<HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m =
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml"><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<STYLE><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY lang=EN-US dir=ltr link=#0563c1 vLink=#954f72>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=4>this is fabulous and tthanks for sharing it
here
on our tech div list serve </FONT></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=njtechdiv@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:njtechdiv@nfbnet.org">Steve & Shannon Cook via
NJTechDiv</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 22, 2020 7:16 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=njtechdiv@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:njtechdiv@nfbnet.org">'New Jersey Technology Division List'</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Cc:</B> <A title=cookcafe@sc.rr.com
href="mailto:cookcafe@sc.rr.com">Steve & Shannon Cook</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [NJTechDiv] ClaroPDF</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal>A Review of ClaroPDF for iOS: An App that Makes PDFs More
Accessible,<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Steve Kelley<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>When was the last time you got a PDF file and opened it
only
to discover that the file was inaccessible? If you could make the text large
enough and you have some vision maybe you could read it visually with some
extra
time. If you use a screen reader, you'd have to dive into your bag of tricks
to
get it converted into a usable file.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>For readers who aren't sure what this is about, here's a
simple PDF primer. A PDF can have two basic formats: an inaccessible image
or an
accessible document. As an image (and the image could be of a document,
magazine
page, webpage, etc.) any text may be readable to someone with vision, but a
computer screen reader will not be able to find the text for reading. PDFs
that
have been made into accessible documents, where text appears as text and not
an
image, can be read by a screen reader. Visually, these two formats can look
the
same. Many apps and applications create PDFs as images, which are not usable
by
everyone.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>As the recipient of many inaccessible PDFs over the years
there are several tools to keep handy—apps like KNFB Reader and Seeing AI,
websites like zamzar.com which will convert various file formats, or more
traditional optical character recognition (OCR) software. There are pros and
cons to each method, and there is always room for another conversion
tool!<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>ClaroPDF is a free iOS app that works well with VoiceOver
and
has been around for several years. It is also available as an Android app
and a
web application. There is also a ClaroPDFPro version available with added
features in the iOS App Store for $9.99.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>ClaroPDF has several features that make it stand out from
other PDF apps. Text-to-speech is built-in, text is highlighted as it's
read,
and if a PDF is an image, it can convert the image to text provided there is
an
Internet connection.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>In addition to the accessibility features for ease of
reading
it has a number of annotation features built-in so notes, highlights,
drawings,
and more can be added to the document and then saved.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Using ClaroPDF<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>You can open a PDF in ClaroPDF from directories on your
iOS
device or cloud services, like Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, and One Drive.
You
can also take a picture and save it as a PDF using the camera. If the PDF is
already text-based, the document will open in a window with a Play/Pause
button
located at the bottom center, which controls text-to-speech playback. Within
Settings on ClaroPDF, speech preferences like voice and reading speed can be
changed, as well as the look of the text being read. The appearance of the
foreground text, background color, and the color used to highlight text are
all
customizable.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>In this reading view, text is highlighted as it is read
and
scrolls automatically across the screen. I did not find a way to change the
text
size or to have the text wrap within the borders of the
window.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Both iOS VoiceOver and Speech can be used to read the
text in
this view, instead of using the Play button, but text highlighting will not
appear, unless the Play button is selected in the app.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The real usefulness of ClaroPDF is when an inaccessible
PDF
is opened—either from a directory or as an attachment to email. The file can
be
opened or shared with ClaroPDF. In this case a dialogue box opens and you
are
advised that the document is an image and contains no text. Options are
provided
to convert the PDF into an accessible PDF. This option requires a connection
to
the Internet, and in the free version requires that you have credits
available
for each page converted. The free version starts with plenty of credits to
convert hundreds of pages, so this will not be an issue for the casual
user.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>During my use of the app, I found mixed results from this
feature. Several times the conversion of the PDF took several minutes or
reported an "error." Sometimes this error was resolved by just processing
the
PDF again. Other times the processing time took less than a minute for a
6-page
document. I tried at various times of the day, using several internet
connections. It is unclear if these errors and delays were just a result of
an
overloaded server or some other problem.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Once the document is processed, several options become
available: you can save the new document, overwrite the inaccessible
document
with the accessible version, or you can read the new document. One of the
advantages ClaroPDF has over other OCR software is that the processed
document
can be saved as an accessible PDF. Other apps will process a PDF or other
image
and read the text, but the processed document is usually in a text or rich
text
(RTF) format.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>ClaroPDF will convert a camera image that includes text
into
an accessible PDF, as well. From the main menu, there is a button labeled
"Add,"
and from the directory listings, a button labeled, "Create Document." Both
options have a submenu that includes "From Camera," and "From Library."
Choosing
"From Camera" opens the camera. Once the picture is taken, two options are
available, "Use" or "Cancel." I took a number of pictures while using the
app,
but it was unclear if they were saved, or in which directory they were
saved.
After I selected "Use" the app automatically reverted to the main ClaroPDF
directory and the image file was not evident in this file folder or in the
Photos app, where image files are usually stored in iOS.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>An alternative route is to take a picture with the Camera
app, which saves to Photos. Then the image will appear as part of the
Library
selection in ClaroPDF. So, instead of choosing the "From Camera," option
from
"Create Document," select "From Library," which opens Photos, where you can
select the image and convert it into an accessible PDF.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>It's worth noting that the "Use Camera," menu option does
not
offer guidance for centering a page of text in the window, like other OCR
apps
like Seeing AI or KNFB Reader do. Additionally, the software did not correct
a
skewed image, so the alignment of the document impacted the accuracy of the
text
recognition. Overall, when a page of text was aligned well, the accuracy of
text
recognition was quite good.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>One of the handiest features built into Claro PDF is the
cloud integration with several of the most popular services, as mentioned
earlier. Files may be opened from these cloud directories, read with
ClaroPDF
text-to-speech, converted to accessible PDFs, and saved to the cloud service
file directory. This feature might simplify the process of ensuring PDF
files
offered on a company or agency's cloud directory are accessible—just convert
them first to text-based PDF files and save them to the cloud
service.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>ClaroPDF worked well with VoiceOver for the most part.
During
the review, two buttons on the main menu in the top right corner were not
labeled. To the right of the "Add" button, the button that opened the most
recently used files, and to the right of that, the button that opened the
cloud
menu options were both labeled simply as "Button."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>For iOS users looking primarily for quick text
recognition
from a print document or an inaccessible PDF, ClaroPDF may not be the best
choice. Other apps may be better suited for quickly lining up an image in
the
camera viewfinder and then consistently processing the image into
text-to-speech. However, if it's important to save the document into an
accessible PDF format, ClaroPDF becomes a better option. As a free app,
ClaroPDF
is a good tool for converting image-based PDF files into more accessible
text-based PDFs. It's free, simple to use, works well with VoiceOver, and
really
performs best when converting an existing image-based PDF into an accessible
PDF. For more information, be sure to check out the ClaroPDF
website.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
_______________________________________________<BR>NJTechDiv mailing
list<BR>NJTechDiv@nfbnet.org<BR>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org<BR>To
unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
NJTechDiv:<BR>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org/jdegen16%40comcast.net<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>