About Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Files:   Downloading and Installing the Adobe Acrobat Reader || Reading and Printing Adobe Acrobat PDF Files || About Adobe Acrobat PDF Forms || Document Accessibility & PDF Accessibility Tools

Document Accessibility

The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is committed to making our web site accessible to as many people as possible, including those who may be physically challenged.

To accommodate those who may be visually challenged we have attempted to provide information in such a way that it can accessed by persons using special screen reading devices.

Most of our files are provided in either HTML, TEXT or Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) file format. Normally HTML and Text files do not present a problem with most screen reader software, provided that the documents have been properly constructed. However, PDF files generally cannot be read by screen readers. To assist the visually challenged with accessing PDF files we have provided the following links to Adobe accessibility tools.

Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Files (PDF) and Accessibility Tools

Persons using screen reading devices generally cannot directly read documents in PDF format. Adobe Systems, Inc., provides a free translation service through their online conversion tools service which will translate PDF files to HTML or ASCII text files. This service can be used in one of two ways:

Web-based Forms Submission Tool

If the Adobe PDF file is on the Internet, users type the URL into an electronic form and select the "Get This PDF Document as HTML" button. The document will be converted on-the-fly to HTML and will be returned immediately to the Web browser. [Instructions]

E-mail Submission Tool

If the Adobe PDF is on the Internet, users can submit the URL of a PDF file via e-mail to convert it to HTML or ASCII text. PDF files that are on a local hard disk, local CD-ROM, or local area network can also be converted by attaching the PDF file to an e-mail message. The converted results are returned in the body of a new mail message in a matter of minutes. [Instructions]

We have one general exception to our policy of making accessible versions available for all PDF documents. We are using the Adobe Acrobat PDF format as a means of distributing government forms. These are electronic images of the forms which are intended to be printed and used as any other paper form, and do not lend themselves to any nongraphical representation.

Comments on our accessibility policies are invited, and should be sent to the OGE Webmaster at webmaster@oge.gov.