Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Question about whether a document is readable for blind and low vision users, and if not, where is the best place to share a readable plain text version for people who rely on screen readers? (self.Blind)
submitted by Immediate_Pineapple
I have a project that will link to a National Security Archives document stored on Document Cloud, and I want to make sure low vision and blind users will be able to access the document's contents. The way Document Cloud works for sight users, once users land on the web page where the document is stored, users can click to view the plain text version, which in this case isn't a quality option because the text often is incorrect.
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Document Cloud also offers a pdf file of the document, and I can link directly to there if that version is more readable to low vision and blind users who reply on screen readers.
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I am interested in whether blind and low vision users are able to read the document using either of the two links below.
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If the document is not readable using the links, then I need to make a new plain text version. Which websites are the most accessible places to share the plain text version, such as Google Documents, or a pastebin, or elsewhere. Thank you for any feedback.
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Here is the pdf link:
$1
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and here is the HTML link:
$1
​
tl/dr
If you are blind or low vision, are you able to read the contents of this pdf file?
$1
​
​
Document Cloud also offers a pdf file of the document, and I can link directly to there if that version is more readable to low vision and blind users who reply on screen readers.
​
I am interested in whether blind and low vision users are able to read the document using either of the two links below.
​
If the document is not readable using the links, then I need to make a new plain text version. Which websites are the most accessible places to share the plain text version, such as Google Documents, or a pastebin, or elsewhere. Thank you for any feedback.
​
Here is the pdf link:
$1
​
and here is the HTML link:
$1
​
tl/dr
If you are blind or low vision, are you able to read the contents of this pdf file?
$1
​
impablomations 2 points 4y ago
Those who use screen readers won't be able to read anything since they are document scans. As far as the software is concerned they are just some sort of image and it will ignore them.
Even if you use OCR to convert it to text there will probably be a large amount of errors. OCR is notoriously iffy. Those parts with shaded panels wouldn't even convert at all.
The only way to guarantee screen reader users could read them and be error free, would be to type each one manually.
I appreciate you wanting to make them accessible, but this could lead to a mountain of work for you.
I suppose their plain text OCR version would be better than nothing, but i would maybe note for the readers that there will be errors due to the conversion process.
Even if you use OCR to convert it to text there will probably be a large amount of errors. OCR is notoriously iffy. Those parts with shaded panels wouldn't even convert at all.
The only way to guarantee screen reader users could read them and be error free, would be to type each one manually.
I appreciate you wanting to make them accessible, but this could lead to a mountain of work for you.
I suppose their plain text OCR version would be better than nothing, but i would maybe note for the readers that there will be errors due to the conversion process.
Immediate_Pineapple [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thank you. Yes, the available scanned plain text version was unusable, practically gibberish. That must be OCR. I just retyped it in Google Docs, and I'm now working on making sure users can navigate it easily with a screen reader.
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impablomations 1 points 4y ago
Thankyou for thinking of visually impaired users like this. Hopefully you don't have too many pages to transcribe!
Immediate_Pineapple [OP] 2 points 4y ago
I'm happy I will be able to share the document more widely! Thank you for the help, and thank you to u/modulus as well.
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I used both Pastebin and Google Documents, so users will be able to choose the more comfortable format for their situation.
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The Pastebin raw paste link is $1 .
The Google Document link is $1 .
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Oh, and thank you to the moderators for approving my post using this new account.
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I used both Pastebin and Google Documents, so users will be able to choose the more comfortable format for their situation.
​
The Pastebin raw paste link is $1 .
The Google Document link is $1 .
​
Oh, and thank you to the moderators for approving my post using this new account.
bradley22 2 points 4y ago
I can read both documents with my screen reader. Thank you for thinking of us when making these documents accessible.
impablomations 2 points 4y ago
I've added you to the approved submitters list so you don't keep getting caught in the spam filter due to your account age.
hopesthoughts 1 points 4y ago
Well an OCR mostly salvaged it until it got down to the images. Yeah there were some errors, but it was mostly cleartext.
modulus 1 points 4y ago
Hi there.
As you've been told, no, not readable at all. Pastebin or similar sites are a very good option, especially if you can link to the raw paste which some of those sites have an option for. Google docs and things like that are in principle accessible but are less comfortable to use.
As you've been told, no, not readable at all. Pastebin or similar sites are a very good option, especially if you can link to the raw paste which some of those sites have an option for. Google docs and things like that are in principle accessible but are less comfortable to use.
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