- From: Matt Morgan-May <mattmay@adobe.com>
- Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:32:00 -0700
- To: Phill Jenkins <pjenkins@us.ibm.com>
- CC: "w3c-wai-ig@w3.org" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
On 3/31/09 11:08 AM, "Phill Jenkins" <pjenkins@us.ibm.com> wrote: > its seems to me to be a problem with either the PDF renderer > (not sure what they were using, was it Adobe Reader 8?), or the screen reader > (they didn't have the latest versions), or the user configuration (not > discussed), and/or the user operations (not discussed). It could also have something to do with the tool used to create the form. There's probably a bug somewhere in the flow, but without being able to look at it, I don't think I can suggest anything other than testing it with an MSAA tool like Inspect32 and seeing if the accessibility data is there. If it's stable there, then we should be looking more at the screen reader side. Roger, if you can send me an example that I can share with the Acrobat team, I'd be happy to look at it for you. In any case, I have to say it alarms me that when someone like Roger reports an intermittent error in a couple of PDF documents (and raises an admittedly good question in the process), certain others, without hesitation and without qualifying their statements, start saying PDF is inaccessible. Or that it's not "accessibility supported," or whatever. I present to these people the following facts: 1. Adobe Reader works with Orca on Linux and Solaris. We have been working with the Orca team for years to help provide accessibility support on free (speech/beer) platforms. 2. Adobe Reader support in the open-source NVDA screen reader on Windows has improved dramatically, and we anticipate that it will continue to improve. 3. Apple's Voiceover screen reader for OS X supports PDF content with the built-in Preview application. So, let's do the math. PDF is an open format (ISO 32000=PDF 1.7) with free readers that support free AT on Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris. I'd say that's pretty broadly "accessibility supported". If we encounter issues with our software, Adobe is committed to addressing them, either directly or in concert with AT or OS vendors. People can jump on one bug report and try to make it look like PDF is thus inaccessible, but one swallow does not a summer make. If we want to go that route, does anyone want to stand up and say the accessibility hooks for the existing HTML user agents are flawless? If not, can we kindly stop turning each question on non-W3C formats into a referendum on accessibility? - m
Received on Tuesday, 31 March 2009 19:32:50 UTC