Hi David and Simon, David may be right, that it's a DRM issue here and that's why there is a prompt for a PDF reader plugin that supports digital rights management, such as Adobe Reader. Even so, I would think you should be able to download (if not display) the files.
I personally would not like to make Adobe Reader the default plug-in for reading PDFs on the browser. I assumed that the main question was not how to download PDFs (or audio files, for that matter) from the links, but setting up Safari so that downloads instead of display/play in Safari was the default behavior. You can either get to the menu to save a file by using control-click (where you must have routed the mouse cursor to the link with VO-keys+Command-F5 or VO-Keys-FN-Command-F5 on laptops or else have your Mouse Cursor tracking your VoiceOver Cursor), or by using control+5 on the Numpad (if you have a number pad). (The VO-keys-shift-m contextual menu command does not work for links in Safari). The other way to directly force a download from a link (to a PDF, MP3 files, etc.) is to use Option-Click. Again, you must have your mouse cursor at the link before you do this, so either have your Mouse cursor tracking your VoiceOver cursor, or else route it to your VO cursor postiion before you option-click. In Leopard you can use VO-keys-shift-U to check the link (e.g. that it is to an acutal PDF file rather than a web page where you find a PDF file) before you try to download. On laptops control-click and option-click are relatively easy to do -- you hold down either the control key or option key and click the trackpad button at the same time. On a desktop's keyboard, it's easier to use control+5 on the numpad. (I don't know an equivalent to option-click for desktops -- I think you just have to hold down the option key and click your mouse if you want to use this). Finally, if you have displayed a PDF file or played an MP3 file in your Safari browser, you can type Command+l followed by Option+return to download it. The first command sends your cursor to the URL address on the Safari address bar. The second forces the download. On top of this, there are the various actions that Rafael has described to minimize the load on the system when you are using VoiceOver and the Safari browser. These are more necessary for Tiger. HTH. Cheers, Esther On June 02, 2008, at 11:22AM, David Poehlman wrote: >You can also configure safari not to open files when downloaded. I think >the heart of this issue though may be the drm on the files. > <snip> >On Jun 2, 2008, at 12:30 PM, Simon Cavendish wrote: > >> Dear Listers, >> >> I've just subscribed to a professional journal on the Web. The >> website gives me access to regular issues of a bulletin in PDF >> format. I can find the link which is the title of the current >> issue. I click on it with VO+spacebar and then I hit a problem. I >> get a message from Safari that it cannot find an apropriate PDF >> reader to open the page. I am presented with a dialogue from which >> to choose a compatible reader but I cannot find it in the list >> applications. In my case, I use Preview but I cannot see it in the >> dialogue that Safari offers me. And yet, Preview is definitely >> there in my list of Applications folder. Ideally, I don't really >> want to open the file on the web, I ideally want to download it >> into a folder on my computer. However, clicking on the title of the >> bulletin does not give me an option to download the PDF file. On >> the windows side, I can right click on the title in IE6 and choose >> save target as... But in Safari, I don't know how to do it. Can >> anyone give me some clues as to how to achieve my purpose? Why >> doesn't safari recognise Preview as a legitimate PDF reader? >> >> Many thanks in advance. >> >> Simon >> >> > > > > > > >
