User`s guide

Accessing PDF Documents with Assistive Technology 1
Preface
Preface
Purpose and Intended Audience
is user guide provides guidance on accessing Portable Document Format (PDF) documents for blind
and visually impaired users of screen reading technology. e goal is to enable a better understanding
of the issues that aect the accessibility of PDF documents by discussing specic examples, highlighting
important principles, illustrating common problems, and presenting suggested solutions.
Techniques for opening scanned, untagged, and tagged documents will be presented, along with
guidance for working with PDF les that contain tables, headings, images, and basic form controls.
Specic instructions in this document refer to menu and command names in Adobe®
Reader® 8.0 soware. More generally, however, the procedures and features described also
apply to reading PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat® 8.0 Professional and Adobe Acrobat
8.0 Standard – though the specic menu and command names may dier.
While this guide is intended for entry-level end users, it assumes that the users have
already learned the basics of using their particular screen reader for accomplishing
basic tasks such as using a word processor and browsing the Internet.
Contents
Following this preface, this guide begins with the three sections that apply to all screen reader users:
Accessible PDF documents – Introduces the Portable Document Format (PDF) and characteristics •
of accessible PDFs
Adobe Reader accessibility features – Describes features in Adobe Reader relevant to •
users of assistive technology
Types of PDF les – Describes four common types of PDF documents and relevant •
accessibility issues for each.
ese sections are followed by detailed information on using specic screen
readers. Two Windows-based screen reading applications are covered:
JAWS•
Window-Eyes•
e nal section describes how to perform common tasks with a screen reader, and provides guidance
on installing Adobe Reader, navigating PDF documents, and using the Adobe Reader Help system.
Acknowledgements
is guide was created in collaboration with AFB Consulting (AFBC, www.afbconsulting.org), the
consulting division of the American Foundation for the Blind. Adobe and AFB Consulting are working
together to enhance the accessibility and usability of Adobe products by people with disabilities.