Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional
Prevent security settings from interfering with screen readers
A
document author can specify that no part of an accessible PDF is
to be copied, printed, extracted, commented on, or edited. This
setting could interfere with a screen reader’s ability to read the
document, because screen readers must be able to copy or extract
the document’s text in order to convert it to speech.
To maintain
document security while allowing screen readers access to text,
use one of the following settings:
- For low-encryption-level security, select
Enable Copying Of Text, Images, And Other Content in the Password
Security - Settings dialog box.
- For high-encryption-level security, select Enable Text
Access For Screen Reader Devices For The Visually Impaired in the
Password Security - Settings dialog box. This option overrides the
document’s security settings only for the purpose of giving assistive
software, such as screen readers, access to the content.
For instructions on how to set document security, see Set passwords for PDFs.
If your assistive technology product
is registered with Adobe as a Trusted Agent, you can read PDFs that
might be inaccessible to another assistive technology product. Acrobat
recognizes when a screen reader or other product is a Trusted Agent
and overrides security settings that would typically limit access
to the content for accessibility purposes. However, the security
settings remain in effect for all other purposes, such as to prevent
printing, copying, extracting, commenting, or editing text.
