[duxuser] Re: PDF Files
- To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 04:35:10 -0000
What Susan says about "original" files is absolutely true.
BUT, and it's a BIG "BUT".....
All too often when we ask for the original file, we are told
it was initially prepared in say "Word for Windows", but was
then passed to the printers, where not only was it brought
into something like Quark Express, but it has undergone
changes since having been proofed. The bottom line is that
the Word file is way out of date.
To add insult to injury, Quark Express (and most
professional desktop publishing software) is very expensive,
and virtually inaccessible to anyone using a screen reader.
George.
-----Original Message-----
From: duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Susan
Jolly
Sent: 10 December 2005 04:27
To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [duxuser] PDF Files
I certainly understand the frustration with PDF files. But
one thing to bear in mind is that a PDF file is an output
format, just as a printed page is an output format. PDF
files were originally designed as an end product, not as
source files to be converted into some other format.
As Jamal Mazui's article in AccessWorld makes clear,
standard PDF files that are "formatted text and graphics"
are typically produced from electronic files that have
originally been created in other applications such as
Microsoft Word.
Adobe is to be commended for attempting to devise the many
new strategies for making PDF files more accessible that are
described in Mazui's article.
However, it seems to me that in many cases a better solution
for producing braille or some other accessible format would
be to start with the original electronic file rather than
the generated PDF file. Of course, this approach would
require the author be willing and available to supply the
original file.
There are cases where the author is unwilling to supply the
original file in order to protect a copyright or for other
reasons. However, my guess is that there are many cases
where an author who has made a PDF file available for
download from the Internet would have been comfortable also
posting the original electronic file had they realized that
it might be more useful to some readers.
SusanJ
* * *
* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
* unsubscribe
* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may
also
* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other
subscription
* options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list
archive
* is also located there.
* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
* * *
* * *
* This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org.
* To unsubscribe, send a blank message with
* unsubscribe
* as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also
* subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription
* options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive
* is also located there.
* Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com
* * *
Other related posts:
