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Help with PDF's

Introduction / Screen Reader / Help with PDF's / Viewing / Access Keys / Text Size / Feedback

What is a PDF?

The downloadable documents available within this site are in Portable Document Format (often referred to as PDF). A standard adopted by governments and organisations worldwide, PDF is a reliable format for electronic document exchange that preserves document integrity so files can be viewed and printed on a variety of platforms. We chose to make all downloadable documents in this file format for data security and integrity reasons.

How can I open and view a PDF document?

In order to view a PDF document, you need free software called Adobe Acrobat Reader, created by the company called Adobe. You can download a free copy by visiting this link to the Adobe website and following the instructions on-screen:

• http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Please note, PDFs are not easily accessible to all users so Adobe has developed a method of converting PDF documents into HTML (normal web pages), a more accessible format for assistive technologies.

Using Adobe Reader to read out documents

Newer versions of Adobe Reader (version 7 & above) include the ability to read out pdf documents. You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader using the link above.

To activate this, open the pdf, and click on View in the toolbar. From the list, select Read Out Loud and then Activate Read Out Loud.

You can use the same menu to control what is read out loud - read out the page, or the entire document - and to pause and stop it at any time. For an example of how this menu looks in version 8 of Adobe Reader, click on the image on the left.

There are keyboard shortcuts to help, which are as follows:

To change the type of voice used and the speed in which the document is read out, go to the Edit menu, click on Preferences and select Reading from the list on the left.

To download new voices, visit the Texthelp webite.

How do I convert a PDF document into HTML?

The URL (the web address) of a PDF document will appear in the web browser address bar when it is selected. Copy the url (normally looks like this: www . nameofsomething...) and then visit Adobe's website on the link below.

• http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html
  Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents

Once you have clicked on the link above, you will see an online form created by Adobe. Simply paste the URL into the box you will see and the contents of the PDF will be automatically converted to HTML - an ordinary web page; and in that form it should then be accessible.

There are further features and capabilities of Adobe products that enhance electronic document accessibility for people with disabilities such as blindness, low vision, and motor impairments. You can visit their website using the link below, where you will find this information and links to resources that help people with disabilities work more effectively with Adobe software.

• http://access.adobe.com
  Adobe website, accessibility information