Document accessibility is getting more and more attention as increased focus is given to the needs of people with sight and reading limitations. A combination of increasing recognition of the need to provide information to all recipients in a form they can use, along with various legal requirements and mandates, has brought the need for accessibility in digital documents to prominence. By now, you’re likely aware of the benefits document accessibility brings for people who need it. But did you know that document accessibility is also an enabling technology for information sharing and reuse?
Reading Difficulties are not just a Human Issue!
The same obstacles that can manifest in PDF files for screen readers also cause problems with other data processing tools. After all, a screen reader is a data extraction tool focused on turning document content into speech for users! But there are a wide variety of programs and processes that function best with optimally extractable data, such as:
* Document reformatting tools – programs that turn page-based PDF files into reflowable, responsive layouts for mobile and other small-screen use
Semantic and Sentiment Analysis Tools
Programs that read text and content to detect the subjects, topics, and moods of articles
Data Analysis Tools
Programs that extract numeric and tabular information such as financial results, invoices and receipts, or statements, to turn these into actionable information for data processes
Information Transformations
Processes that convert the information in one format into another, seeking to create and preserve the structure of information as well as its content
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Tools and techniques that aim to gather insights and connections between different datasets, documents, and digital assets
Most data extraction or repurposing process works better with appropriately structured information. The process of making PDFs and other documents accessible for humans (document accessibility remediation) also unlocks data for automated and machine usage! Accessibility remediation adds tagging, alternative information representation and logical flow to page contents. Document remediation brings semantics and structure to PDFs, ensuring that the information we see and read when viewing files is accurately represented inside the document for screen readers and other programs.
At AbleDocs, accessibility is all we do! Now you know that when your documents are remediated by AbleDocs, they are not just made human accessible – they are made more accessible to people and to machines alike!
