What’s new in Acrobat X accessibility

Adobe® Acrobat® X software includes new accessibility features that improve the performance of Acrobat when it interacts with assistive technologies such as screen readers. New accessiblity features available in Acrobat X include:

Improved scanning to PDF. Scan and convert paper documents and forms to PDF. Make scanned text searchable automatically with OCR, then check and fix suspected errors. Text can be exported for reuse in other applications.
The Action Wizard which will allow authors to automate routine, multistep tasks into a guided Action for making content accessible. Adobe Acrobat X includes an action for Making PDF Accessible
Accessible Portfolios. Combine a wide range of file types into a polished, organized PDF Portfolio that has accessible navigation.
- MSAA support in the Details Navigator, or Files Mode view
- All Windows MSAA clients, like screen readers and magnifiers, will benefit from the new MSAA support
- Keyboard support in the Details Navigator
  - Tab and Arrow keys navigation.
  - Complex selection with Control key combinations.
  - Enter and Space key control activation.
- Preference -> Accessibility option to show all portfolios in the accessible Files Mode view.
Enhancements to Save As non-PDF functionality
- Significantly improved quality of Save As Word output
- Significantly improved quality of converting a Scanned PDF to Word.
- Ability to export a PDF to DOCX format
- Added ability to export a PDF to Spreadsheet formats (.XLSX)
- Added ability to select a part of a page and export it to editable formats like Word, Excel, HTML etc.
Acrobat X has introduced major enhancements to its user interface. New keyboard shortcuts have been introduced to enable navigation of the Task Panes. The Task Panes are organized by type: Tools, Comment, or Share. The Tools pane contains all of the tools necessary for modifying and manipulating PDF files, including the accessibility tools. The Comment pane allows you to view or add comments. The Share pane allows users to share PDF files online or as email attachments. Navigation through the interface is different than Acrobat 9 for keyboard users, but the following shortcuts will help keyboard users:
- You can access the Tools, Comment, or Share panes from the Acrobat X menu by selecting View > Tools and selecting the appropriate option.
- You can access the Accessibility tools from the Acrobat X menu by selecting View > Tools > Accessibility
- F6/Shift + F6 - Moves focus between the document, Task Pane
- Tab/Shift + Tab - Navigate among panels and panel controls within an open Task Pane
- Up/Down Arrow - Navigate among command buttons within a Panel
- When focus is on a panel
  - Space/Enter and Left/Right Arrow - Expands/Collapses panel
- When focus is on a command
  - Space/Enter - Executes command
  - Left Arrow - Moves focus to the corresponding panel title bar
  - Right Arrow - Same as Down Arrow
- When focus is on a command with a sub-menu or sub-menu element with a flyout
  - Space/Enter - Open the menu and move the focus to the first menu option
- When focus is on an element of a sub-menu
  - Esc - Move the focus back to the parent command button
  - Space/Enter - Executes command

What’s new in Acrobat X accessibility

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