[NFBWATLK] issue with some pdf files

Tue Oct 17 01:12:46 UTC 2017

Mary Ellen's question inspired me to do a little research.  I can hence
offer some solutions.  I run windows 10 with PDF files set to open in Adobe
Reader, 2017 Release | Version 2017.012.20098.  My default browser is Google
Chrome. There are lots of possible combinations, and many of them solved
this problem.  More knowledgeable people can add and perhaps give more
coherence to all this.

when clicking on the link from the mail message, the PDF opens in chrome,
with some controls above and the letter below.  Reading the letter in this
way worked perfectly.  I then downloaded the letter using one of the
aforementioned controls, and read it in Adobe Reader, with the same result
Mary Ellen got.  However, with untagged documents like this one, you get
accessibility choices on opening the document.  You are asked how you want
to open the document.  there are three options, and choosing either option 2
or 3 results in a readable document.

If one has a modern version of Word on the system, in my case Word 2016 from
Office 365, one can open PDF's in Word, either by default or by using the
Open With option from the context menu.  When i tried this, the document
opened fine and was readable, though all space characters were converted to
tabs.  this didn't interfere with a quick read using speech output, and it
is easy to replace tabs with spaces if desired.

One of my favorite tools these days is a little free tool called Codex,
which you can google. Its primary purpose in my life and in that of many
others is to enable effortless conversion of purchased Kindle books into any
of a whole lot of formats.  I often also use it to convert PDF documents to
text, my preferred format.  I ran this one through Codex and got the same
result as with Word, readable, but with tabs where spaces should have been.

I hope some of this is helpful.

Dean

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBWATLK [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mary ellen
via NFBWATLK
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2017 7:44 PM
To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List' <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Mary ellen <gabias at telus.net>
Subject: [NFBWATLK] issue with some pdf files

When I opened the WATAP advisory board recruitment announcement in pdf, many
of the words ran together.  I've experienced the same problem from other
sources, notably the Francophone school board here in BC.

Do any of you with more technical proficiency know if there's a way to open
these files and preserve the spaces between words?  If the problem is in the
conversion, is there something we can suggest to those who produce these
documents that would cause them to be saved in a manner that makes them
readable?  On a very crude level these are accessible, in that all the
letters are there.  However, a line with everything run together into a
single word is not all that readable, especially with a screen reading
program.  It is possible to arrow through a document and guess where the
spaces belong with a reasonable degree of accuracy,
Butitisn'treallyallthateasy,anditiscertainlynotmuchfun!

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBWATLK [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Nightingale, Noel via NFBWATLK
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2017 10:45 AM
To: nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Nightingale, Noel
Subject: [NFBWATLK] Advisory Council Recruitment

From: Olson, Toby (ESD) [mailto:TOlson2 at ESD.WA.GOV]
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2017 1:37 PM
To: GCDE-INFO at LISTSERV.WA.GOV<mailto:GCDE-INFO at LISTSERV.WA.GOV>
Subject: FW: [Watap-ac] Advisory Council Recruitment

From: Alan J. Knue [mailto:aknue at uw.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2017 1:07 PM
To: Olson, Toby (ESD) <TOlson2 at ESD.WA.GOV<mailto:TOlson2 at ESD.WA.GOV>>
Subject: FW: [Watap-ac] Advisory Council Recruitment

Hello Toby,

I have attached a recruitment letter for the WATAP Advisory Council- would
you be willing to share this with your networks, on social media, and with
individuals you think might be interested in joining the council? The
announcement is located on the WATAP website at:

http://watap.org/news/new-watap-recruiting-our-advisory-council

And a direct link to the letter on-line is at:

http://watap.org/sites/watap/files/files/WATAP%20Advisory%20Council%20Recrui
tment%202017.pdf

Thank much, Alan

Alan J. Knue
--
Director
Washington Assistive Technology Act Program University of Washington Center
for Technology and Disability Studies Box 357920 Seattle, WA 98195-7920
206.685.6836

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