Accessibility
We strive to make GAO's public Web site compliant with the accessibility guidelines in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (as amended). Older pages are in the process of being upgraded for compliance.
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Help for Customers with Visual Impairments
Starting in October 2003, reports, testimony, and other products (including correspondence and many special publications) became available here on GAO's public Web site in accessible text format as well as Portable Document Format (PDF). These text files are formatted to be accessible to users with visual impairments using a text-only browser or a screen reader. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product by including such features as alternative text descriptions for graphic images and reformatted tables. However, these may not exactly duplicate the printed version.
For the period 1996 to October 2003, only PDF versions of GAO's reports, testimony, and other products are available at the GAO public Web site. For this same period, the text files and PDFs are available at GPO Access. For products issued prior to 1996, only PDF versions are available at the GAO public Web site or at GPO Access.
Comptroller General Decisions, reports on major agency rules, and bid protests issued since 2001 are available in HTML and PDF at the GAO public Web site. For legal products issued since 1994, HTML and PDF are available at GPO Access. The HTML versions are accessible with text-only browsers and screen readers.
Help with Reading Portable Document Format Files
Many documents on this site are in Portable Document Format (PDF). These documents ensure that you will be able to obtain publications in their original format, regardless of what type of computer, browser, or operating system you use to access the Internet. In order to view, navigate through and print PDF documents, you must first download the free Acrobat Reader software. Visitors using screen readers, or requiring alternate versions of Adobe Acrobat, may find it useful to visit Adobe's alternative reader download page.
Tools to convert PDF documents to HTML or text, improving accessibility for users who are blind or otherwise visually impaired, are also available at the Adobe Web site.