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Converting PDF Files
Online Accessibility Series
Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning | 502.852.7689 | louisville.edu/delphi 1
Overview:!PDF!files!are!the!most!problematic!file!format!when!it!comes!to!accessibility!for!
individuals!with!vision!loss.!If!you!are!creating!your!own!Word!document!and!want!to!save!
it!as!a!PDF!file,!please!refer!to!Creating)Accessible)Word)Documents)and)PDF)Files.!This!
document!refers!to!working!with!PDF!files!obtained!from!other!sources,!such!as!publishers,!
library,!or!paper!documents!that!have!been!scanned.!!
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1) You!will!need!a!copy!of!a!software!program!called!Read%&%Write%Gold.!It!is!available!
for!free!through!the!Disability!Resource!Center,!which!has!purchased!a!site!license!
for!the!university.!To!arrange!a!time!to!have!a!copy!installed!on!your!computer,!
contact!Colleen!Gettys!(colleen.gettys@louisville.edu!or!502.852.6938)!at!the!DRC.!
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2) Open!Read%&%Write%Gold.!You!will!see!a!tool!bar!like!the!one!above.!
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3) Read%&%Write%Gold!has!many!useful!tools,!but!this!document!focuses!on!the!Scan!
tool,!which!looks!like!a!desktop!scanner.!
4) Click!the!down!arrow!to!the!right!of!the!Scan!icon.!
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5) Select!Scan!to!Word!and!Scan!from!file(s).!
6) Click!on!the!Scan!icon!(not!the!arrow).!
7) Browse!for!the!PDF!file!that!you!need!to!convert!and!click!Open.!
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Converting PDF Files
Online Accessibility Series
Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning | 502.852.7689 | louisville.edu/delphi 2
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8) Read%&%Write%Gold!will!ask!you!which!pages!you!would!like!to!scan.!If!you!want!to!
scan!the!whole!document,!leave!the!page!numbers!that!are!in!the!boxes!and!click!
Scan.!
9) When!Read%&%Write%Gold!is!done!scanning!the!file,!you!will!be!prompted!to!create!a!
new!file!name!and!location!for!the!file!to!be!saved.!
10) Once!the!conversion!is!complete,!the!new!file!will!automatically!open!in!Microsoft!
Word.!
11) Now!you!can!edit!the!document!and!format!it!to!be!accessible.!Refer!to!the!Creating)
Accessible)Word)Documents)and)PDF)Files!document!for!stepXbyXstep!
instructions!in!how!to!make!the!Word!document!accessible,!and!how!to!save!it!as!an!
accessible!PDF!file.!!
12) If!you!have!any!questions,!Beth!Case!([email protected]!or!502.852.7689)!is!
available!for!assistance.!
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