[blindlaw] Accessibility of PDF Textbooks Obtained Directly from the Publisher

Fri Jan 9 19:44:04 UTC 2015

I am not fully blind, yet, so I use PDF's regularly, but not with JAWS or
other readers.  I also, usually get them through the disabilities office,
rather than the publishers.  I had a lot of difficulty with what I received
for my first semester of law school and have found that the use of Adobe
Pro allows me to easily modify PDF;s to usable formats, which is especially
useful when you get one in a JPEG format.  It is more work for me to do,
but a few hours once a semester is worth it to me so that I can ensure that
the books are usable for my specific study methods.  i.e. adding bookmarks
where the prof has stressed a particular case   The program was provided by
my VR counselor and simple to use.  I hope this helps youl

On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 1:14 PM, Derek Manners via blindlaw <
blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> As a law student at Harvard, I've only ever received books from the
> publisher in PDF. I have to say that they are usable but they are by no
> means perfect.
>
> As far as registration accommodation etc., my experience has been that I
> always have my textbooks in plenty of time in PDF format.
>
> Best wishes
> Derek Manners
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jan 9, 2015, at 2:08 PM, Anita Keith-Foust via blindlaw <
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Michal:
> >
> > You have really revealed a lot of great information about the publishers
> > responsibilities. I had no clue about this. My poor butchered books! I
> will
> > look into this.
> >
> > My experience has been extremely negative when it comes to getting
> textbook
> > information in advance. As you know, I am working towards to making that
> > change at my alma mater.
> >
> > All of your questions are really good and the answers to these research
> > questions certainly will help all of us.
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> > Anita Keith-Foust
> > 919-430-1978
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michal
> > Nowicki via blindlaw
> > Sent: Monday, January 5, 2015 1:08 PM
> > To: 'Illinois Association of Blind Students List'; 'Blind Law Mailing
> List'
> > Subject: [blindlaw] Accessibility of PDF Textbooks Obtained Directly from
> > the Publisher
> >
> > Dear Current Students and Recent Graduates,
> >
> >
> >
> > I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you are ready for
> > 2015.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am addressing this message to you directly, though I welcome responses
> > from everyone who is willing and able to provide them, because I know
> that
> > you can give me the most accurate information.  I'm sure many of you know
> > that publishers are required to provide students with print disabilities
> > textbooks in alternate format if the students provide proof of purchase.
> > This obviously applies to books that are not readily accessible online or
> > through a library service like LearningAlly and/or Bookshare.org, in
> which
> > case members may download them without even contacting the publisher.  To
> > satisfy this requirement, most, if not all, publishers offer such
> materials
> > in PDF format.
> >
> >
> >
> > That being established, I would greatly appreciate it if you could give
> me
> > some information as to the navigability of these documents with JAWS and
> > other screen readers.  Since publishers offer this service as an ADA
> > accommodation, I would expect, at least in theory, them to be fully
> > accessible.  That is, I would expect them to be tagged, as well as for
> > headings and other HTML elements to be used properly.  However, is this
> > actually the case?  If not, are the files accessible enough that you
> > recommend using them in an academic environment, such as law school?
> Also,
> > do all publishers seem to follow the same accessibility standards?
> >
> >
> >
> > I am asking you all these questions because as an undergrad, I received
> all
> > materials from the office for students with disabilities in Word format.
> > That is, when the office received PDFs from publishers, they always
> > converted them into Word files for me.  Consequently, I never even saw
> the
> > publisher PDFs, so I don't know anything about their accessibility.
> Looking
> > ahead to law school, though, I would like to spare document conversion
> staff
> > the extra work if it turns out that publisher PDFs can be navigated
> > efficiently using assistive technology.
> >
> >
> >
> > Finally, I have some questions specific to law school case books.  Based
> on
> > the research I have conducted, my understanding is that entering law
> > students are often not assigned to instructors until the semester is
> about
> > to begin.  Is this true?  If so, can such students be granted priority
> > registration as a reasonable accommodation?  If not, what steps can they
> > take to insure that the disability office has enough time, if
> applicable, to
> > scan their textbooks before classes begin?  Finally, how responsive do
> > publishers of law school case books tend to be when they receive a
> request
> > for electronic copies of the books?
> >
> >
> >
> > Thank you in advance for answering my questions.  I eagerly look forward
> to
> > reading your responses.
> >
> >
> >
> > Best,
> >
> >
> >
> > Michal
> >
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> >
> >
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-- 
Chris Griggs