[community] Alternatives to PDF

[Nell Chitty]

I'm just going to hop into this discussion to follow-up on Lisa's point -
InDesign.

InDesign is great for creating accessible documents, but the designer must
know how to use InDesign's features properly and how to do post-export work
in Acrobat and/or other application. If they haven't been keeping abreast
with the changes in the software, it will be a steep learning curve - but
well worth it. Not only do these practices help designers to create
beautiful accessible documents, but also work more efficiently in other
aspects of their work once they have the skills mastered, such as the
proper use of heading structure, styles, interactivity, and scripts.

Here are some resources that InDesign users may find helpful:

   - InDesign Secrets <https://indesignsecrets.com/>: this is a fantastic
   resource for all things InDesign. Membership includes access to
   their magazine, which recently included volumes dedicated to accessibility
   and Acrobat.
   - Lynda.com has superb tutorials on InDesign, including one for long
   documents I highly recommend for accessibility best practises, and
   tutorials specific to accessibility. You can access for free with your
   local library card, LinkedIn, or other avenues.
   - Accessibility of Office Documents and Office Applications
   <http://adod.idrc.ocad.ca/node/1>: Basic instructions for InDesign
   - Adobe Accessibility <http://www.adobe.com/accessibility.html>: Adobe’s
   documentation on accessibility (they make it look way easier than it really
   is – so don’t get too excited when you read their guides)
   - Adobe’s user forums <https://forums.adobe.com/welcome> are excellent
   sources for information on accessibility. If you are having an issue,
   chances are someone else has too – and solved it!
   - Making electronic documents accessible:
   <https://mn.gov/mnit/programs/accessibility/electronic-documents.jsp>
resources
   and handy ‘Quick Tips’ cards
   <https://mn.gov/mnit/assets/CompleteSetAccessibilityQuickCards2017_tcm38-294078.pdf>
    you can print for Microsoft Office products and Adobe InDesign and
   Acrobat.
   - Section 5 Oh 8 <http://section5oh8.com/>: Here you will find resources
   for designers by a designer. Dax Castro has composed a series of videos and
   articles on creating accessible documents in InDesign.
   - AcceDe PDF Project <http://www.pdf-accessible.com/en/>: guidelines and
   exercise files in French and English for making PDF documents accessible
   - Accessibility of Office Documents and Office Applications
   <http://adod.idrc.ocad.ca/node/1>: Basic instructions for creating
   accessible PDFs with Acrobat Pro
   - A List Apart – PDF Tags
   <http://alistapart.com/d/pdf_accessibility/PDFtags.html>: handy list of
   PDF tags and their purpose - very useful`

Best,

Nell

Nell Chitty | Toronto, ON | nellchitty at gmail.com | +1-647-973-3266
<16479733266> | <http://www.nellchitty.com/>www.nellchitty.com


On Wed, 10 Jun 2020 at 09:00, L Snider <lsnider at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Teresa,
>
> Some people are creating EPUBs, and they can be made very accessible.
> However, the EPUB viewers/readers themselves are still problematic in
> terms of accessibility. This is why EPUB, in my view, will never gain
> traction because the viewer has to be accessible. The only one that
> was fairly good may come back but most people I know didn't use it.
> Also, currently (as of the date of my email), InDesign produces some
> of the most accessible PDFs possible. This applies to the newest
> version of InDesign, not previous versions prior to 2019. In my
> personal opinion it is the best out there today. Of course, PDFs can
> be problematic for many people, but in my view businesses won't stop
> using them any time soon.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Cheers
>
> Lisa
>
> On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 9:50 AM Teresa L <teresa.lee at alumni.utoronto.ca>
> wrote:
> >
> > Good morning all!
> >
> > Just wanted to field for your input on PDF alternatives. What do you do
> within your organization when PDFs cannot be accessible due to known issues
> with InDesign - especially for a large document?
> >
> > Thanks always for your support!
> >
> > Kindly,
> > Teresa
> >
> >
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