[nabs-l] PDF Files

[minh ha]

I also use Kurzweil to convert pdf's into word documents as they are
easier to read and work with. However, as previously mentioned, they
can become very messy if the pdf itself hasn't been formatted right.
Another option is robobraille. If you go to robobraille.org, upload a
pdf, select your preferences and then type in your email, the site
will convert the file for you ad send the conversion to your email. I
am still amazed at the quality of the conversions all the time and it
saves me time converting a ton of documents in Kurzweil. You should
definitely check it out.

Cheers,
Minh

On 11/4/13, Cindy Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Hannah,
>
> Most of the PDF's that I use are accessible through Adobe's
> accessibility feature. For me, it comes up automatically when I open a
> PDF, but it is under the accessibility tab under the edit menu. There
> are a series of boxes, but I just keep the recommended settings, and
> Adobe does an OCR. I will say that although it is pretty successful
> with text, tables and graphics are messy.
>
> Most commonly, I have a problem with Adobe combining strings of words
> with no spaces or not interpreting a page that has multiple columns as
> such and so I hear paragraphs out of order. Also, I have found that
> hand scanned in documents cannot be read well by the Adobe OCR.
>
> In this case, I use Kerzweil which is an OCR software. There are
> others such as ABBYY Fine Reader. A good OCR option can be considered
> a reasonable accommodation if your state has something comparable to a
> Division of Services for the Blind, so funding is typically available
> for it.
>
> I do not know how to use the OCR function of JAWS 14.
>
> One workaround would be to see if you can find the file somewhere
> else. For example, professors would sometimes give out readings from
> journals and I could find accessible versions on my library's website.
> If they are excerpts from novels, you could look on websites such as
> bookshare.
>
> That being said, I am not well versed at OCR options that are good
> with math, foreign languages, or any subject with symbols. I think
> there is a math solution called Infinty Reader, but this may be for
> textbook scanning.
>
> Cindy
>
> On 11/3/13, Hannah Chadwick <sparklylicious at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hello list,
>> I'm currently using Jaws 14 with my windows 7 pc. It seems that a lot of
>> documents, especially academic ones are in pdf files. I was just
>> wondering
>> how you read these file types? I've been converting most of them in to
>> word
>> files, however when I do, they become very messy. I look forward to your
>> responses.
>> Best, Hannah chadwick
>> University of California, Davis CA
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Cindy Bennett
> Secretary: National Association of Blind Students
>
> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
> clb5590 at gmail.com
>
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