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Using PDF files

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General information

  • What is PDF?

    PDF is the abbreviation of Portable Document Format, and is a special format for viewing and printing documents which have been downloaded from the Web.

  • Why use PDF?

    The Portable Document Format preserves the formatting of most documents better than alternatives like HTML and MS Word.

  • What do I need?

    In order to view PDF documents, you need Adobe's Acrobat reader plugin. If you do not have this installed on your machine, you may obtain it from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

  • How do I know whether or not I have the PDF reader plugin?

    The easiest way to find out whether or not you have the PDF reader plugin is to try and download a PDF; if you have the plugin the document will open once the download is complete.

  • What features does the PDF reader offer to help me navigate a document?

    PDFs are displayed in two 'panes' (a window divided into two). The right hand pane contains the actual document whilst the left pane contains the document index. This offers shortcuts to headings and sub-headings within the document. The document can also be scrolled using the mouse, or pulled when the hand tool is available.

  • How can I view a PDF document more easily if I have difficulty with discerning variations in colour, contrast or have low visual acuity?

    The best solution is to set the accessibility preferences to allow high contrast viewing in your Acrobat reader. The Acrobat 5.0 reader is the only version presently to support this facility. View instructions on setting accessibility features.

  • Where can I find help to allow me to access PDF documents if I am visually disabled?

    Adobe have a web site which provides online tools to help visually disabled users whose screen reader software is not compatible with the Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0. These tools convert Adobe PDF documents into HTML or ASCII text which can then be read by a number of common screen reading programs that synthesize text as audible speech. This site - http://access.adobe.com/ - has a lot more information about accessibility.

  • What are the minimum system requirements for Acrobat Reader 5.0?

    • Intel® Pentium® processor Microsoft®
    • Windows® 95 OSR 2.0, Windows 98 SE, Windows Millennium, Windows NT® 4.0 with Service Pack 5, or Windows 2000
    • 64 MB of RAM
    • 24 MB of available hard-disk space
    • Additional 70 MB of hard-disk space for Asian fonts (optional)

Making PDF files accessible

  • Setting Acrobat 5.0 for high-contrast viewing

    Adobe Acrobat 5.0's Accessibility preferences can make the information in PDF files easier to view for people who have trouble discerning variations in contrast, different colours or who have low visual acuity. These people can set the accessibility preferences as their application default.

  • To change Acrobat 5.0 accessibility settings for high-contrast viewing

    1. Open Acrobat 5.0 reader.
    2. Choose Edit>Preferences>General.
    3. Select Accessibility from the list of preferences.
    4. From the colour scheme menu, choose Use Custom Scheme. Windows also supports a high-contrast viewing mode. If you've already set up your Windows system for this mode, you can choose Use Windows Colors instead.
    5. In the Custom Scheme area, set the Text Color to your preferred colors, such as bright green.
    6. From the Adjust Display of Colors menu, choose Always Overriding Document Colors.
    7. Set the Page Background Color to a contrasting color, such as black.
    8. Click OK.