Category: Geeks r Us
I've tried Adobi Reader, and it works great sometimes, but there are many other instances where it can't seem to associate with the file. Are there any other programs you would recommend?
how about foxit reader?
Is Foxit reader accessible to screenreaders? My experience is no, so I'd love to be corrected on this.
If the file is not an image to can be read by pdf2txt
http://www.empowermentzone.com/p2tsetup.exe
Your actually better off not having adobe installed; it's bloated and a security risk.
I use "a pdf text extractor" to export all my pdf's to plain text files, or if the conversion doesn't go overly well I just use foxit.
What do you mean it does not associate with a file? Do you mean a pdf file does not open in Adobe, or do you mean it opens and Adobe says there is no text?
What version of Adobe reader do you have installed, and what screen reader are you using?
I have excellent experience with Adobe 9 and Jaws 11 or NVDA. If the underlying .pdf file is a scanned picture there is nothing you can do with any software except an OCR process like Omnipage or Kurzweil 1000, no pdf reading software can do anything about it.
I disagree on the security risk, it is very minor, if really anything, and it is not bloated compared with many programs that read pdf files.
Adobe have been very active in accessibility with a strong presence at all the major technology exhibitions, and if there is a systematic problem you are seeing with their latest version and certain files, definitely report it to their accessibility team.
Of course you can use non-Adobe software, if I come across a good one I´ll post it.
I mean when I open adobi, it says there is no text.
Foxit reader isn't accessible.
If you open a file and adopy and Jaws say that there is no text you can try to do save as txt in the file menu of Adopy reader and open the txt file with notepad.
try using Accessible and WebbIE! there is a pdf reader in there...
if you are using windows as well you can print the file to the windows xps viewer which will perform an OCR process and pull text out of it which you should then be able to view in a word processor.
I've had no problems with using Adobe, and for some things Adobe is necessary...
heard kurzweil is doing a good job on it.
heard that It can convert pdf to text or audio as well.
Raaj.
I personally avoid pdfs whenever possible and don't have Adobe installed. That said, Kurzweil and the Accessible Pdf reader, as suggested by rusty81, most do a good job of converting them. You can find Accessible PDF here, though it's bundled with other software. Still, it's fairly easy to remove the other programs if you don't want them. Personally, I love the whole package, though WebbIE isn't as compatible with the newer Internet Explorers as with the older ones.
http://www.webbie.org.uk/
I am starting to gain a respect for pdf.
how about .epub format?
is there a accessible reader for us?
or a converter to another format?
Like I said .. if a pdf file is made inaccessible initially, only OCR technology can read it, such as Kurzweil 1000 or Open Book.
If a pdf file is tagged correctly in the beginning Acrobat Reader does an excellent job of reading it with Jaws and NVDA at least. Even forms in pdf format can easily be filled in in forms mode.
Hal does not do a good job of it and neither does Orca, I am not sure about Window Eyes but believe they work well with Adobe and pdf files.