Unlock the PDFs, for the print disabled (and open access, too)

[Heather Morrison <heatherm@eln.bc.ca>]

**  with apologies for cross-posting  **

For the print disabled, the difference between a PDF that is 
locked down and one that is not, is the difference between a work 
that is accessible, and one that is one.

A locked PDF is an image file, with inaccessible text.  An 
unlocked PDF has text that is accessible, that can be manipulated 
by screen readers designed for the print disabled.  Even without 
special equipment, is it easy to see how an unlocked PDF can very 
easily be transformed into large print, or read aloud.

Publishers, please unlock your PDFs!  Librarians, please ask 
about unlocked PDFs when you purchase.

The Budapest Open Access Initiative did not aim to meet the needs 
of the print disabled.  However, published or self-archived 
material that meets the BOAI definition of open access, will 
automatically meet the needs of print disabled, along with 
everyone else, as open access is about making materials usable, 
not just freely available.

Here is the definition of open access from the Budapest Open 
Access Initiative:

By "open access" to this literature, we mean its free 
availability on the public internet, permitting any users to 
read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the 
full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them 
as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, 
without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those 
inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only 
constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role 
for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control 
over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly 
acknowledged and cited. From: 
<http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml>.

Any opinion expressed in this e-mail is that of the author alone, 
and does not reflect the opinion or policy of BC Electronic 
Library Network or Simon Fraser University Library.

Heather Morrison, MLIS
The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com