Inteco (the National Institute of Communication Technologies) has developed a software that allows transforming any document into a PDF.
The PDF format for documents is one of the most highly used on the internet (more than 300 million documents published per year), given the small amount of space they occupy. However, these documents are not always accessible to everyone, and especially to the blind, because they include numerous obstacles: the bookmarks, images, fonts, contrasts…, etc.
Inteco solves these problems by simplifying steps and making documents accessible to everyone. Its innovation is based on creating a simple solution for any user. The tool converts the file into voice, allowing the blind to “read” the text and listen to a description of images as well as other graphic elements such as a PDF logo on the internet.
The system is designed for use on civil service websites, the main organizations responsible for safeguarding user accessibility. The websites of these institutions are the most highly visited and utilized by a large number of people, independent of their limitations.
The system is easy to use: one enters the website and starts loading the documents that are to be made accessible. Automatically they are uploaded and converted. The program is compatible with word (doc, docx), html, etc.
The innovation is that the user practically doesn’t have to interact with the application, except in the case of images without a textual alternative. In this case a dialogue is opened up with the user so that, in a simple manner, he introduces the meaning of the images. A user with visual difficulties will know the meaning of an image through verbal locution.
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