 707.562.9005 > wrwilliams@fs.fed.us > ====================== Carol Foster, Web Developer University of Massachusetts, President's Office http://www.umass-its.net/ipg
Received on Thursday, 20 December 2001 16:34:22 UTC