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Total Resource Guide:
[Washington Post—August 30, 2002] The new
IRS forms for Tax Year 2002, which the IRS plans to post on its
Web site (http://www.IRS.gov)
in 2003, will use software that allows the standard talking text
services to read forms stored in PDF.
As many people are aware, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act,
which went into effect in June of 200, requires all federal agencies
to make their systems, Web sites and documents accessible to those
with disabilities,
Consumers with blindness or visual impairments will click on the
"talking" version of the 1040EZ tax form on the IRS Web
site and a screen-reader will read line by line in electronic voice.
The user will also be able to speak in the answers for a voice recognition
feature to convert into text.
Curtis Chong, director of technology for the National Federation
of the Blind, said PDF has been a pet-hate of many blind people
for years. "When forms started to go up online, we got really
excited, but when we went to look at them on places like the IRS
Web site, we found we couldn't use them," Chong said. "If
this does what it promises then there is some real groundbreaking
potential here. It's not just about saving the money for an accountant,
but privacy and independence and getting access to information."
The IRS has actively recruited blind workers. The agency has 1,100
employees who are blind or have low vision, one percent of its workforce.
Soon after Section 508 came into effect, the IRS asked Plexus Scientific
to try and crack the problem of PDF. The project cost around $1million,
with much of the funds contributed by Adobe Systems Inc., the makers
of PDF. By putting special computer tags in the form, Plexus was
able to create a kind of road map for the screen-reader, instructing
it where to pause to allow the blind person to fill in his or her
details, and telling it which box followed next.
Doug Wakefield, in charge of Section 508 at the federal Access Board,
said this new software is "crucial" to making government
more accessible.
The IRS hopes to have 50 of the most common forms in "talking"
format in time for the 2002 tax season. It will only cost the agency
a one-time payment of about $2,000 per form for Plexus to convert
them. Leonard Newman, project manager at Plexus Scientific, said,
"the joke here is that it is the first time you want the IRS
talking to You."
c 2002 The Washington Post Company
Note from Infinitec 's editor: A spokesman from Freedom Scientific,
current distributor of JAWS®, says that JAWS® has had the
capability of reading PDF files for several years.
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