[NFBCS] opening a PDF document in Windows using a browser like Edge rather than Adobe Acrobat

[Curtis Chong]

Hello John:

 

Adobe Acrobat continues to be my go to when it comes to reading and
processing PDF documents. The fact that you received a blank screen
indicates a setting is not quite right in Adobe's software.

 

A key thing to remember about why using Adobe Reader is truly helpful is
that JAWS can perform OCR against a PDF file if it is opened using Adobe but
not if it is opened in Edge or another browser.

 

There are some accessibility settings that Adobe Reader needs to have set
which, alas, are not the defaults for that program. I'd be glad to work with
you on that offline.

 

Cordially,

 

Curtis Chong

 

 

From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of John Miller via NFBCS
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2024 12:00 PM
To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List' <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: John Miller <johnmillerphd at hotmail.com>
Subject: [NFBCS] opening a PDF document in Windows using a browser like Edge
rather than Adobe Acrobat

 

Hello,

I had some challenges reviewing my e-mailed hotel confirmation for attending
the NFB convention this July at the Rosen Center Hotel.

I called the phone number, placed the reservation on my credit card, and
wrote down the room confirmation number.

This has been my practice from prior years.

Thinking about how terrible it would be if the reservation was made for the
wrong month or something I went to review the e-mailed confirmation.

First it went to my junk e-mail but I easily grabbed the e-mail from there.

In past years confirmations would have the information in the body of the
e-mail but this one came as an attached PDF with the name of the PDF the
reservation number.

On my Windows computer I opened the PDF in Adobe Acrobat. This was not very
satisfying.  The application just said blank when I asked for it to read the
document.

Next I navigated to the attached document with my iPhone.

The PDF opened easily and I reviewed a 2 row several column table.

This seems to be a more and more common way to relay vital travel
information.

The header for each column was the date and on row 2 was the dollar value
for the reserved stay on that night.

 

I asked a blind colleague how to get a good experience examining a PDF
document such as this room reservation using Windows.

My colleague told me to open the PDF with any browser such as edge.

For example, save the attachment to the downloads folder, navigate to the
downloads folder, tap the applications key, arrow down to open with and
select edge.

In Edge all the information was there and easy for me to review.

I look forward to quickly reviewing future documents in a browser such as
Edge.

I just dodged the confusion for blind people caused by Adobe Acrobat once
more.

I also look forward to helping Adobe Acrobat increase its accessibility.

Very best,

John

 

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