RE: Accessing PDFs

On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Aaron Smith wrote:

> I think you would be surprised to hear the number of calls and e-mails we 
> gets from our customers thanking us for assisting in making PDFs 
> accessible.

SO do it for ALL formats not just M$, many many thousands of disabled
computer users have systems that run Mac OS, BsD, Linux, Unix, etc etc.

> It seems to me that, whether we like PDFs or not is irrelevant 
> to the fact that people now have access to them.

NO! only a select few who have lots of $$$$$ have limited access to them,
what about the rest of the world?

Bob

> 
> Aaron
> 
> At 03:04 PM 10/25/2002 +0100, Jon Hanna wrote:
> >The idea though is to move forwards, moving has little virtue in itself.
> >
> >PDFs have moved forwards, but still lag behind HTML even before you consider
> >accessibility issues.
> >
> >The inaccessible PDFs at least have a certain honesty. PDFs modus operandi
> >still seems predicated on the assumption that the only thing someone might
> >want to do with them is to print them on paper. They are poor for anyone to
> >read online, no matter what physical abilities they may or may not possess.
> >The "Portable" in their name is only in comparison to trying to roll up a
> >print out and stick it down a telephone.
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On
> > > Behalf Of Aaron Smith
> > > Sent: 25 October 2002 14:05
> > > To: David Poehlman; kestrell; Access Systems
> > > Cc: RUST Randal; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> > > Subject: Re: Accessing PDFs
> > >
> > >
> > > So, in other words, we should never embrace new technology because older
> > > technology already exists? In my opinion, that's a stifling point of view
> > > that will never assist in advancing the accessibility market.
> > > That line of
> > > thinking is part of the reason that accessibility isn't more mainstream.
> > > If, instead of pushing the envelope, we sit back and say, "The heck with
> > > it. I'll just use what I already have," then we might as well give up.
> > >
> > > What's the point of moving from Windows 9X to XP, IE 5 to IE 6,
> > > Office 2000
> > > to Office XP? Because the latter products have more/better accessibility
> > > built in, as well as more general features. Same thing with PDFs.
> > > Originally, there were not accessible at all. Now they are accessible.
> > > Maybe not 100% of them 100% of the time, but to say, "It's not
> > > perfect, so
> > > let's not use it" violates the whole direction of accessibility advocacy.
> > >
> > > At 12:21 PM 10/24/2002 -0400, David Poehlman wrote:
> > >
> > > >the problem with this logic is that it totally misses the mark when
> > > >those documents can just as well be much more accessible by not being in
> > > >pdf.
> > > >
> > > >----- Original Message -----
> > > >From: "Aaron Smith" <aaron@gwmicro.com>
> > > >To: "kestrell" <aeryadne@theworld.com>; "Access Systems"
> > > ><accessys@smart.net>
> > > >Cc: "RUST Randal" <RRust@COVANSYS.com>; <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> > > >Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 9:02 AM
> > > >Subject: Re: Accessing PDFs
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >The point is that we had to start somewhere. I know for a fact that the
> > > >IRS
> > > >are working on accessible PDFs, as are other government agencies. The
> > > >more
> > > >we spread the information that there is a way to make PDFs accessible,
> > > >the
> > > >better the chances that those practices will become mainstream.
> > > >
> > > >At 07:29 AM 10/24/2002 -0400, kestrell wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > >It is also worth noting where the quote accessible unquote pdf docs
> > > >are:
> > > > >Of course the screen reader manuals are accessible, because any company
> > > > >who produced a pdf doc that had any relation to screen readers and did
> > > >not
> > > > >assure it was accessible would be crazy, though there are a lot of
> > > >crazy
> > > > >company decisions out there. Places to check for accessible pdf docs
> > > >would
> > > > >be government web sites, such as the IRS web site, or materials online
> > > >at
> > > > >university libraries, or just about any eBook sold in the pdf format.
> > > >The
> > > > >rate of inaccessibility just sky-rocketed to about eighty percent
> > > >there.
> > > > >
> > > > >kestrell
> > > >
> > > >--
> > > >To insure that you receive proper support, please include all
> > > >past correspondence (where applicable), and any relevant
> > > >information pertinent to your situation when submitting a
> > > >problem report to the GW Micro Technical Support Team.
> > > >
> > > >Aaron Smith
> > > >GW Micro
> > > >Phone: 260/489-3671
> > > >Fax: 260/489-2608
> > > >WWW: http://www.gwmicro.com
> > > >FTP: ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com
> > > >Technical Support & Web Development
> > >
> > > --
> > > To insure that you receive proper support, please include all
> > > past correspondence (where applicable), and any relevant
> > > information pertinent to your situation when submitting a
> > > problem report to the GW Micro Technical Support Team.
> > >
> > > Aaron Smith
> > > GW Micro
> > > Phone: 260/489-3671
> > > Fax: 260/489-2608
> > > WWW: http://www.gwmicro.com
> > > FTP: ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com
> > > Technical Support & Web Development
> > >
> > >
> 
> --
> To insure that you receive proper support, please include all
> past correspondence (where applicable), and any relevant
> information pertinent to your situation when submitting a
> problem report to the GW Micro Technical Support Team.
> 
> Aaron Smith
> GW Micro
> Phone: 260/489-3671
> Fax: 260/489-2608
> WWW: http://www.gwmicro.com
> FTP: ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com
> Technical Support & Web Development
> 
> 

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Received on Friday, 25 October 2002 10:22:27 UTC