Organisations currently have two options when it comes to making the content of PDF documents accessible to people with disabilities.
- Convert the PDF into an alternative and more accessible format such as HTML.
- Use the accessibility features included in the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat to make the PDF documents themselves accessible.
The first option is a good one only if the particular advantages of the PDF format are not required, namely the preservation of the document layout, security etc. It also presents the problem of having to maintain and link to two versions of the same document.
The latter option is a best case scenario where the layout of a document can be preserved while the content within the document is fully accessible.
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