I'm not sure I agree. I scan pages all the time and using OmniPage, can elect to run them through OCR and then save them as editable PDFs. Granted, software processing is required to do this but it's not desktop publishing software. My original point was that it's not accurate to call all PDF files images which can't be read by screen readers because that certainly isn't the case. I believe it's fairly easy to print web pages or other program output to PDF files provided you have the necessary utilities to do so and those PDF files contain readable text.
Alan Lemly -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher Chaltain Sent: Friday, February 19, 2016 10:36 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Readable PDF Files was RE: Unacceptable Response from Issuu Support Team Regarding VoiceOver Accessibility It isn't always just up to the creator of a PDF file to determine whether an image is being used or the underlying text is available to Adobe. That's true if the author is using desktop publishing software to create a document and is saving it in a PDF format. However, if you only have a hard copy of a document and you're going to scan it, which you often have to do when capturing a signature, then the creator of the PDF doesn't have a choice. On 19/02/16 14:58, Alan Seemly wrote: > Alan, > > I'd like to correct your statement that "PDF is actually a picture of > the document and no screen reader can read a picture to you." While > it's true that screen readers can't read images or pictures, PDF files > can most certainly be saved in either an editable or searchable format > so that their text is preserved and readable by a screen reader. Not > all PDF files are images but it is up to the creator of them to decide > whether they contain text that can be read or searched electronically. > > Alan Lemly > > *From:*[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Alan Paganelli > *Sent:* Friday, February 19, 2016 10:18 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: Unacceptable Response from Issuu Support Team Regarding > VoiceOver Accessibility > > I went through this with iPhone Life. They were very nice folks who > took the time to explain to me that the reason why they use PDF is so > the magazine in PDF format looks exactly like the print magazine. PDF > is actually a picture of the document and no screen reader can read a > picture to you. > > HTH > > Alan > > Sent from my iPad Air > > > On Feb 19, 2016, at 7:31 AM, Christine Grassman > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Dear All: > > Issuu is an app which provides access to millions of magazines, > newsletters, etc., on virtually any topic you can think of. My son, > who is also a VoiceOver user, wanted to access his high school s > newspaper which is on the platform. However, it is in an image pdf. > Furthermore, trying to get around the app is nightmarish, and it > does not appear that any of the available resources is accessible. > > I wrote to their support center, and this is the response I > received. My response to that unhelpful response is first, with the > response in the middle, with my original message at the bottom. I > think this is absolutely something which should be available to > those who use screen readers. If others agree, I think we should > bombard them with requests to make their platform accessible. > > Christine > > > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From: *"Christine Grassman (issuu Support Team)" > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > > *Subject: Update from issuu Support Re: Poor VoiceOver > accessibility* > > *Date: *February 19, 2016 at 10:16:27 AM EST > > *To: *Christine Grassman <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > > *Reply-To: *issuu Support Team <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > > ## Please do not write below this line ## > > Christine > > > > *Christine Grassman* > > Feb 19, 16:16 > > With all due respect, there is no excuse for this. Apple makes > available to developers, free of charge, guidelines for making apps > accessible. There's absolutely no reason not to do this. > Christine > > Sent from my iPhone > > Angel > > > > *Angel*(Help Center) > > Feb 19, 11:51 > > Hi Christine, > > Unfortunately we don't have a way for those with visual impairments > to use screen reading technology or have a way to make our site > accessible at this time. We also haven't been informed of any plans > to add that functionality any time soon. I'm so very sorry about that. > > If we do introduce this functionality at any point, we will put up > an announcement on our blog (blog.issuu.com > <http://blog.issuu.com/>) and on our help center (help.issuu.com > <http://help.issuu.com/>), so please do keep checking these places > for updates. > > Please don't hesitate to write back if you have any other questions, > and we'd be happy to assist you. > > Best regards, > Angel > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > > issuu is oniOS <http://bit.ly/issuuonios>andAndroid > <http://bit.ly/IssuuOnAndroid>. > > To learn more about issuu, please visit ourHelp Center > <http://help.issuu.com/hc/en-us>. > > Christine > > > > *Christine Grassman* > > Feb 15, 22:42 > > I am blind, as are my children. We use iPhones with VoiceOver > accessibility to access text. I am deeply disappointed that Issuu is > not voiceover accessible. Only some features are accessible, and one > cannot find and read magazines. In this day and age, this is > unacceptable. Information should be accessible to us just as to others. > There is no reason why the text of your millions of publications > should not be accessible using a screen reader. I hope that you will > address this as quickly as possible. > Christine Grassman > > Sent from my iPhone > > This email is a service from Help Center. Delivered byZendesk > <http://www.zendesk.com/>. > > [J5P6X7-GL7J] > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V > iPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this > list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please > contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the > list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara > Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send an email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V > iPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this > list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please > contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the > list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara > Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send an email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, > or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact > the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara > Quinn > - you can reach Cara at [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Christopher (CJ) chaltain at Gmail -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. 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