| The
VA's Pittsburgh Healthcare System, like many organizations, produces an Annual
Report. For the 2004 Annual Report, they wanted a document that was not only fully
compliant with Section 508, but was as easy as possible to use besides. What
did we do First,
we took the original PDF and fully optimized it, including metadata, links and
navigational bookmarks. We also corrected image resolution and compression, reducing
the file-size by 1/3. Finally, we added tags to the PDF to give screen-reader
and other assistive technology users a smooth and streamlined experience reading
the document. What's
the difference?
You will need Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher to read
the Accessible PDF.
Adobe's latest Reader is 8.1.2, and it's easily
the best yet. Take a moment and download Reader
8 from Adobe's
website. | There
are several ways to understand the difference between the two demonstration files,
below: - First,
simply review the text versions of the Original and Accessible files to get an
idea of what a blind or other text-based user has to deal with.
- If
you are using JAWS or another screen-reader, and you are familiar with Adobe Reader,
just start reading - you'll get the difference right away, no explanations needed!
- Other
users with speakers or headphones may want to try the Read Out Loud feature, under
the View menu in Acrobat or Reader.
NOTE:
This demonstration works best when the files have been downloaded to your computer
first. If you aren't familiar with downloading to your own computer, simply right-client
the item you want to download and choose "Save Target As" in Explorer,
or "Save Link As", in Firefox. Visit
the VAPHS Website,
or learn more about Document Solutions accessibility
services. |
