Reading a PDF in Adobe Reader - JAWS - PDF

Reading a PDF with JAWS

There's a bunch of subjects that always seem to crop up regularly in this field and chief among these has to be reading a PDF file using a screenreader. So, in this post, I'm going to walk through reading an accessible PDF using JAWS and explain a couple of the approaches I find useful. I'll be using Adobe Reader XI and JAWS V15 for this and I need to point out here that if you have different versions of the software your results may well be different to mine.

Now You Read It, Now You Don't

Before we begin though, you'll notice that I indicated the PDF file I am going to use is a generally accessible file. This is important to note because the bottom line - and a huge part of why the PDF is a perennial "hot potato" - is you can never be entirely sure what reading experience lies just ahead. There is an irony in this, because the whole aim of the format is to ensure a broadly similar experience across different endpoints. However, the continuing actual reality of the format, is a junkyard of historical workarounds, a raft of configuration and security implications and the downright too simple and too speedy ability for any user to create a PDF file that is, ultimately, pretty rank when it comes to accessibility. And that is a major grass roots PR issue that Adobe still struggles with although to be fair, Adobe have always provided the tools and information for making something that does generally work.

Anyway, I think I've said enough as I really don't want to bog this post down with this debate right now, I'm more than happy to leave it to everyone else to carry it on - and carry on it will! Suffice it to say, if you need a bit more background on these and related issues, you won't have to search hard on the Web. Also, if you want some formal guidance on best practice techniques when creating a PDF file then please have a read through of the information here: www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20140408/pdf.html

If you want to follow my actions exactly here, the PDF file I used in writing this post is called Keyboard Shortcuts, downloaded from this page on the Ability Net website: www.abilitynet.org.uk/factsheet/keyboard-shortcuts

I saved my Keyboard Shortcuts PDF file down to my Desktop, this is how I go about opening it:

1. WINDOWS KEY D routes my focus to the Desktop area.
2. I tap letter K to move focus - eventually - to the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF file.
3. I press the application context menu key (SHIFT F10 does the same thing).
4. In the context menu, I navigate to the option called "Open with Adobe Reader XI" and press ENTER.
5. The Keyboard Shortcuts PDF now opens in the Adobe Reader program. I check this with the JAWS keystroke to read the title bar of the active window, INSERT T. When I do this, JAWS indicates: "Keyboard Shortcuts dot PDF dash Adobe Reader."
6. Okay, let's get started!

Getting More Information

Before you jump in and try to read any text in a PDF file, it's a good idea to always get a bit more information on the document content. At the very least it gives you a bit of a heads-up on the number of basic elements present and also reminds you about some of the keystrokes you can use. We can get at this information via the JAWS context help system:

1. With focus in the PDF file in Adobe Reader, use the keystroke of INSERT F1.
2. The virtual viewer opens and shows some element information for the currently loaded file. Navigate through the information in the virtual viewer using the ARROW KEYS as required.
3. When you have finished reading, use the ESCAPE key to close the virtual viewer and return focus to the file.

Note that the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF file I downloaded from the Ability Net website contains two level one headings and five level two headings. This is good information and I'll be making use of those headings shortly!

Reading a PDF

General rule of thumb with JAWS and a PDF file is this: treat the document like a web page. So, let's start with some basics before moving into a few other tips and tricks to speed things up:

1. When your PDF file opens in Adobe Reader, silence speech straight away using the CONTROL key.
2. I recommend grounding the cursor at the very beginning of the file by using the CONTROL HOME keystroke. (Note that you can also use CONTROL END to route the cursor to the end of the document if this is closer to the info you need to read.)
3. With the cursor routed at the top of the file, press the DOWN ARROW to move to the next line of text or other focusable element in the page.
4. If you want to have JAWS reading everything from the cursor on, use INSERT DOWN ARROW to run a JAWS say all. To stop this read through at any time, use the CONTROL key to silence speech.
5. You may also wish to manually move and read a paragraph at a time, in this case use the standard CONTROL DOWN ARROW and CONTROL UP ARROW keystrokes.
6. To read a word at a time, use the keystrokes of CONTROL RIGHT ARROW and CONTROL LEFT ARROW.
7. Finally, to move and read a character at a time, use the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW.

Moving Through The File

Treat the PDF file as you would any other HTML or Word file, many keystrokes you are already familiar with can be used here, such as:

• As mentioned previously, use CONTROL HOME and CONTROL END to move to the first and last pages respectively.
• Manually move between the pages in the file using CONTROL PAGE DOWN ARROW and CONTROL PAGE UP ARROW.

Moving to a Specific Page

If you need to go straight to a specific page in the file then test out the following:

1. Call up the Go To Page dialog box with CONTROL SHIFT N.
2. Type in the page number you need to move to and use ENTER to confirm.

Moving Between Headings

Earlier on I used the context help feature to inform me of the number of headings present in the active file, now I am going to use that information to move around the PDF file:

1. To move between all of the headings, regardless of level - use the quick keys of H, to go to the next heading, and SHIFT H to go back to the previous heading.

Additionally, as context help informed me that there are two level one headings and five level two headings, I can opt to move between the headings at those specific levels:

• Use the quick key of 1 and SHIFT 1 to move to the next and previous level 1 heading.
• Use the quick key of 2 and SHIFT 2 to move to the next and previous level 2 heading.

Copying and Pasting from the PDF into a Word 2007 Document

Copying text from a PDF is achieved in exactly the same way as copying text with the virtual cursor from a webpage. However, you need to be aware that in a standard copy and paste operation, the paste bit will copy the formatting of the selected text and not just the content. To avoid this situation, the best option is to use the Paste Special feature in MS Word. This is how you approach the task in Word 2007:

1. Move the cursor to the start of the text in the PDF file you want to copy. Remember to check your exact focus, so that you can be absolutely certain you have the right start point.
2. What you do next really depends on the text you are selecting. Remember those keystrokes from earlier on about how to move and read the text? Well, all you have to do now is add the SHIFT key to any of them. So, to select a paragraph, use CONTROL SHIFT DOWN ARROW, to select a word use CONTROL SHIFT RIGHT ARROW and to select the next character SHIFT RIGHT ARROW.
3. Check the text you have selected using the JAWS keystroke of INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW. If you need to be character perfect with your highlighting, use INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW twice so that JAWS spells out your selection.
4. With the selection right, press CONTROL C.
5. If you are still not 100% sure of what you have in the windows clipboard, then use the JAWS home row technique to check it. With the text in the clipboard use INSERT SPACEBAR (you will hear a sharp tapping sound) then press letter C. The virtual viewer will open and you can move the cursor around to read the text in the clipboard. When you have checked everything, press ESCAPE to close the virtual viewer and return focus to your file.
6. Now open or switch to a document in MS Word (in my case it is Word 2007) and press the ALT key to move to the upper ribbon.
7. Ensure you have focus on the HOME tab in the upper ribbon and use the DOWN ARROW to switch to the lower ribbon. Focus will immediately be on the specific command you need there, the Paste split button.
8. Tap the SPACEBAR to launch the menu associated with the Paste split button and use the DOWN ARROW to locate the Paste Special... option in the drop-down menu. Press the ENTER key to launch the Paste Special dialog box.
9. Focus will be in a list of formatting choices, so now either use first letter navigation to move to the "unformatted text" option or use the UP and/or DOWN ARROW KEYS to highlight that item in the list.
10. When you have the "unformatted text" option in focus, press the ENTER key to perform the paste operation.
11. Focus will return to your Word document with the selection now pasted in. Importantly, the original formatting of the pasted content will no longer be present, instead the pasted text will be in the default normal style for the current document.
12. Remember that you can check the formatting of any current text in JAWS by using the keystroke of INSERT F.

Setting and Using Placemarkers

You can also set placemarkers in a PDF file. If you are familiar with using them in Internet Explorer then you can use the same approach here. Being able to set placemarkers can make longer PDF files considerably easier to navigate. Let's try it out:

1. In the PDF file, move to the location that you want to bookmark with a placeholder.
2. Use the keystroke of CONTROL SHIFT K to open the JAWS Placemarker dialog box.
3. Press the TAB key to move to the Add button and press the SPACEBAR. Alternatively, press ALT A to open the Add dialog box.
4. Input a distinct label for the placemarker and TAB to the Define for all pages on the current domain checkbox. If this is checked, tap the SPACEBAR to uncheck it and press TAB to move on again.
5. Focus will now be on the Anchor to text checkbox and, as before, ensure that the checkbox is clear. Press TAB to move on to the OK button and tap the SPACEBAR to confirm the operation - your placemarker is now created!
6. Focus will return to the PDF file enabling you to test it out straight away. Use CONTROL HOME to move focus to the beginning of the file and use the quick key of K to move to the next placemarker location. (To move to a previous placemarker use SHIFT K.)

Okay, I hope that there's a few new tips in there to get you working more efficiently with those sometimes troublesome PDF files. Remember though that not all PDF files are created equally, so if you are struggling to be able to read any of the file using JAWS, chances are it isn't that accessible.

At some point in the future I'll get a blog post together on creating accessible PDFs and also some of the configuration options in Adobe Reader to look out for. Until that time - have fun!