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APPENDIX 4 Producing multiple formats

It should be clear from the main report that there is no one format that is accessible to all pupils, and that materials are required in several formats depending on the support need of the pupil and the subject matter.

Some stages involved in producing multiple formats are quite straightforward albeit time-consuming. A brief outline is given below.

Digital source file available

Portable Document Format ( PDF)

In most cases the process of producing accessible formats begins by obtaining an original source document from the publisher, usually in PDF. Some publishers cannot supply PDF and only have the material in a desktop publishing format such as Quark Xpress. For many pupils, PDF is a satisfactory accessible digital format.

Conversion for PDF

Where PDF is not appropriate Acrobat Professional can convert PDFs into other formats such as MS Word, HTML and XML. Adobe also offer a free online facility for converting PDFs into HTML 3.2 or text. Such automatic conversion of complex, untagged PDFs is unlikely to produce satisfactory results, and documents usually require manual editing.

Commercial firms offer services to convert PDF or other digital formats to XML, HTML or MS Word and we understand that RNIB are currently working with publishers in the UK to investigate if and how a production process for converting PDF or other source files from publishers to accessible formats could be developed.

Even though it is possible to convert digital formats in this way, it is expensive, and so costs would be greatly reduced if publishers were able to provide source texts in a format suitable for conversion.

Digital source file not available

Scanning and Optical Character Recognition ( OCR)

If the digital source file is not available, the book can be scanned in to the computer using optical character recognition software, although this is time-consuming and may also introduce scanning errors. Wherever possible efforts should be made to obtain the electronic source.

There are several programs that are commonly used to scan and convert printed material to digital form, and the most popular are Kurzweil 1000/3000 and Abbyy FineReader Pro. The Kurzweil products are designed specifically for scanning resources for children who have difficulty accessing books; they are quick and easy to use and produce digital books that look very similar to the printed copy. Many local authorities, schools and Universities in the UK use Kurzweil software. The main disadvantage of Kurzweil is that the scanning software is relatively expensive (£725), and the scanned files are read using Kurzweil software which is again relatively expensive (£185 per licence). Several states in the US have adopted Kurzweil ( KES) format as a standard for creating accessible digital resources.

Abbyy FineReader Pro (£72) appears the most popular package for providers to use to scan materials in order to create accessible digital resources in more common formats such as PDF, Word or HTML. Pages scanned with FineReader in these formats will usually require further processing, editing and structuring in order to make them accessible.

The Books for All project team experimented with a number of different techniques for scanning and creating different accessible formats, and the procedure that gave most flexibility involved:

1. Scanning with FineReader and saving the book or chapter as a single PDF image file ( i.e. not recognised). The PDF image file can then be opened by most other scanning and OCR programs, such as Kurzweil 3000, or converted using FineReader itself.

2. Using FineReader to recognise the text, edit it, and save it as Word and PDF.

3. Editing and adapting using Word, followed by saving in a variety of formats (see below).

Editing and structuring to create accessible formats

In most cases, scanned files are saved as PDFs or Microsoft Word documents. Scanned books saved directly in PDF will not be structured or 'tagged' and may not be accessible. Once opened in MS Word however, a provider can edit the document and add structure and accessibility features. The resulting file can then be saved in formats such as Word, HTML, Microsoft Reader, RTF, or, with additional software, tagged PDF and Daisy formats:

• Adobe Acrobat Professional (£38.80 for CD and licence for Scottish schools from LT Scotland) can be used to create tagged PDF files from Word.
• EasyProducer (Dolphin, £348 ) can create Daisy books from Word files; while the new Dolphin EasyConverter, due later in 2007, will be able to scan books (using a version of FineReader built in to the software) or open PDF, HTML Word and NISO files and create Structured Word, Large Print (in various sizes), Braille, Daisy audio and MP3 audio.

Note that interactive documents such as worksheets or assessments may be better accessed as Word documents anyway.

A significant population would benefit from materials in symbol format. Text from the Microsoft Word document can be copied and pasted into a program such as Communicate:In Print which can automatically add symbols to create a document for non-readers.

Creating switch-accessible Clicker versions follows a similar process whereby text and graphics can be cut and pasted into Clicker pages or grids.

Books in Word can be saved as audio MP3 (recorded using synthetic voices) using low-cost or free software. Or, since EasyProducer and EasyConverter software can create both MP3 and Daisy audio files from a Word document, a pupil who is visually impaired could access material saved in Daisy audio format with an expensive Daisy player while a pupil with dyslexia could listen to the same MP3 file on an iPod.

The common software application in this process is Microsoft Word - it is used to receive scanned files, for editing and structuring and with additional software and for saving the materials in MP3, PDF, Daisy, HTML and Microsoft Reader. By copying and pasting from Word into other applications, resources can be created in symbol and switch-accessible formats.

The best file format for creating 'intermediate' files from which the widest range of other accessible formats can be produced is therefore 'structured' Microsoft Word DOC format.

By using the tools described, a book would then be available to:

• the small number of pupils with severe visual impairment, in Daisy audio on a Daisy player, or text using EasyReader or other Daisy reader software;
• the much larger number of pupils with reading difficulties, who could access the book via PDF or Microsoft Word with, for example, the free WordTalk text reader;
• pupils with learning difficulties who need symbols (both in printed form and also on-screen);
• pupils with physical impairments using keyboard, mouse or switches.

Communication Aids for Language and Learning ( CALL) Centre

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