Section Three: Using the accessibility features of Adobe Reader

Performing an accessibility Quick Check

The Quick Check tool in Adobe® Reader® 7.0 performs a simple, automated assessment to determine the overall accessibility of an Adobe PDF document and returns a brief statement of what it finds. The Quick Check determines whether the PDF document is tagged or untagged (which can affect how logically a screen reader or other tool presents the content), whether it's a scanned image (and therefore inaccessible), or whether it includes protection settings that prohibit assistive technology from accessing it.

Keep in mind that PDF documents vary greatly in their tagging, underlying structure, and complexity. Some documents that pass the Quick Check may still be difficult to read with a screen reader or in Reflow view. Other documents that are reported to have potential reading order problems may in fact be easy to read with these tools.

To check a PDF document by using the accessibility Quick Check tool:

Choose Document > Accessibility Quick Check, or press Ctrl+Shift+6 (Windows) or Command+Shift+6 (Mac OS).

A message reporting that Quick Check detected accessibility issues

The five Quick Check results

An accessibility Quick Check provides one of five results in Adobe Reader, each of which is explained below.

"This document has logical structure but it is not a Tagged PDF. Some accessibility information may be missing."

Quick Check has found an underlying document structure in the document, so Adobe Reader will use the available document structure to control the reading order, rather than analyze the document itself. However, this untagged document structure may be incomplete or unreliable, so assistive technology and the accessibility features in Adobe Reader (such as the Read Out Loud tool and the Save As Text feature) may not read the page properly. If the reading order of the page seems to be illogical when you use assistive technology or one of Adobe Reader's features, go to the Reading category of the Preferences dialog box and select the option to Override The Reading Order In Tagged Documents. See "Selecting the reading order of text".

"This document is not structured, so the reading order may not be correct. Try different reading orders using the Reading Preferences panel."

Quick Check has found no underlying document structure that Adobe Reader can use for reading order. Adobe Reader will analyze the reading order of the document as best it can by using the current analysis method set in preferences, but this PDF document might cause problems for screen readers. If a screen reader doesn't seem to be reading the pages properly, go to the Reading category of the Preferences dialog box and select a different option for the Reading Order. See "Selecting the reading order of text".

"No accessibility problems were detected in this quick check."

In general, Quick Check has found that the PDF document is tagged, has an underlying document structure, and has no security settings that prohibit access for screen readers. This PDF document shouldn't cause problems for assistive technology and Adobe Reader's accessibility features. If you do have trouble (for instance, if figures or links are missing descriptions), go to the Reading category of the Preferences dialog box and select the option to Override The Reading Order In Tagged Documents. See "Selecting the reading order of text".

"This document's security settings prevent access by screen readers."

Quick Check has found that the PDF document has security settings that prohibit access for screen readers. You may be able to use a screen reader with this document if your assistive technology product is registered with Adobe as a Trusted Agent. Contact your technology vendor.

"This document appears to contain no text. It may be a scanned image."

Quick Check has found that the PDF document consists only of a graphic, probably because the file was scanned to PDF as an image. There is no editable text, so you cannot use screen readers, another text-to-speech tool, or Reflow view to read the document.

Using the Read Out Loud tool

Read Out Loud is a text-to-speech tool that presents text in a document window as audio output from Adobe Reader. This functionality is useful if you do not have a screen reader, but it is not meant to replace screen reader technology. A screen reader enables audio output for navigating a computer's user interface, which the Read Out Loud tool cannot do. In Windows, Read Out Loud can work with the Narrator accessibility tool.

For instructions on setting preferences for the Read Out Loud tool, see "Setting Read Out Loud preferences".

Note: Some systems may not support the Read Out Loud tool.

Understanding how the Read Out Loud tool works

You can use the Read Out Loud tool to read aloud as many pages of an Adobe PDF document as you want. Read Out Loud reads the text in pop-up comments and alternate text descriptions for images and fillable fields. In tagged or structured PDF documents, it reads content in the order of appearance within the logical structure. In untagged or unstructured documents, it relies on Adobe Reader to analyze the document for reading order based on the option that you select for Reading Order in the Preferences dialog box. See "Selecting the reading order of text" for instructions.

Note: If a PDF document doesn't seem to be reading aloud in the most logical order, the document may not be adequately tagged and structured for optimal reading. To check the document's level of accessibility, follow the instructions under "Performing an accessibility Quick Check". If necessary, select another option for the Reading Order by following the instructions under "Selecting the reading order of text". Then use the Read Out Loud tool again to test the results.

Read Out Loud uses the available voices that are installed in your system. Windows supports only Microsoft Speech Application Programming Interface (SAPI) 4.0 and SAPI 5.0 voices. See "Setting Read Out Loud preferences" for instructions. Consult the documentation for your operating system for more information on the operating system's text-to-speech support.

Using the keyboard to control Read Out Loud

Read Out Loud starts reading from the current page of a PDF document.

To read only the current page, choose View > Read Out Loud > Read This Page Only, or press Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) or Command+Shift+V (Mac OS).
To read to the end of the document, choose View > Read Out Loud > Read To End Of Document, or press Ctrl+Shift+B (Windows) or Command+Shift+B (Mac OS).
To pause reading, choose View > Read Out Loud > Pause, or press Ctrl+Shift+C (Windows) or Command+Shift+C (Mac OS).
To resume reading, choose View > Read Out Loud > Resume, or press Ctrl+Shift+C (Windows) or Command+Shift+C (Mac OS).
To stop reading, choose View > Read Out Loud > Stop, or press Ctrl+Shift+E (Windows) or Command+Shift+E (Mac OS).

Using Reflow view for easy, single-column reading

In Adobe Reader, you can temporarily reflow the contents of an Adobe PDF document to read the document as a single column of text that fits across the width of the document pane. When a document is in Reflow view, you do not have to scroll horizontally to read each line, because the text wraps to fit within the margins of the document window.

Reflow view facilitates the reading of documents on the screen, especially when they have multiple columns or you are reading them at a high magnification. You can't save or print documents while Adobe Reader is in Reflow view.

You must display pages in either the Single Page or Continuous layout view to use Reflow view. Pages that are displayed side by side (called facing pages in Adobe Reader) can't be reflowed.

Most text is available in Reflow view. However, forms, comments, digital signature fields, and page artifacts-such as page numbers, headers, and footers-are not part of a reflowed document. Pages that contain both readable text and form or digital signature fields also do not reflow.

Note: Reflow view is well suited to be combined with automatic scrolling through pages. See "Using automatic scrolling".

A two panel view of the same document. The left side is formatted with special fonts and a columnar layout. The right panel shows the text of the document reflowed, now appearing as normal in-line text.

In Reflow view, headings and columns (left) in a tagged PDF document are reflowed in a logical reading order into one column across the width of the document pane (right).

To activate Reflow view:

If you are currently viewing the document as facing pages, choose View > Page Layout > Single Page or Continuous (in Windows, press Alt+V, press L, and then press S or C).
Choose View > Reflow, or press Ctrl+4 (Windows) or Command+4 (Mac OS).

Using the keyboard to control Reflow view

To increase magnification in Reflow view, press Ctrl+plus sign (+) (Windows) or Command+plus sign (+) (Mac OS).
To decrease magnification in Reflow view, press Ctrl+minus sign (-) (Windows) or Command+minus sign (-) (Mac OS).
To exit Reflow view, either press Ctrl+4 (Windows) or Command+4 (Mac OS), or select any other view, such as Actual Size (Ctrl+1 in Windows, Command+1 in Mac OS), Fit Page (Ctrl+0 in Windows, Command+0 in Mac OS), or Fit Width (Ctrl+2 in Windows, Command+2 in Mac OS).

Using automatic scrolling

The automatic scrolling feature makes scanning through long Adobe PDF documents easier, especially when the documents are in Reflow view. Because this feature scrolls pages vertically, not horizontally, it may be difficult to use with multicolumn documents that have not been reflowed. This tool doesn't have the same flexibility to scroll and pan as screen magnification software does, but it is still useful for people with mobility impairments. You can specify the speed of automatic scrolling.

Using the keyboard to control automatic scrolling

To start automatic scrolling, choose View > Automatically Scroll, or press Ctrl+Shift+H (Windows) or Command+Shift+H (Mac OS).
To change the scrolling speed, press a number key: 9 for the fastest speed, 0 for the slowest speed (not stopped). You can also press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key to increase or decrease scrolling speed.
To reverse the direction of the scrolling, press the minus sign (-) key.
To navigate the document while in automatic scrolling mode, use the usual navigation methods, such as the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys, the Page Up and Page Down keys, and the navigation buttons on the status bar.
To stop automatic scrolling, either choose View > Automatically, or press Esc, or press Ctrl+Shift+H (Windows) or Command+Shift+H (Mac OS).

Saving an Adobe PDF document as text

Adobe Reader provides the ability to extract the text of an Adobe PDF document as text so that alternative translation technologies can read the text. For instance, you might open a text file by using Braille translation software and print it to a Braille embossing printer. A text version of a PDF document contains no images or multimedia objects, although it contains alternate descriptions for images.

For best results when saving text for use with alternative translation technologies, first choose the Reading Order preference that best reflects the appropriate reading order of the document. See "Selecting the reading order of text" for instructions.

To use an alternative translation technology to read a text file, see the documentation for the translation device.

Note: If the alternative translation technology doesn't seem to read a PDF document that has been saved as text in the most logical order, the PDF document may not be adequately tagged and structured for optimal conversion to text. To check the document's level of accessibility, follow the instructions under "Performing an accessibility Quick Check". If necessary, select another option for the Reading Order by following the instructions under "Selecting the reading order of text". Then save the document as accessible text again to test the results.

Save dialog with "Save as type:" option set to "Text (Accessible)"

The Save As dialog box, where you can save a PDF document as text for use with alternative translation technologies

To save a PDF document as accessible text:

Choose File > Save As Text (in Windows, press Alt+F, and then press V).
In the Save As dialog box, do one of the following:
- In Windows: Activate the Save As Type drop-down menu (press Alt+T), and choose Text (Accessible) (*.txt).
- In Mac OS: Activate the Format pop-up menu, and choose Text (Accessible).
Name the file and locate the drive and folder where the file should be stored.
Select Save (in Windows, press Alt+S).