[blindlaw] Internal Office Procedure for Making Documents Accessible to Screen Readers

Thu Jan 21 18:59:33 UTC 2016

P.S.

You can download a free trial of Abbyy Finereader from the companies
web site.  I certainly don't make any money for recommending them, but
considering how much I do it, I might have to send them an invoice. :)

Aaron

On 1/21/16, Aaron Cannon <cannona at fireantproductions.com> wrote:
> Abbyy Finereader does exactly what you want.  Running a document
> through Abbyy will allow you to then create a PDF that looks exactly
> the same as the original, except that it will have an added, but
> invisible text layer that screen readers can read.  This is also an
> extra bonus for everyone, because it now means that that PDF file will
> also be searchable.  Abbyy can also save the recognized text as a Word
> document, an epub ebook, as text, or even as HTML.  Abbyy will do its
> best to maintain the original document layout, regardless of which
> format you save it to.  Obviously, it will have an easier time of this
> when saving it as a Word doc than it will when saving it to text, but
> it will do its best in either case.
>
> Abbyy's results are pretty darn good as is, but a sighted assistant,
> taking a few seconds, can make things even better, especially when
> working with complex documents.  For instance, sometimes Abbyy will
> mistake line numbers for a column of digits on the left side, rather
> than something that is attached to each line.  The fix for this is to
> simply redraw the detected document areas, but unfortunately, as far
> as I know, this can only be done with the mouse.  However, if all the
> pages are the same in a document, this can be done once and applied to
> each page.  You can also create and save templates if scanning many
> documents of the same general layout.
>
> I believe that the Abbyy engine is what is used by the KNFB reader
> internally, though I'm not certain about that.
>
> You can get Omnipage for a bit less, but I prefer Abbyy simply because
> it has come out on top in almost every head-to-head accuracy test.
>
> Finally, one other thing to consider is how documents are created.
> Obviously, this is often out of your control, but when it isn't,
> you're obviously going to have the best results getting as close to
> the original as possible.  In other words, a .doc or .docx file > .pdf
> saved from Word > .pdf created by your print to PDF option > scanned
> paper document.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Aaron
>
> On 1/21/16, Tai Tomasi via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> I do have KNFB Reader for iPhone, but find it insufficient for batch
>> scanning large volumes of material. It is not as thorough as other
>> scanning
>> solutions. My impression is that it is  meant more for accessing
>> documents
>> when one does not have access to a stand-alone scanner. I am using a
>> Fujitsu
>> FI-6220 which has an automatic document feeder. My issue is that a
>> paralegal
>> is willing to scan materials for me using the company's copier/scanner.
>> She
>> has attempted to do so, but the PDF scans that result are inaccessible. I
>> then have to run them through OCR using Kurzweil 1000 which doesn't
>> preserve
>> the visual integrity of the document. At that point, I might as well do
>> the
>> initial scans myself, rather than taking up the paralegal's time. Of
>> course,
>> I am willing to do this for myself, but I am looking for suggestions so
>> that
>> the paralegal's initial scan can be useful for myself as a blind user and
>> for everyone in the office as a searchable PDF with all visual elements
>> intact. I hope this makes some sense.
>>
>>
>> Tai Tomasi, J.D.
>> Staff Attorney
>>
>>
>>
>> 400 East Court Ave., Ste. 300
>> Des Moines, Iowa 50309
>> Tel: 515-278-2502; Toll Free: 1-800-779-2502
>> FAX: 515-278-0539; Relay 711
>> E-mail: tomasi at driowa.org
>> www.driowa.org
>>
>> Our Mission:  To defend and promote the human and legal rights of Iowans
>> with disabilities
>>
>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
>>
>> This e-mail and any attachments contain information from the law firm of
>> Disability Rights Iowa and are intended solely for the use of the named
>> recipient(s). This e-mail may contain privileged attorney-client
>> communications or work product. Any dissemination by anyone other than an
>> intended recipient is prohibited. If you are not a named recipient, you
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>> prohibited from any further viewing of the e-mail or any attachments or
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>> any
>> printouts.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shannon
>> via
>> blindlaw
>> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 12:23 PM
>> To: 'Blind Law Mailing List' <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Shannon <sbg at sbgaal.com>
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Internal Office Procedure for Making Documents
>> Accessible to Screen Readers
>>
>> What OCR software do you use?  Is KNFB reader an available program for a
>> windows based operating system?
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Shannon Brady Geihsler
>>
>> Law Office of Shannon Brady Geihsler, PLLC
>> 1001 Main St., Suite 803
>> Lubbock, Texas 79401
>> Office:  (806) 763-3999
>> Mobile:  (806) 781-9296
>> Fax:  (806) 749-3752
>> E-Mail:  sbg at sbgaal.com
>> This email may contain material that is confidential, privileged and/or
>> attorney work product for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any
>> review, reliance or distribution by others or forwarding without express
>> permission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient,
>> please contact the sender and delete all copies.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gerard
>> Sadlier via blindlaw
>> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 11:52 AM
>> To: Blind Law Mailing List
>> Cc: Gerard Sadlier
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Internal Office Procedure for Making Documents
>> Accessible to Screen Readers
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I receive pdfs and run them through ocr software to make them accessible
>> myself. I find it helpful to have pdfs available to me, particularly when
>> I
>> need to share them with the other side in litigation. Text files would
>> not
>> be appropriate for that purpose.
>> Kind regards
>>
>> Ger
>>
>> On 1/21/16, Dan Beitz via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> I OCR PDF documents with omnipage.  It works great because you just go
>>> to the document you want to OCR, hit the context menu key, choose
>>> omnipage, and the document is converted and automatically given the
>>> same name with a different document extension by omnipage.  My
>>> paralegal will sometimes convert documents for me with Adobe, but this
>> doesn't work as well.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Daniel K. Beitz
>>> Wienner & Gould, P.C.
>>> 950 University Dr., Ste. 350
>>> Rochester, MI  48307
>>> Phone:  (248) 841-9405
>>> Fax:  (248) 652-2729
>>> dbeitz at wiennergould.com
>>>
>>> www.wiennergould.com
>>>
>>> This email transmission and any documents, files or previous email
>>> messages attached to it may contain confidential information that is
>>> legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient or the
>>> individual responsible for delivering this email to the intended
>>> recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or
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>>> attached to this email is strictly prohibited.  Should you receive
>>> this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying
>>> to the sender of this email or by telephoning us at (248) 841-9400.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tai
>>> Tomasi via blindlaw
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 12:40 PM
>>> To: DRBA at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>>> Cc: Tai Tomasi; Blind Law Mailing List
>>> Subject: [blindlaw] Internal Office Procedure for Making Documents
>>> Accessible to Screen Readers
>>>
>>> Hello all. I am blind and just began working as a staff attorney for
>>> Disability Rights Iowa. I use the JAWS for Windows screen reader. I am
>>> interested to know your internal office protocols for making scanned
>>> legal documents accessible to your blind employees who use screen
>>> readers. This usually involves some sort of text tagging or OCR
>>> (optical character recognition).
>>> I envision an office in which all documents are eventually
>>> electronically accessible and ultimately searchable by all employees.
>>> The PDFs produced by my office scanner/copier are inaccessible,
>>> necessitating the extra step of running them through scanning software
>>> myself. Blind attorneys, how do you handle this? My employer is very
>>> willing to accommodate, but I am not sure what to recommend, given
>>> they know little about these advanced technology issues. I would like
>>> to correspond off list regarding detailed procedures (i.e. software,
>>> hardware, and recommended settings) for remedying this problem, as I
>>> need to give them to our copier and tech support companies who know
>>> nothing about adaptive technology. My state department for the blind
>>> says I need to work directly with the copier company. Your input is
>> appreciated.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Tai Tomasi, J.D.
>>> Staff Attorney
>>>
>>> [Description: DR%20IA%20LawCenter]
>>>
>>> 400 East Court Ave., Ste. 300
>>> Des Moines, Iowa 50309
>>> Tel: 515-278-2502; Toll Free: 1-800-779-2502
>>> FAX: 515-278-0539; Relay 711
>>> E-mail: tomasi at driowa.org<mailto:tomasi at driowa.org>
>>> www.driowa.org
>>>
>>> Our Mission:  To defend and promote the human and legal rights of
>>> Iowans with disabilities
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
>>>
>>> This e-mail and any attachments contain information from the law firm
>>> of Disability Rights Iowa and are intended solely for the use of the
>>> named recipient(s). This e-mail may contain privileged attorney-client
>>> communications or work product. Any dissemination by anyone other than
>>> an intended recipient is prohibited. If you are not a named recipient,
>>> you are prohibited from any further viewing of the e-mail or any
>>> attachments or from making any use of the e-mail or attachments. If
>>> you have received this e-mail in error, notify the sender immediately
>>> and delete the e-mail, any attachments, and all copies from any drives
>>> or storage media and destroy any printouts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>