http://www.pws-ltd.com/index.html PWS Ltd, web editorial services – articles on web editorial, technical and accessibility issues en-gb Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:15:00 GMT Mon, 13 Sep 2010 09:00:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss ted@pws-ltd.com (Ted Page) ted@pws-ltd.com (Ted Page) http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/pdf_checker.html Acrobat Pro comes with an inbuilt, automated PDF accessibility checking tool. However, for the most part, effective checking of a PDF for accessibility requires human knowledge, experience and judgment. Automated testing does have its place, but it should be used with caution ... Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:30:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/pdf_checker.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/jaws_update.html We recently notified Freedom Scientific of a problem with JAWS 11. Unlike older versions, JAWS 11 was reading PDF-based table headers incorrectly. An update has now been released with a fix for this problem. Sat, 15 May 2010 14:30:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/jaws_update.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/pdf_links.html Creating accessible links in PDFs is a basic accessibility requirement. This article looks at techniques for tagging links correctly as well as how to make URLs more intelligible for screen reader users. Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:00:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/pdf_links.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/pdf_footnotes.html This article explains how to make footnotes accessible in PDFs using a technique that can also be applied to fix many other common PDF accessibility problems. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:55:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2010/pdf_footnotes.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/pdf_conversion_tools.html We tested 14 PDF creation tools for their ability to generate accessible output. The results were highly polarised. A few produced excellent results, but the rest performed poorly, if at all. Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:23:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/pdf_conversion_tools.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/justified_text.html Justified text can cause serious readability problems. However, handled with care, and with the aid of the right software, it can work well in PDF-based content. But it may be some time before it can be made to work as well in web pages. Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:20:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/justified_text.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/domain_names.html A client recently reported paying a four-figure sum for a keyword-rich domain name. He did so on the assumption that it would provide a return on investment through increased search engine traffic to his website. But will it? Wed, 06 May 2009 19:30:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/domain_names.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/pdf_and_word_forms.html Many websites contain forms that cannot be filled in online – they can only be printed and completed by hand. This article explains why such forms don't meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, and how to fix the problem. Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:40:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/pdf_and_word_forms.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/pdf_conversion.html Adobe's online PDF to HTML conversion tool does not provide the accessibility safety net that it is so often assumed to ... the real solution is to make the PDFs themselves accessible. Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:00:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2009/pdf_conversion.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2008/accessible_forms.html There are many excellent tutorials on how to create accessible forms. This article takes a different approach. Its principal focus is on the pitfalls of accessible form design and how to work around them (both in HTML and PDF). Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:25:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2008/accessible_forms.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2008/accessible_pdf_tables.html Generally speaking, making PDFs accessible is relatively straightforward. However, one of the least well understood aspects of PDF accessibility is handling data tables correctly. The following highlights some common pitfalls and explains how to make even the most complex data tables fully accessible. Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:20:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2008/accessible_pdf_tables.html http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2008/italics.html Many style guides advocate strictly limiting or even banning on-screen italics because of their relatively poor legibility. However, used with care, italics should present no problems and can add meaning and clarity to web copy in several distinct and important ways. Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:45:00 GMT http://www.pws-ltd.com/sections/articles/2008/italics.html