** 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://poeticecon
omics.blogspot.com
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