a brief history of accessible pdfs

Posted by 4 on the 25th May, 2015

Premiere this week in Riga Latvia – but you saw it first (blink and you will miss it!)

CALL had a bit of fun putting together a 1 minute video with closed captions:

• YouTube version;
• Downloadable version.

Plus accompanying transcript (Word transcript (.doc) and text transcript (.txt)), on using and making accessible PDF documents. This week we share the video with European Union colleagues in Latvia as part of Scotland’s input to the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (the Agency).

The whistle stop tour is on making and using an accessible PDF document – a maths book with ‘answer boxes’. This accessible format has proved tremendously popular with learners with a physical disability, visual impairment, autism and other support need. You can access the closed caption video on making and using a PDF. A transcript is provided for users who prefer a TXT version, and in MS Word and PDF formats.

The Riga event is the third and final session on driving forward the availability and use of accessible information in learning. CALL's Books for All website, the Books for All Scotland Database, Seeing Ear's catalogue and RNIB's Load2Learn are all ways of bringing accessible information (books) used in schools by disabled learners right into the classroom.

Riga participants will focus on implementation – making it happen not just in classrooms across Scotland but across lifelong learning, and not just in Scotland but across the European union. No small feat indeed. Happily, Scotland is in a strong position to showcase that in this country we actually already implement accessible information. The list of Scotland’s achievements in this area is a credit to everyone involved –to the many pupils, teachers and local authorities involved in some way or another, to SQA and digital question papers, ICTSLS, SAVIE members, Education Scotland (who together with Enquire are also representing Scotland in Riga. Not least, the enduring contribution of Scottish Government to this area has helped to ensure that accessible information for disabled pupils and those with additional support needs continues high on the agenda. Through these partnerships CALL will point participants to:

• Books for All website and Database
• Adapted digital exams (digital question papers)
• The Scottish Voices Heather and Stuart
• WordTalk
• Scottish Book Trust accessible versions of their Bookbug series – watch this space for big developments in 2015!)
• Symbolised support resources for early learning.

Each participant was invited to share a 1minute video of some aspect of accessible information for learning. Many CALL Scotland colleagues in classrooms across Scotland will recognise features of the video – SETT framework for assessment, bespoke tailoring of equipment for individual pupils, using inbuilt operating system features plus of course users of Digital Question Papers. Many primary schools teachers will recognised SHM books with answers boxes to allow easy moving between questions.

Please do give us some feedback. Bear in mind too that you can use the Pause / Resume button if it all proves a bit too fast!