[Pibe-division] pwanted peoples advice to take autism workshop have asked for registration materials to be sent in alternate format rather than pdf

[Steve Jacobson]

Sara,

There is not a simple answer to this question.  Many of us prefer not to use Adobe's Acrobat Reader to 
read documents by preference, but in general it is accessible.  It probably doesn't hold water for us to 
categorically say PDF documents are not accessible any more.  Having said that, there are certain kinds 
of PDF documents that are not accessible, particularly those that contain scanned page images.  Such 
documents won't read at all using the Acrobat Reader with a screen reader.  Even here, though, if you 
have K-1000 or Open Book or other optical character recognition program, you can probably turn the 
documents into something you can read more quickly than asking for it in an alternative format.  If you 
have an option like this, then you would have to decide whether you want to raise the accessibility 
issue or not but the law is probably being violated.

There are PDF forms that, if designed correctly, can be filled out by a blind person with a screen 
reader using Acrobat Reader.  However, when most places provide PDF forms, they simply are giving you a 
copy of a form that they intend for you to print out and then complete.  This really isn't accessible.  

In the end, you will have to decide what is worth spending the time and effort to change and what you 
need to do to just move forward.  They should not be allowed to violate the law, but we don't know 
enough for certain that they have violated laws at this point.  It will depend on the way the documents 
were created and whether they took the time to make the forms accessible.  They may have no problem with 
providing you with Word alternatives, but if they don't, you will have to weigh this all out.  You 
should get somewhat familiar with the Adobe Acrobat Reader, though, as it will work all right with many 
documents, and it provides a way for you to save them as text files in many cases.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:35:53 -0400, Sara Rooz wrote:

>Hi educators  and blind consumers:

>I am a certified teacher of the blind and visually impaired and am blind myself. My state education 
department, new York state education department is requiring all certified teachers of the blind and 
visually impaired to take an autism workshop. I have contacted a provider who is willing to email me the 
handouts and I will make sure that these handouts are transcribed into Braille, so I can effectively 
participate in the workshop. However, the registration material is only accessible in a pdf format. I 
have emailed the provider requesting to send me the registration material to sign up for this workshop 
in either Microsoft word or text file. I would like to know from other blind teachers or blind consumers 
if my request is a reasonalable one. Please feel free to comment on my question.

>Sara Rooz

>Certified Teacher of the Blind and Visually Impaired in New York

>Independent Related Service Provider Vision Education Services in New York City

>email: sararooz at gmail.com

>