Question 15: Are PDF files only used as an alternate format?

What does this mean?

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a popular method for electronically distributing documents worldwide. Documents saved in this format retain the same fonts, graphics, colours and layouts as when originally created.

The Treasury Board of Canada Standard 1.2 requires using PDF files (minimum version 2.1) only as an alternate format. That is, users must have a choice which format they use-HTML version, Word document, text (ASCII), or PDF.

Why does this present a problem?

Because some PDF files are simply scanned images of printed pages, people using screen readers are not able to read these documents. Even though Adobe offers free PDF-to-HTML or PDF-to-ASCII text conversion services (see Online Conversion Tools for Adobe PDF Documents (http://access.adobe.com/onlinetools.html), not all converted documents are accessible. Tables, graphs, pictures and columnar layout can also cause problems.

What are the solutions?

1. Use PDF files as alternate format

Provide documents in various formats, e.g., HTML and PDF.
Read the booklet How to Create Accessible Adobe PDF Files (http://access.adobe.com/booklet.html).

What is the bottom line?

The bottom line is provide PDF files only as an alternate format to HTML.