PR: Document Solutions, Inc. introduces PDFaloud to North America
Dramatic New Accessibility Service for PDF documents
26 May 2003
Oakland, CA -- Document Solutions, Inc. (DSI), the premier PDF services company, in partnership with textHELP Systems of Northern Ireland, is pleased to introduce to North America a revolutionary new technology for reading PDF files aloud.
TextHELP's new PDFaloud toolbar plugin for Windows and Mac versions of Acrobat and Acrobat Reader permits users of a variety of languages to actually hear PDF documents read out loud over their computer's speakers or headphones.
PDFaloud reads any page instantly and can read documents from beginning to end, or from any point using a simple 'click to speak' metaphor. In addition, PDFaloud is the only way to read PDF files in Acrobat Reader with synchronized colored highlighting, which can greatly enhance accessibility for struggling readers, even those with mild visual impairments.
PDFaloud Enabling, available as part of a PDF Tune Up from Document Solutions, Inc., allows content creators to provide PDFaloud at no cost to the end-user. Sample PDFaloud-enabled files and the FREE PDFaloud plugin are available from the PDFaloud page on the Document Solutions Web site.
Organizations send PDF files to DSI for end-to-end "Tune-Up" services, including: FREE PDFaloud enabling and optionally, navigation, tags, interactive form-fields, JavaScripts and other services to meet full-spectrum accessibility and advanced electronic document deployment needs.
A leading electronic document services firm since 1996, with deep roots in PDF technology, Document Solutions already offered "drag and drop" accessibility enhancement for existing PDF files. "If you've thought of accessible documents in terms of tags, PDFaloud is a real eye, or rather, ear-opener," says DSI's Founder and President, Duff Johnson.
"Enhancing electronic documents for assistive technology users requires care and attention to detail," says Mark McCusker, CEO of textHELP! Systems, the developers of PDFaloud. "That's why we are so pleased to be partnering with Document Solutions to ensure that documents enabled for free PDFaloud deliver the best possible experience to end-users."
While PDFaloud represents a bottom-up approach that complements tags, the plugin does not require PDF tags to operate. Johnson's thoughts about accessibility, PDF, and the need for a bottom-up accessibility strategy as embodied in PDFaloud are further developed in an article titled "Strategies for PDF Accessibility" he recently wrote for PlanetPDF.com.
"When we looked at enabling PDF files for assistive technology, one thing became clear rather quickly," says Johnson. "To be really cost-effective, the tags approach requires content developers to rewrite and/or redesign their documents, simplify their layouts, and integrate new workflow and quality-control processes that are frankly unfamiliar to them."
"With PDFaloud, organizations can take a huge step towards making their existing PDF content dramatically more accessible in a rational way -- starting with all of it," Johnson says.
He points out that the PDFaloud is not a solution for blind users, nor is it a panacea for Section 508 compliance. "PDFaloud is not aimed at a compliance standard, it is aimed at user populations," says Johnson. Intended for a diverse audience ranging from learning disabled, illiterate, and many low vision users to foreign-language and technical applications, PDFaloud can help more than 70 percent of the people who benefit from assistive technology.
"PDFaloud is really a no-brainer -- the benefit is instant and obvious, and not just for disabled users," Johnson said. "PDFaloud is a 'must have' for any organization that values accessibility or strives to meet accessibility obligations," concludes Johnson. "The PDFaloud tune-up from Document Solutions means that complete collections of existing PDF files can be made far more accessible, easier-to-download and more usable, all at the same time."
PDFaloud enabling services and the free PDFaloud plugin are available from Document Solutions, Inc. A per-desktop version of the plugin is available directly from PDFaloud.com and reads text from any PDF file.
Contact: Duff Johnson, President
Document Solutions, Inc.
510-986-0250 x118
About Document Solutions: Founded in 1996, Document Solutions, Inc. is a leading PDF services company located in Oakland, California. DSI services publishing, private and public sector organizations across the United States and around the world.
About textHELP Systems: textHELP Systems Limited, a company based in Northern Ireland, develops assistive technology and is an Adobe Solutions Network Partner and a Microsoft® Certified Gold Partner. The company was founded in 1996.
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