[blindlaw] Difficulties with court transcripts in PDF format and JAWS

[Robert Jaquiss]

Hello:

     An essential thing to know about PDF files is that they can be created
in a variety of ways. MS Word can create a PDF file from a Word file and
these should be quite readable. It is also possible to create PDF files by
scanning printed documents and creating PDF files from the resulting images.
This later type will not be as accessible and will have to be processed with
an OCR package. I would suggest trying to make arrangements to have the
original word processor file emailed to you. I would think that a court's
website would be covered by the ADA.

Regards,

Robert


-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Susan Kelly
via blindlaw
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 9:03 AM
To: 'blindlaw at nfbnet.org'
Cc: (gui-talk at nfbnet.org)
Subject: [blindlaw] Difficulties with court transcripts in PDF format and
JAWS

Our court of appeals loads the transcripts for cases to its website, which
is becoming increasingly inaccessible, thanks to the use of semi-described
images on at least half of its links instead of properly labeled link-boxes.
I can navigate around that, albeit slowly, by continuing to click through
each link (they don't list well) until I hear what seems to be the proper
link for whatever it is I need to do.  The real problem comes in once I have
accessed my case file and try to listen to the transcripts themselves.  Some
are PDF, while others are simply .tif or .jpg scans.  On top of that, even
the PDF files have not been properly OCRd, or so it seems, as they will not
read through continuously despite my settings in Adobe and JAWS.

My assistant has tried to circumvent this issue by downloading the file to
our office network.  The problem persists, though, with the narration
stopping at then of each page; using a "page down" or "ctrl page down"
command is ineffective, as reading starts back up mid-page; I thus have to
advance it one line forward (which does not read) and then back up one and
start the "read all" command again to read each page.  This is very
time-consuming and annoying, and I have to assume that it is, at least in
part, the result of the manner in which the court reporter has transcribed
the documents.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to tackle this problem?  Also, does
anyone know how I would word a polite letter to the reporters / courts to
suggest that these documents be better prepared?  Because I work in the
juvenile court, our time limits are extremely short and this is a time waste
that I really would like to avoid.

Thanks!
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