taming the savage source file AHG November 2009 Presenters: Julie K. Balassa - Valencia Community College Jeff Bazer- Dolphin Computer Access

A hands-on demonstration of Alt Format at work - Julie –Publisher source files –Alt Format at work Preparing for conversion The conversion process The conversion process results Using the finished product Not the total solution - Dolphin A solution not just for Higher/Further education - Dolphin What’s next - Dolphin Today’s Schedule

“In October of 2008 three altformat producers disappeared while converting a savage source file. A year later their footage was found.” Picture of scared character from Blair witch project saying, Someone help me…it’s not accessible! Someone help me... it’s not accessible!

Dolphin alt format tools used at Valencia Production tools –Dolphin EasyConverter (today’s presentation) –Dolphin Publisher –Dolphin EasyProducer College-wide software DAISY player –Dolphin EasyReader

Altformat Production Tool Kit - general Hardware –Decent computer – duh –High-speed scanner –Printer –PIAF –Embosser –etc. Software –Word processor –PDF processor –OCR application –Braille application –Tactile graphic production application –etc.

Skill Set Tool Kit – for EC EasyConverter and… –Microsoft Word –Adobe Acrobat Pro –OmniPage –DAISY player e.g. EasyReader –Braille e.g. Duxbury (for checking/embossing only)

Publisher source files Often are in text-backed PDF format, sometimes image-backed –Can you click in/select the text? Often have garbage, inaccessible word art, missing letters, etc. Often have incorrect pagination and reading order Usually are untagged Usually have supplementary text (margin text, footnotes, captions, etc.) Almost never meet OCR accessibility guidelines Never are student-ready

Alt Format at Work Dolphin EasyConverter Converts one source file to multiple formats – Text (including MS Word document) – Compressed audio (mp3) – DAISY 2.02 or DAISY 3 digital talking book (dtb) – Large print (.docx,.doc file) – Braille Easy to use yet sophisticated –Wizard approach –Step-by-step guidance for alt format “newbies” –Customization options for alt format experts Self-contained work flow, not just a step in a workflow

Source Materials Microsoft Word Documents Portable Document Format files (.pdf) HTML (.html,.htm) Text (.txt) Scanned paper (via OCR using onboard OmniPage 16) NIMAS DAISY XML Rich Text Format (.txt) Kurzweil Project Files (.kes) Image Files (.jpg,.tif,.bmp) Open (unprotected) Publication Structure eBook file (EPUB) - first introduced in version 5

Preparing for Conversion Use EasyConverter wisely –EC is your essential altformat production partner –if you use it as magic, the result might be disappointing cartoon of woman sawed in half wrong way Prepare files for conversion according to alt format best practices –edit prior to input to EC or mid-production –paginate correctly –apply styles/headings –punctuate appropriately –perform other mark-up as needed (e.g. math, foreign language)

Preparing for Conversion - storage Store pre-and post-production files safely and efficiently –choose a secure storage location, permanent or removable screenshot of altformat storage drive

Preparing for Conversion – naming folders Store pre-and post-production files safely and efficiently –name folders to be easily identifiable (title, author, edition, ISBN) screenshot of altformat file folders

Preparing for Conversion – naming files Store pre-and post-production files safely and efficiently –name files to line up in order screenshot of altformat files with naming convention 01chapter, 02chapter, etc

Preparing for Conversion – pre-processing If publisher sent one huge PDF file, break into chapters, fm, em Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to do some quick and dirty processing –e.g. cropping screenshot of Acrobat Pro Document Crop selection screenshot of Acrobat Pro Crop dialog box

The Conversion Process Step 1 Choose New Project or Quick Conversion (steps differ) - we’ll choose NP screenshot of easy converter main screen

The Conversion Process Step 2 Choose your project name and destination screenshot of easy converter project information screen

The Conversion Process Step 3 Choose your input document screenshot of easy converter choose your input document screen

The Conversion Process Step 4 Choose your PDF and image settings screenshot of easy converter choose your pdf and image document settings screen

The Conversion Process Step 5 Choose your document settings screenshot of easy converter document settings screen

The Conversion Process Step 6 Choose your output format and preferences screenshot of easy converter choose your alternative format screen

The Conversion Process Step 7 Choose more preferences screenshot of easy converter choose your output name for dtb screen

The Conversion Process Step 8 Choose copy and save preferences screenshot of easy converter copy your alternative format screen

The Conversion Process Step 9 Start the conversion screenshot of easy converter start the conversion screen

The Conversion Process Step 10 Optional OCR editing stage screenshot of easy converter optional OCR editing stage pre-OCR

The Conversion Process Step 10 cont. OmniPage manual zone selection screenshot of easy converter optional OCR editing stage zone selection

The Conversion Process Step 10 cont. OmniPage OCR result when zones are selected manually screenshot of easy converter optional OCR editing stage OCR-manual zone selection

The Conversion Process Step 10 cont. OmniPage OCR result when zones are selected automatically & you have not cropped in Acrobat Pro screenshot of easy converter optional OCR editing stage OCR-auto zone selection

The Conversion Process Step 11 Save & return after optional OCR editing continues the conversion screenshot of easy converter post OCR editing conversion continues

The Conversion Process Step 12 Optional MS Word editing stage screenshot of easy converter optional Word editing stage

The Conversion Process Step 13 Save & return after optional MS Word editing continues the conversion screenshot of easy converter post Word editing conversion continues

The Conversion Process Step 14 The conversion completes screenshot of easy converter conversion completed screen

The Conversion Process Results Afterwards, EasyConverter displays resulting altformat information screenshot of easy converter post conversion screen

The Conversion Process Results Resulting altformat projects & files are stored in the chosen output folder screenshot of files and folders in easy converter output folder

The Conversion Process Results EasyConverter produces the usual DAISY files screenshot of DAISY files and folders in easy converter output folder

Using the Finished Product Save to a folder Burn to CD Copy to MP3 player Send to removable hardware DAISY player Print (large print, Braille) Preview in the new format's associated application i.e. EasyReader, MS Word, Notepad or Win Media Player (MP3) Use your saved project to alter or repeat your conversion into a new altformat or with different user preferences

So which road will you take? Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. The Road Not Taken...Robert Frost (1915) Picture of blair witch project woods screenshot of easy converter start the conversion screen

Presenters’ Contact Information Julie K. Balassa Assistant Director, Disability Services Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL Jeff Bazer AltFormat Sales Executive Dolphin Computer Access, Princeton Junction, NJ

Questions & Answers