Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [151]
Microsoft documents embed this and will carry tagged data through PDF creation. Be sure this option is selected in the document settings setup screen. Documents created in many other design-based programs need to be converted to a PostScript file, and then the PostScript file must be converted to a PDF in order to maintain the tagged format. Web pages saved as a PDF must also have Create PDF Tags selected in the settings.
Although Adobe Acrobat does allow users to add tags within the document, the best method is to add the tags while creating the document prior to converting to a PDF. Be aware, however, that tagging within Acrobat is not always interpreted correctly and can affect the reading structure.
Not only does tagging allow you to better communicate with all of your website users, it also allows search engines to better search your documents for information and context. You can benefit, as always, by creating more accessibility options that help you market your website more effectively.
Adobe Reader is a free download and comes with a host of accessibility features for users. Unfortunately, they may be easily overlooked. The built-in accessibility features allow a greater majority of users to view documents regardless of vision or access.
Accessibility Tools within Adobe Reader
The best place to start setting up Adobe Reader for accessibility is the Tools ⇒ Accessibility Setup Assistant. This brings up a wizard to enable specific accessibility options for interpreting the document (see Figure 13-5). Choosing Set All Accessibility Options is recommended for most users, and Adobe will then move into installing the additional features.
Figure 13-5: Adobe Reader’s Accessibility Setup Assistant
Screen Reader
Screen readers are mainly used by blind or extreme low-vision users but are not limited to those who need vision accessibility. Many users with cognitive difficulties, such as dyslexia, rely on screen readers to help them better follow the content on the screen.
The voice option is not nearly as full featured as JAWS, Window Eyes, or other screen readers, but there are keyboard commands to provide “read full page” or “read one page” options. The Read Out Loud feature uses the Microsoft Sam voice, which can be quite monotonous. However, the voice contains many inflections at appropriate times. It is easy to listen to after some minor tweaks to the pitch and speech rate. This can be done by selecting Edit ⇒ Preferences ⇒ Categories ⇒ Reading. The user also has the option to override the tagging commands contained within the document.
Contrast
In the Edit ⇒ Preferences ⇒ Accessibility menu is another great feature that increases accessibility for any user. The first option allows the user to replace the document color format with a high-contrast format. Or, if the user already has a predefined windows color scheme to enhance readability, they can select that scheme or set up a custom scheme.
The line art feature is particularly effective, because it can render line art as a black-and-white image, allowing a high-contrast image to be seen by anyone with color blindness or someone who simply prefers to see graphs or art in a noncolor format.
Reflow
Screen magnifiers are becoming more prevalent, because they increase the text size not only in web documents but also in all applications on the computer. Screen magnifiers come in many styles; some are similar to magnifying glasses and highlight areas of content, and others “blow up” a section of the screen to the entire monitor viewing area.
Reflow is an important feature that allows readers who use large text options or screen magnifiers to view the document at a larger text size or increased document size, yet without the horizontal scrolling that is typical when increasing the document size.
Enabling reflow allows documents to be seen without horizontal scrolling. This is especially helpful for low-vision users who increase the text size of the document, but then also