WHAT IS A PDF FILE?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. PDF files are widely used for the World Wide Web and are also used to distribute electronic documents over networks, via e-mail or CD-ROM. This format is universally used because it preserves all the fonts, formatting, colors, and graphics of any source document, regardless of the application and the platform used to create it.

There are two common types of PDF documents:

1. Text Files (from word processors, desktop publishing software, etc) that have been converted to PDF files.
2. Scanned images of text.

PDF documents converted from a word processing program using Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or newer versions will be accessible PDF only if Adobe’s Accessibility plug-in for Acrobat 5.0 has been installed. You can find this file at: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1161. It is important to note that even when a file is converted to a PDF accessible file, the original document (MS Word or Word Perfect) in many cases has a better quality resolution and format than a PDF document. This plug-in has already been installed on your computer for the purposes of this tutorial.

Scanned images of text are not accessible to all users. People using assistive technology such as a screen reader (software that reads aloud the information on the screen to the user) have no access to the information in a scanned PDF because the information is presented as an image only. People with vision impairments and learning disabilities thus have no access to the information at all; their screen readers only detect an image and read the word “blank” to them.

How do I create accessible PDF files from a text-only file of MS Word and WordPerfect version?

To create accessible PDF files from MS Word or WordPerfect you need to be sure that you have Adobe PDFWriter and not just the Adobe Acrobat Reader. To check if you have this program:
a) Open Word or WordPerfect,
b) Go to File, and choose Print.
c) There, check in the first pull down menu (printers available) whether or not at the bottom of the list of printers you have a printer option called “Adobe PDFWriter”, if you have it, then you can use this tutorial. Otherwise, please contact the computer support person in your department and ask to install this program for you.

After being sure that you have Adobe PDFWriter as a printer option in your list of printers available, follow the next steps.

How do I convert a MS Word and WordPerfect text-only document into an accessible PDF file? (FIRST TIME USERS)

Step One: Open your word document. Go to File, then select Print.

Step Two: Under the print drop-down menu, click over Acrobat at PDF Writer. Then, click over Properties.

Step Three: On the Page Setup Tab choose page size and select the orientation desired (letter size is the default). Next, verify that the graphic resolution is set to screen and the scaling is set to 100%.

Step Four: Select all of the options offered. Under "Color/Greyscale Images" choose JPEG Medium. Under the "Monochrome Images" list, CCIT Group 4.

Step Five: Click the Font Embedding Tab, then check the Embedded All Fonts option. Finally, click OK.

Step Six: Click OK on the print screen.

Step Seven: Scroll through the "Save in" list to find the location in which you want to save the file. Give your file a name and then click Save.

Step Eight: Close Word. Next, open the folder containing your saved PDF file. Your file should be located there.

That’s it. You have created an accessible PDF file from MS Word or WordPerfect!

 

The next time you want to convert a text-only document from MS Word or WordPerfect into An accessible PDF file all you need to do is:

1. Open your word document, go to File and select Print.
2. Under the printer drop-down menu, click to select Acrobat PDFWriter
3. Click OK on the print screen.
4. Select the location where you want to save the file,
5. Name your file and click on Save, and that’s it.
   

1. Open your MS Word file that contains graphics.
2. Make a text-only version of the content of your PDF file in Word or Word Perfect, substituting text descriptions for the images embedded in the file.
3. When you post your PDF file to a website, place a parallel link to the new accessible, text-only Word or WordPerfect document near the PDF link.

1. Open your MS Word file that contains graphics.
2. Make a text-only version of the content of your PDF file in Word or Word
   Perfect, substituting text descriptions for the images embedded in the file.
3. When you post your PDF file to a website, place a parallel link to the new
   accessible, text-only Word or WordPerfect document near the PDF link.