[blindlaw] Questions about Reading Large Documents

Sat Aug 27 05:13:56 UTC 2016

I've been following this discussion and would really appreciate some tips on how to configure the settings of my OCR engine to get the best results.  I use Adobe Pro. Also, I like the suggestion of making friends with paralegals but we actually don't have any in the legal clinic where I work so I rely on student volunteers for accommodations and I might be able to cut down on my need for them if OCR conversions were cleaner more often. Many times I rely on these volunteers to clean up the documents so they are more accurate. Don't get me started on the documents with handwriting on  them ... I know there's not much to be done about that. Anyway, tips on optimizing the accuracy of the Adobe Pro OCR engine would be greatly appreciated.
 Thanks.

Melissa

Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 26, 2016, at 12:33 PM, Sybren Hoekstra via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I agree. Much more effective to use the jaws find command. Ditto for searching ms word docs.
> 
> It sounds like you are working with an entire record of a case or many exchanges between parties condensed into one massive pdf. That sucks. I have had to deal with records from administrative agencies presented that way. The only way i have used to get around them efficiently is to use bookmarks after doing ocr conversion. But that is in kurzweil 1000. I think you can create bookmarks in ms word as well. 
> 
> If you are at a firm though where you dont yet have the clout to influence how documents are sent by opposing counsel, the only real answer for some problems will be sighted assistance. Make friends with paralegals. Thats my advice.  Also, make sure to learn as much as possible about how you can alter the settings of your ocr engine to get better results.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Aug 26, 2016, at 11:55, Karla Gilbride via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Rahul,
>> 
>> When I work with pdfs, I use the JAWS find command ((insert+control+f) and
>> it works much better than the regular find command in Adobe. Hope this
>> helps.
>> 
>> Karla
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rahul Bajaj
>> via BlindLaw
>> Sent: Friday, August 26, 2016 9:13 AM
>> To: Gregory Chang Patti
>> Cc: Rahul Bajaj; Blind Law Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Questions about Reading Large Documents
>> 
>> Hi Patti,
>> 
>> Thank you for your helpful response.
>> I am assuming that by accessible copies you mean accessible PDFs. Are you
>> able to work with large PDF documents without much difficulty?
>> More specifically, are you able to use the find command in Adobe Reader in
>> an efficient fashion, considering that it does not work well with JAWS?
>> Further, it is also very difficult to copy text from a PDF document, so that
>> is why I generally prefer using Word documents.
>> Finally, have you configured Adobe Reader to read the entire document in a
>> consolidated fashion, or do you instead use the single-page view option?
>> Your responses to these 3 questions will be incredibly useful. Thank you.
>> 
>> Best,
>> Rahul
>> 
>>> On 26/08/2016, Gregory Chang Patti <pattischang at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I have sometimes asked opposing counsel to send me an accessible copy.  
>>> I matter of factly explain the conversion issues and let them know 
>>> that I can respond more quickly if they can accommodate me.  The 
>>> majority have had no problem doing so.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> "Every day we raise the expectations of blind people in the National 
>>> Federation of the Blind.  Live the Life You Want."
>>> 
>>> Patti Gregory Chang
>>> National Federation of the Blind of Illinois, Treasurer NFB 
>>> Scholarship Committee Chair pattischang at gmail.com NFB of IL: 
>>> www.nfbofillinois.org
>>> NFB: www.nfb.org
>>> 
>>> On Aug 26, 2016, at 12:42 AM, Rahul Bajaj via BlindLaw 
>>> <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>> 
>>> I hope this message finds you well.
>>> I wanted to solicit suggestions from you all about the possible 
>>> strategies that I may be able to adopt to deal with the following
>>> challenges:
>>> A. Almost all documents that I am required to read in order to draft 
>>> any written submission in an ongoing litigation are in the form of 
>>> inaccessible PDFs. While FineReader helps me convert these documents 
>>> into word and helps make them partially accessible, the quality of the 
>>> output is still not up to the mark. More specifically, I face the 
>>> following 2 problems:
>>> 1. Tables in the original PDF get disintegrated into several parts 
>>> which makes it difficult to make sense of the information that they 
>>> contain; 2. Since the devil is always in the detail, it is critical to 
>>> access specific bits of information such as the date on which a 
>>> certain event happened, the para number of the submission of the other 
>>> party, the precise figures that have been set forth, etc. Even though 
>>> I use Fine Reader 11 and have tried using applications like 
>>> RoboBraille to obtain better conversion results, the final Word 
>>> Document often does not convey such information accurately. For 
>>> instance, if I have to draft a para-wise reply to the other party's 
>>> written submission, I need to know the precise para number in which 
>>> they have set forth a specific assertion. I am unable to do so at this 
>>> juncture.
>>> B. In a large word document, how can I quickly jump to a certain 
>>> document that forms the subject matter of the legal dispute? For 
>>> instance, if I have to quickly refer to a letter that one party may 
>>> have sent to the other, how can I get to that in an expeditious 
>>> fashion? The table of contents delineates the page numbers on which 
>>> various documents can be found, but unlike a PDF, one cannot jump to a 
>>> certain page number in a Word document, as far as I know. Further, the 
>>> sequence of the page numbers also gets disrupted by the conversion 
>>> process from PDF to Word.
>>> 
>>> Would be grateful if anyone could share possible ideas for grappling 
>>> with these challenges.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Rahul
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
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