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Topic: RE: Need to have charts recognized as graphics (Via Email)
Conf: (P-PDF) PDF Accessibility, Msg: 129015
From: Duff_Johnson
Date: 3/9/2005 02:01 AM

> Hello, I'm trying to create some pdfs from Word. The pdfs
> have lots of charts that were copied into the Word document
> from Excel. The problem is that I don't want the screen
> reader to be able to read these charts because I will be
> putting alt tags and links out to more accessible versions.
> The pdf keeps reading the numbers in the charts no matter
> what I do. Aside from taking screen shots and pasting those
> into the document before conversion, is there anything I can
> do to make these be read as graphics and not text?

It's far easier to do this if you have Acrobat 7.0 Professional, but
it's possible with Acrobat 6.0 Pro as well.

In Acrobat 7.0, open your PDF and start up the Touch Up Reading Order
Tool. Then, select your offending chart and related elements with the
Tool, and hit the "Background" button on the TUROT dialog to "tag" your
selection as "background" - i.e., making it disappear as far as screen
reader software is concerned.

Note: "Dumbing down" your PDF this way will make the PDF non-compliant
with Section 508. However, outlinking to more accessible content is,
from a practical point of view, a perfectly fine approach to providing
real-world accessibility with today's technology, especially when it
comes to complex tables.

Duff Johnson
Document Solutions, Inc
www.document-solutions.com