Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
6
↓
I'm really struggling with PDF's, can anyone help? (self.Blind)
submitted by Badassmotherfuckerer
So I'm in my junior year of University and I've struggled with textbooks ever since I started. The disabled student service has always had the textbooks in PDF format, but Voice Dream Reader would always read the excerpts on the side of the page, and the title of the book and copyright info that was at the bottom of each page and this would break up the order and make it extremely difficult to follow along. So the DSS would copy them into a word document with the material sorted correctly.
But when books were available on Booksahre in DAISY format, Voice Dream Reader had no problem reading them.
This quarter, my professor has decided to scan the relevant cases from multiple textbooks and Voice Dream Reader is having a rough time getting through any of them. Even when the document isn't scanned, it's just not reading as smoothly as when it's a book from Bookshare.
Does anyone have any tips on how to be able to read these smoothly? I mean, I know many people have to read PDF's all the time for their occupation, I just don't know how people get around this issue. My preferred method is to use Voice Dream Reader, as I like to walk around while listening to textbooks, but if there are other methods available.
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.
But when books were available on Booksahre in DAISY format, Voice Dream Reader had no problem reading them.
This quarter, my professor has decided to scan the relevant cases from multiple textbooks and Voice Dream Reader is having a rough time getting through any of them. Even when the document isn't scanned, it's just not reading as smoothly as when it's a book from Bookshare.
Does anyone have any tips on how to be able to read these smoothly? I mean, I know many people have to read PDF's all the time for their occupation, I just don't know how people get around this issue. My preferred method is to use Voice Dream Reader, as I like to walk around while listening to textbooks, but if there are other methods available.
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.
thatawkwardcosplayer 6 points 1y ago
OH I’ve had this issue a *ton* with my history professor (think scanned version of the OG constitution!)
If you’ve already bought the book, contact the publishers and explain what’s up. They should be able to get you a HTML version of it with proof of receipt. (Might have to go through your college for this? Depends so much on the publisher!)
If not, there’s a PDF reader on Adobe and also an app called “Natural Text” that works fairly well.
If you’ve already bought the book, contact the publishers and explain what’s up. They should be able to get you a HTML version of it with proof of receipt. (Might have to go through your college for this? Depends so much on the publisher!)
If not, there’s a PDF reader on Adobe and also an app called “Natural Text” that works fairly well.
Badassmotherfuckerer [OP] 2 points 1y ago
Thanks, I'm trying out natural text now. And I'll keep that tip to contact the publisher in mind next time I need a textbook, but the professor is using multiple textbooks for each of his classes I'm taking, so I haven't bought any, I'm trying to find a way to make the PDF"s readable.
AutomaticChair9 3 points 1y ago
There are two basic requirements for making an accessible document. Neither is as simple as pushing a button and you're done. OCR is the first, which allows all text characters to be read as text. The second is tagging. Tagging is what tells a document what parts of a document to read and what order to read them in. So, if a book (or article, or handout, or whatever) is scanned and someone runs OCR on it to recognize text, they have only addressed half of the issue. If you have a file that is reading copyright info, for example, it means that no one tagged that element as background text. Document conversion - especially when you start from a scan - can be a time consuming process and is helped by having good software and an understanding of how to create accessible documents.
If you are working with a disability services office I recommend talking with them about what is not working for you and ask if they can help. They won't know what is wrong until you tell them. (If they can't/won't help after you tell them what is going on that is a separate issue).
If you are trying to create accessible docs on your own - or just want a program that does a good job making assumptions about document structure - I recommend Natural Reader. The basic reader is free. The app is no longer free. If you pay for the premium version (or ask your disability services office to pay for it), Natural Reader will do OCR and you get access to their premium voices.
You have every right to expect to receive documents that work for you. Good luck!
If you are working with a disability services office I recommend talking with them about what is not working for you and ask if they can help. They won't know what is wrong until you tell them. (If they can't/won't help after you tell them what is going on that is a separate issue).
If you are trying to create accessible docs on your own - or just want a program that does a good job making assumptions about document structure - I recommend Natural Reader. The basic reader is free. The app is no longer free. If you pay for the premium version (or ask your disability services office to pay for it), Natural Reader will do OCR and you get access to their premium voices.
You have every right to expect to receive documents that work for you. Good luck!
r_1235 3 points 1y ago
I use Bookworm on Windows, has OCR and multiple file formats support. Although, Your professor or the college center should help you in getting the accessible material. If you end up doing it on your own, it's a frustrating and time consuming process. Lot of my college time was wasted in scanning pages and performing OCR on them.
Badassmotherfuckerer [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Gotcha, I'll look into that and reach out to my college's DSS.
ivanicin 1 points 1y ago
You may try my app Speech Central, it is completely free for the blind and it has nearly all features of VDR and some more: $1
My app will automatically do OCR on the document if that is required.
My app will automatically do OCR on the document if that is required.
Badassmotherfuckerer [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Already tried it with your app, as I do already use your app, but my PDF is still being read out of order.
ivanicin 1 points 1y ago
I have just checked my app PDF Extract text has an option to force OCR to import PDF, so it may work to transform the document into something readable, though it is not free to use for the whole book but you can see if it works on the first pages that can be imported for free: https://apps.apple.com/bf/app/pdf-extract-text/id1348486686
Badassmotherfuckerer [OP] 1 points 1y ago
That definitely seems useful, I will give that a try, thanks for the suggestion!
ivanicin 1 points 1y ago
Unfortunately if the PDF is out of order the problem is in the PDF itself. There is no app that can directly fix it.
The only possible technical workaround would be to ignore the textual information and do the OCR on such file, but the problem is that no app will consider that someone provided wrong textual information as there is no way to test that.
The PDF file itself is problematic as its primary purpose is to provide the proper printing of page. It can have only random mass of characters with instructions on where to print them on the paper. As such figuring out the content of PDF file is a complex process even on well made PDF, and it appears that yours PDF is not well made.
The only possible technical workaround would be to ignore the textual information and do the OCR on such file, but the problem is that no app will consider that someone provided wrong textual information as there is no way to test that.
The PDF file itself is problematic as its primary purpose is to provide the proper printing of page. It can have only random mass of characters with instructions on where to print them on the paper. As such figuring out the content of PDF file is a complex process even on well made PDF, and it appears that yours PDF is not well made.
Mamamagpie 1 points 1y ago
Is professor skipping the OCR part of scanning in the documents?
Badassmotherfuckerer [OP] 2 points 1y ago
I believe so, are they supposed to do this and how do I tell?
Mamamagpie 3 points 1y ago
You could ask the professor or the school if they scan the documents in an accessible manner, perhaps taking advantage of Optical Character Recognition. Sometimes people don’t realize scanners treat text as pictures. The professor might have no clue that you can’t use the PDFs.
Badassmotherfuckerer [OP] 3 points 1y ago
Gotcha, thanks, I'll reach out!
TechnicalPragmatist 1 points 1y ago
But some students still want it in pdf or picture mode. Ocr would not be in a pdf and most students may prefer it in regular pdf
You may have to do the ocr yourself. Have you tried kurtzweil 1000.
You may have to do the ocr yourself. Have you tried kurtzweil 1000.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.