Preface; Purpose And Intended Audience; Contents; Acknowledgements - Adobe 22020772 User Manual

Preface

Purpose and Intended Audience

This user guide provides guidance on accessing Portable Document Format (PDF) documents for blind
and visually impaired users of screen reading technology. The goal is to enable a better understanding
of the issues that affect the accessibility of PDF documents by discussing specific 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 files that contain tables, headings, images, and basic form controls.
Specific instructions in this document refer to menu and command names in Adobe®
Reader® 8.0 software. 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 specific menu and command names may differ.
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 files – Describes four common types of PDF documents and relevant
accessibility issues for each.
These sections are followed by detailed information on using specific screen
readers. Two Windows-based screen reading applications are covered:
• JAWS
• Window-Eyes
The final 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

This guide was created in collaboration with AFB Consulting (AFBC,
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.
Accessing PDF Documents with Assistive Technology
), the
www.afbconsulting.org
Preface
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