Setting multimedia preferences to turn on audio/video descriptions

Multimedia preference settings let you control how a media player presents any subtitles, audio dubbing, or other accessibility features that are part of audio and video files that are attached to an Adobe® PDF document. You can set the following four accessibility preferences:

• Show Subtitles When Available. This option displays subtitles on-screen if they are present in a multimedia file.
• Play Dubbed Audio When Available. This option replaces the vocal track with a vocal track that is in another language.
• Show Supplemental Text Captions When Available. This option displays any text captioning on-screen if it has been embedded in a video file. If captioning is available in different languages, you can also choose the preferred language for this content.
• Show Audio Description (Or Video Description, Or Descriptive Video) When Available. This option succinctly explains visual details that are not apparent from the audio file alone.

You can control media player options in the Multimedia category of the Preferences dialog box.

To set Adobe Reader® to enable multimedia accessibility options, when they are available:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows®, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the Multimedia category (in Windows, press M), and then select any of the following options:
   • Show Subtitles When Available (in Windows, press Alt+S)
   • Play Dubbed Audio When Available (in Windows, press Alt+U)
   • Show Supplemental Text Captions When Available (in Windows, press Alt+T)
   • Show Audio Description (Or Video Description, Or Descriptive Video) When Available (in Windows, press Alt+A)
3. Activate the Preferred Language For Content drop-down menu (in Windows, press Alt+G), and then select a language.

Setting the tab order to match what a screen reader reads

In Adobe Reader, you can use the Tab key to move among focusable items on a page in a tagged Adobe PDF document. Focusable items are links, form fields, and comments. An underlying tab order, added by the author of the tagged PDF document, determines where the next press of the Tab key will take you on a page.

Some tagged documents, however, don't specify a tab order. In such a case, Adobe Reader first tabs through all form fields on the page, and then through all links, and then through all comments. This tab order may not match what the screen reader reads aloud as you read the page in order.

If a PDF document is tagged and on-screen content does not match the screen reader content when you tab, you can instruct Adobe Reader to use the document structure to define the tabbing order. Because the screen reader also uses the document structure to determine what item to read next, Adobe Reader and the screen reader can present the tabbed items in the same order.

This preference can be used only with tagged PDF documents, and it is on by default.

You can instruct Adobe Reader to use a file's document structure for tab order in the Accessibility category of the Preferences dialog box.

To set the tab order to follow the document's structure for tagged documents:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the Accessibility category (in Windows, press A).
3. Select Use Document Structure For Tab Order When No Explicit Tab Order Is Specified (in Windows, press U).

Disabling document auto-save

Adobe Reader has a preference that automatically saves changes to documents at regular intervals (as long as the Adobe PDF document has security settings that permit changes). Each time a PDF document is saved, however, a screen reader or magnifier must reload the document. You may want to disable the auto-save function to improve performance.

You can disable the auto-save feature in the General category of the Preferences dialog box.

To disable the auto-save feature:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the General category (in Windows, press G).
3. Deselect Automatically Save Document Changes To Temporary File Every x Minutes (in Windows, press M).

Note: You can also change this setting on screen 5 of the Accessibility Setup Assistant. There, this option is called Disable Document Auto-Save. See "Running the Accessibility Setup Assistant" for instructions on using the setup wizard.

Setting the display of Adobe PDF documents from the Web

When you open an Adobe PDF document from the Web, Adobe Reader usually displays the document in a browser window, rather than opening it in the Adobe Reader application. Some screen readers or other assistive technology have difficulty reading PDF documents when they are open in a browser window. When using these technologies, you should set Adobe Reader to open web-based PDF documents in Adobe Reader instead of in the browser.

You cannot change this setting while viewing a PDF document in a browser. You must first quit the browser and start Adobe Reader. Once you set this preference and return to the Web, all PDF documents that you select from the Web will start Adobe Reader and open in the application.

Note: If you already ran the Accessibility Setup Assistant from the browser and you chose Use Recommended Settings And Skip Setup instead of selecting the accessibility settings individually, you still need to set this Internet preference manually.

You can set the way that Adobe Reader displays a web-based PDF document in the Internet category of the Preferences dialog box.

To set Adobe Reader to open in its own window for PDF documents on the Web:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the Internet category (in Windows, press I).
3. Do one of the following:
   • In Windows, select Display PDF In Browser, or press Alt+D.
   • In Mac OS, select Display PDF In Browser Using, and then choose Adobe Reader 7.0 from the drop-down menu.

Note: You can also change this setting on screen 5 of the Accessibility Setup Assistant. There, this option is called Display PDF Documents In the web Browser. See "Running the Accessibility Setup Assistant" for instructions on using the setup wizard.

Displaying the keyboard selection cursor at all times

The keyboard selection cursor is the flashing vertical line that indicates where a selection will begin when you use a keyboard to select text. By default, the keyboard selection cursor only appears when you have placed an insertion point in the text by using the Select tool. If you prefer, you can set Adobe Reader to make the keyboard selection cursor available at all times on the current page, without requiring you to activate the Select tool first. This option is useful when you are using a screen magnifier.

After you activate this preference, the keyboard selection cursor appears before the first word (or in a word very close to the first word) of the current page when you open a document. The page display and magnification settings for the document determine the word that Adobe Reader considers to be first word on the page. To locate the cursor quickly, use the keyboard to select a few characters.

You can choose to display the keyboard selection cursor at all times in the Accessibility category of the Preferences dialog box.

To display the keyboard selection cursor at all times:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the Accessibility category (in Windows, press A).
3. Select Always Display The Keyboard Selection Cursor (in Windows, press Alt+D).

Note: You can also set this option in screen 2 of the Accessibility Setup Assistant. There, it is called Always Use The Keyboard Selection Cursor. See "Running the Accessibility Setup Assistant" for instructions on using the setup wizard.

Reopening documents to the last viewed page

In Startup preferences, you can set Adobe Reader to insert a place marker that makes the document open to the page that you were viewing before you closed the document.

You can set documents to open to the page you were last viewing in the Startup category of the Preferences dialog box.

To set Adobe Reader to use place markers for Adobe PDF documents:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the Startup category (in Windows, press S).
3. Activate the Reopen Documents To Last Viewed Page drop-down menu (in Windows, press Alt+V), and then select All Files.

Enabling single-key accelerators

You can alter the functionality of your keyboard by using single-key accelerators. Most keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Reader don't require that you enable this option. The keyboard shortcuts that do require a single-key accelerator are generally used for selecting tools or for working with comments. See "Appendix: Adobe Reader keyboard shortcuts" for keyboard shortcuts.

You can enable single-key accelerators in the General category of the Preferences dialog box.

To turn on single-key accelerators:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
   • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences, or press Ctrl+K, or press Alt+E, and then press N.
   • In Mac OS, choose Adobe Reader > Preferences, or press Command+K.
2. Select the General category (in Windows, press G).
3. Select the option called Use Single-Key Accelerators To Access Tools (in Windows, press Alt+I).

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