[Trainer-Talk] Tricky PDF and JAWS issue

[Greg Aikens]

Hi Jim,
I ran into this issue recently with a PDF for a short course I was taking. 

There are security settings that keep JAWS OCR from running and the screen reader from accessing the information. If you go to File > Properties > Security, you can see all of the security settings for the document. One of them is "Copying for accessibility." 

Since you paid for these files, I think it is definitely reasonable to ask him for a copy that is accessible to you. Turning off the security settings is the simplest way to ensure accessibility and surprisingly, it is the one Adobe recommends to fix accessibility issues. That is what I found when doing research on the topic but don't have the link handy. You will have to ask the publisher to do this or to play around with the security settings so you can get access. 

This is how I was able to get access to the document I purchased for my class. It took a few attempts for them to get it right, but they did and I was able to participate. 

Otherwise, I suppose you could print and scan, but that seems like a wasteful solution, both in time and paper. 

Best,

Greg Aikens, M.Ed
BEGIN Program Manager
Center for the Visually Impaired
739 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
404-602-4331



CVI empowers those with vision loss to live with independence and dignity.

-----Original Message-----
From: Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jim Portillo via Trainer-Talk
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2020 9:44 PM
To: Jim Portillo <portillo.jim at gmail.com>
Cc: Jim Portillo <portillo.jim at gmail.com>
Subject: [Trainer-Talk] Tricky PDF and JAWS issue

Greetings,

 

I'll attempt to explain my issue.

I signed up to take a class, and the instructor is suggesting we have a specific book and workbook.  I contacted the publisher, and he said that although he didn't make the book available to people electronically, he would make it available to me provided I agree to some pretty sensible logistics.  He has the original files used to print the books, and they are PDFs.

These files are password protected, so I can view the files but not edit or change them.  I guess there is another password, if I need it, for copying or printing.

I tried reading the file with Adobe Acrobat Reader, but at first, I must not have had some screen reader settings turned on.  I went ahead and set them up and tried rereading the book.  Once it was done processing and I tried reading it, I just kept hearing "blank" whenever I scrolled down.  I had an AIRA agent look at my screen, and he said there were definitely pages of text on my screen, but I guess JAWS wasn't reading them.

I tried doing a JAWS convenient OCR command, but when I tried putting in the password, it didn't like it.

I already paid for these files, so I can't very well return or ask for my money back.  I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if there's something else I can try to get these two books to read.

I was also going to try copying and pasting some of the material into a Word file, but I guess I'll need the second password for that.  I didn't think I would.

Is there perhaps some other setting in Adobe?  I remember having a similar problem in the past, but that particular PDF wasn't locked.  I still couldn't get it to read; although, I was able to get JAWS OCR to read most of it.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate them.

Thanks much.

Jim

 

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