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WATA Bulletin: Spring 2003

Contents:

New Tagged Adobe PDFs are More Accessible, but Many Accessibility Issues Still Remain

Portable Document Format (PDF) files are commonly available on websites maintained by government agencies, educational institutions and companies. For a few examples, think of tax forms, brochures and flyers published by different governmental institutions, handouts and readings for community college or university classes, journal articles provided by many publishers, and even the manual for your new cell phone, printer, or fax machine.

While creating PDFs may be a convenient and timesaving means of transforming hard copy into electronic format, the classic (unstructured) PDF is not accessible to those who use assistive technology to access electronic documents. PDFs can be particularly challenging for users of screen readers, and individuals with learning disabilities, traumatic brain injury and other cognitive impairments who use reading software.

To comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires that the federal government procure and use only information technology that is accessible, Adobe has developed a new, more accessible type of PDF: the tagged PDF. Of the three types of PDFs (unstructured, structured, tagged), only tagged PDF files are optimized for accessibility.

With tagged PDFs, authors can specify intended reading order by tagging and identifying various blocks of text and other page elements. Alternative text descriptions can be added for images, and the native document language can be specified for optimal reading by assistive software. Tagged PDFs also allow text to be re-ordered on a page when required by limitations of screen size or font characteristics. This is especially useful for individuals needing large-print documents or accessing documents using such devices as cell phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Creating a tagged PDF requires additional effort on the part of the author. Adobe provides guidance on its website in two helpful documents: “How To Create Accessible Adobe PDF Files” at: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_booklet.html and “Advanced Techniques for Creating Accessible Adobe PDF Files“ at: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdfs/CreateAccessibleAdvanced.pdf. These documents outline the steps for converting an existing PDF into a tagged PDF, creating a tagged PDF from popular Microsoft applications such as Word or PowerPoint, and provide information about the software and plug-ins required for creating tagged PDFs. However, be forewarned; the process for creating tagged PDFs is not necessarily straightforward, easy or timesaving.

Tagged PDFs are considerably more accessible than other types of PDFs. Even tagged PDFs, however, present numerous challenges to users. For instance, tagged PDFs cannot be created from some of the most commonly used applications, including popular layout programs such as QuarkXpress. Certain security features may prevent technology from reading the PDF, and some operating systems (such as Unix and Mac) and older assistive technologies do not allow users to take full advantage of the features of accessible PDFs. Users without disabilities also experience numerous problems using PDFs, primarily related to downloading the plug-ins required to view the files.

So, what should your organization do? WATA’s recommendation (as well as the recommendation of a number of other organizations concerned about accessibility) is that PDF, tagged or not, should not be used as the sole format in which information is provided. A fully accessible format (e.g., HTML or Microsoft Word) should always be provided at a minimum. Providing a PDF in addition to the accessible format will afford more choices for your audiences. For instance, most on-line academic journals provide an HTML version of each article plus a PDF for those who want to view the article formatted in a manner similar to the printed publication.

Bottom line: Tagged PDFs are a great step toward accessibility, but should not serve as the only available format.


People with Multiple Sclerosis are Using Assistive Technology for Creative Solutions

Kurt Johnson, Ph.D., Executive Director, UW Center for Technology & Disability Studies

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. It is the most common cause of chronic neurological disability in young adults, affecting between 250,000 and 350,000 people living in the US. It is thought to be an autoimmune disorder. People with MS have a range of functional limitations that can include difficulties with mobility, hand function, sensation, pain, bowel and bladder, fatigue, vision, memory and thinking.

Many people with MS find assistive technology to be a useful strategy to enhance their participation in work, school and community.

Several members of WATA participate in the research activities of the National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center at the University of Washington (funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research) and have collaborated in qualitative research on the experiences of people living with MS. Here we offer a taste of the findings.

A graduate student in sciences has significant vision changes, fatigue and some difficulty with thinking and learning as a result of MS. At first, he didn’t disclose his disability: “I used to TA (work as a teaching assistant) quite a bit, and I’d write stuff on the board and I couldn’t see it. If someone asked me a question about ‘what does that say?’ I’d have to sort of trick them into pointing me to where on the board they were referring. This was all prior to actually coming out with the disease. I tried to keep it a secret as long as possible.”

Once he decided to disclose his disability he used the disclosure itself as an accommodation. “I basically come out up front and let people know that I have these impairments, and that I will probably run into some problems, given some of that.”

He used “off the shelf” modifications of computer settings to address his vision difficulties: “I’ve changed all my computers at work, at school and at home to high contrast black background with white lettering. It helps a lot.”

He also uses word processing in many different ways to accommodate his memory problems, difficulties with writing, and organization of writing, editing, etc. “I like the computer because you can cut and paste a lot. When you write down stuff on a piece of paper you have to remember that over here on this piece of paper I wrote down this important fact. I can’t keep that in my memory. It’s just too much.”

From interviewing people living with MS, we found that they used primarily “off the shelf” assistive technology and they combined it with common sense modifications of their work schedules and other demands to achieve accommodations for the limitations they experienced. Their reports highlight the importance of considering AT within the framework of tasks, non-AT accommodations, and the social context.

 

Summer Institute 2003 to be held June 17-20

The University of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies will offer “An Introduction to Assistive Technology: Summer Institute 2003,” a series of workshops June 17 - 20 at the UW Seattle campus.

Topics will include: Assistive Technology: The Fundamentals; Seating, Positioning, and Mobility, Environmental Control Units; Computer Access Technologies; Hearing Assistance Technology; Augmentative and Alternative Communication; Web Accessibility and Individuals with Low Vision or Blindness; Funding for Assistive Technology; Technology for People with Learning Disabilities; and Putting It All Together: Case Studies and Consultations.

The cost is $495 for the entire institute. Individual workshop fees vary per module and per day; please see the website for details. Academic credit, clock hours and a certificate of completion are available for those completing the entire institute.

For more information including registration, call 800-841-8345 [V/TTY], email uwctds@u.washington.edu or visit the web at: http://uwctds.washington.edu/si2003/

 

Calendar of Events

RESNA 2003: 26th International Conference on Technology & Disability: Research, Design, Practice & Policy
June 19 - 23, Atlanta
RESNA 2003, sponsored by the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, brings together people who use, develop, manufacture and deliver assistive and rehabilitative technologies. Information: RESNA, 1700 N. Moore Street, Suite 1540, Arlington, VA 22209-1903, 703-524-6686, info@resna.org or www.resna.org/.

 

AHEAD 2003: 26th Annual Conference, Advancing Our Profession: Refining Our Vision
July 8 - 12, Dallas
The theme for the Association of Higher Education and Disability’s conference is reflecting and acting upon the ideas and practices that underlie the profession. The focus is on developing and advancing disability services work. For information and registration write AHEAD Conference Registration, c/o AHEAD Umass-Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-3393 or go to their website at www.ahead.org/conference/2003/index.html

 

AAC in the Mountains 2003 Conference: Beyond Schedules and Choices, Communication/AAC Strategies for Individuals Ages 0-102
July 17 - 18, Park City, Utah
This year’s theme is Communication Strategies for Individuals with Severe and Multiple Disabilities, featuring Pati King-DeBaun, MS, CCC-SLP. Learn how to incorporate light and high tech strategies into student routines. Included are the ever-popular make and take activities. For more information call 435-645-7737, fax 435-658-0925, e-mail mail@creativecommunicating.com or visit their website at: www.creative-comm.com/catalog/accinthemtns.html


For calendar updates, visit the Web at:
http://wata.org/calendar.htm
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The WATA Bulletin is supported by grant H224A3006 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education, to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Olympia, WA.

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