How to View PDF Files

PDF (Portable Document Format) files are created by Adobe Acrobat software and can only be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have this viewer configured on a local drive, you may download it at no cost from Adobe's Web site.

Acrobat software is based on the PostScript ™ page-description language. The Acrobat Reader allows you to view electronically published documents on-screen at the highest possible resolution exactly as they were published. Some files may be difficult to read from the screen. However, the Reader will allow you to print these publications accurately on PostScript or non-PostScript printers.

Although the majority of the internet documents provide on the BLS web site are in ASCII or HTML formats, there are a number of documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) which may be unreadable for those people using screen reading devices. To address that problem, Adobe Systems, Inc. is in the process of producing several products designed to provide those people using screen reading devices with a means to access PDF files. To obtain additional information regarding Adobe efforts, read the material provided on their accessibility web pages. For immediate assistance, try a plug-in called Adobe Access. This free plug-in will help solve certain problems associated with accessing PDF documents with screen readers.

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