Response to the FrontPage 2002 Review

Regarding the review posted at
http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/reviews/frontpage/fp2002, here are some
additional notes:
 
DOCTYPE issue 1:  
"In the Tools | Pages Options | HTML Source process, when saving files,
if you check 'Reformat using the rules below', and check the rule 'Tag
Names are lower case', it changes the case of the word DOCTYPE in the
DOCTYPE declaration to lower case."
 
This actually is not something that FrontPage does by default.  Instead,
this is a user-selected option.  Users can avoid this problem by
clearing the Tag Names Are Lowercase checkbox. The default for this
setting is Preserve Existing HTML.  Microsoft FrontPage doesn't expect
the majority of users to change this particular option. 
 
DOCTYPE issue 2:
"There are several wizards that come with Frontpage 2002 that allow you
to create complete web sites by specifying just a few options.  These
wizards include:  Corporate Presence, Database Interface, Discussion
Web, and Import Web.  Unfortunately, these wizards do not use your
default document when creating pages, so if you've coded a DOCTYPE
declaration in your default document (see below), it will not be applied
to your new web."
 
Some (though not all) FrontPage wizards work off of pages in the
template area.  One possible workaround to this issue is to modify the
DOCTYPE of the pages in the template area as well as the "normal"
template.  Note, however, that this will only solve the problem for
those wizards that work off of template files, which not all of the
wizards mentioned do.  
 
One note: the Import Web wizard simply imports pages from an existing
Web.  The DOCTYPE of the original pages is preserved during the import
process.
 
Keyboard access issue 1:
"Tried using the FrontPage 2000 Keyboard Shortcuts as listed on:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/download/products/office/fp2k/keyboard.t
xt
<http://www.microsoft.com/enable/download/products/office/fp2k/keyboard.
txt>    All of the shortcuts listed in the document still apply,
although with the new features added in Frontpage 2002, the list will
most likely be updated."
 
The definitive keyboard shortcut list for FrontPage 2002 is the one
included in the online help for FrontPage 2002.  You can access this
shortcut list by pressing F1 for help, pressing Ctrl+Tab to move focus
into the Microsoft FrontPage Help content pane, and pressing Tab until
you reach the Keyboard Shortcuts help topic.
 
Keyboard access issue 2:
"One problem did crop up, which may be due to the reviewer's
inexperience with keyboard navigation. When pasting the clipboard
contents, an icon appears with a dropdown list with radio buttons to
which allow the user to fine tune the paste options; the reviewer was
unable to determine how to get to that icon using the keyboard.  The
reviewer was also unable to find comparable options in the toolbar."
 
The icon described here is a Smart Tag icon.  As described in the
Keyboard Shortcuts help topic, you can drop down the menu associated
with that icon by pressing Alt+Shift+F10 whenever the icon appears.
 
Voice recognition:
 
"FrontPage 2002 supports speech recognition.  It is accessed from the
Tools menu. There are no special system requirements, except a headset
with a microphone."
 
The speech recognition tools in FrontPage 2002 are designed as a
productivity enhancement, not as a full assistive technology.  Users who
require the full functionality of assistive speech recognition tools
should consult http://www.microsoft.com/enable/ for a list of speech
recognition tools available from third-party vendors.
 
FrontPage 2002 made other improvements that we believe may help those
people with disabilities.  FrontPage users now have the ability to
specify the ALT text of image maps directly from the user interface.
These attributes are also now preserved correctly during editing.  Also,
in all FrontPage themes, wizard pages, and templates, FrontPage 2002
supplies alt-text for picture bullets, dividers, and banner images:
"Bullet", "Banner image", and "Dividing Line Image" respectively. 
Heather Swayne
Programs Manager
Microsoft Accessible Technologies Group