#43558
Speaker(s)
- Karen McCall, Accessible Document Design Consultant, Coach, and Educator, Karlen Communications
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: All Levels
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
This remote session examines the paradoc of PDF accessibility. Topics include the standards used to measure accessibility, “access” versus accessibility”, how AI can be leveraged to improve the accessibility of PDFs, and how the confusing results from auto-tagging and automatic accessibility checkers can hides the existing accessibility barriers. PDFs are not going away, but are they improving in accessibility?
Abstract
Most of us think of PDF accessibility as something that is achievable. However, when we attempt to make PDFs accessible, we encounter several barriers. The first set of barriers are the ISO standards for PDFs which are designed for machines and programmers, not for people reading PDFs or those remediating PDFs. The second barrier is the concept of “progress versus perfection” which cannot be described but is a mantra raised to minimize the importance of PDF accessibility and the ability of those using adaptive technology to make sense of any PDF they open. A third barrier is the limitations of AI tools to provide consistent “tagging” of PDFs and to provide consistent rendering of untagged PDFs. Another barrier is the WCAG standards which do not cover elements such as Tables of Content, Footnotes, Endnotes, bibliographies or indexes. Additionally, some of the PDF Techniques for PDFs are AAA conformances which are often not covered by legislation but provide improved accessibility of PDF. Added to this are the automated accessibility checkers which are checking accessibility against the overall machine and developer requirements rather than the accessibility of the PDF. Each automated tool and remediation service has their own interpretation of the ISO standards as per the intent of the standard not to tell people how to implement it. This remote session discusses these paradoxes of PDF accessibility as we attempt to provide accessible PDF content to those using adaptive technology.
Keypoints
- Understand that the ISO standards for PDF access are for machines/developers, not end-users.
- Understand that the WCAG standard has gaps in techniques for specific document parts e.g. footnotes
- Understand that the automated accessibility checkers and Matterhorn Protocol are check for machines/developers
Disability Areas
All Areas
Topic Areas
Accessibility and Accommodation in the Current Political/Legal Environment, Artificial Intelligence, Assistive Technology, Faculty Development & Support, Legal, Teaching about Accessibility in Curriculum, Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Karen McCall
Karen McCall, M.Ed. is the owner of Karlen Communications. She has been working in the field of accessible document design since 1999. She began her career in website accessibility and auditing and moved to accessible Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents in 2004. Karen is a Canadian delegate to the ISO 14289 or PDF/UA (Universal Access) and the ISO 32000 PDF committee. She has been a Microsoft MVP for Word (Most Valued Professional) since 2009 and a Microsoft Accessibility MVP since 2017 when this category of MVP was established. Karen has written several books on the topic of accessible document design for Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents as well as smaller publications with specific techniques for working with Office applications if you are using adaptive technology and/or the keyboard.