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- Accessibility & Library Users
- Choosing Resources to Reduce Barriers
- Reviewing Library Content for Accessibility
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- Accommodations for Library Resources
- Adobe Digital Editions
- Using Library Resources with a Screen Reader
- PDF Documents
- Using Multi-Search with a Screen Reader
- Sensus Access
- HTML Readers in Library Databases
- ACLS Humanities E-Book Project
- Ebook Central - ProQuest
- eBook Collection - EBSCO
- Kanopy
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- JSTOR
- Literature Online - ProQuest
PDF Documents
PDF Documents and Accessibility Portable Document Format (PDF) is an electronic file format developed by Adobe Systems Inc. PDF is one of the most popular file formats used on the Internet. The free Adobe Reader software -- available for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and UNIX -- allows a PDF document’s visual integrity to hold true regardless of the computer used to view it. Because PDF is used for such wide-ranging documents as product manuals, financial and legal documents, government-related forms, and educational materials, it is critically important that people using screen readers have proper access to this format.
PDF is an electronic format, giving it an advantage over paper documents because PDF documents can be accessed via synthetic speech or refreshable Braille. Unfortunately, PDF and screen readers do not always interact as users would like. To learn more about how to set up your Adobe Reader to best work with accessibility technology, please follow Adobe's instructions This link opens in a new window to set this up.