Chapter 5. Scanning Print to PDF: Opportunities and Obstacles for Screen Reader Accessibility

Authors

  • Robert Browder

Abstract

Chapter 5 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 54, no. 4), “Accessibility, Technology, and Librarianship,” Heather Moorefield Lang, Editor

Chapter 5 is titled “Scanning Print to PDF: Opportunities and Obstacles for Screen Reader Accessibility,” by Robert Browder. Scanning printed materials to PDF is a fairly straightforward process that can create previously unrealized accessibility opportunities. PDFs can be shared across the web and often perform well with screen reader technologies that make the content accessible to those with visual impairments. This case study details a scanning and document preparation process used to create screen-reader- accessible PDFs. This study will also touch on accessibility limitations of PDF for different types of content such as text, images, tables, and math.

Author Biography

Robert Browder

Robert Browder is a digital publishing specialist with VT Publishing, a service of Virginia Tech Libraries. Since obtaining his undergraduate degree in information science and systems in 2011 from Radford University, Browder has served in a variety of technology and publishing roles. His work currently focuses on managing resources and workflows associated with the publication of online open-access scholarly journals.

References

“PDF Format Becomes ISO Standard,” International Standards Organization, July 2, 2008, https://www.iso.org/news/2008/07/Ref1141.html.

“Vision Impairment and Blindness,” fact sheet, World Health Organization, last updated October 2017, www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/.

“Facts about Color Blindness,” National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, last updated February 2015, https://nei.nih.gov/health/color_blindness/facts_about.

“Priority Eye Diseases,” World Health Organization, accessed March 8, 2018, www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index8.html.

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Published

2018-05-18

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Chapters