- From: David Woolley <david@djwhome.demon.co.uk>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 23:17:43 +0100 (BST)
- To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> exist? Is it accessible? Other than an HTML equivalent, is there = > another method of making these documents accessible? The only spread sheet formats that are reasonably universal are tab and comma separated values (tab is less common but probably more universal). If you want the spread sheet logic, you will almost certainly have to buy the full commercial product. What viewers may allow you to do is to look at pie charts, and the like, with frozen data. HTML is probably about the most universal format for end user viewing of tables. If some spread sheet logic must be retained, you should save in the oldest supported printable format, e.g. SYLK. That maximises the chances that other products will be able to read them. You need to remember that Microsoft want you to buy MS Office and failing that, to at least buy Windows. As such, it is not in their interest that you should be able to revise Excel spread sheets with anything other than Excel, and, as far as possible, you should use Windows to view them. They have even tightened the licensing terms for MSDN to prevent people creating non-Windows tools that read the latest Office document formats, or competing Windows office tools that can read them. So, if you provide Excel documents in native format, you are essentially insisting that recipients use Microsoft software. In the office, we are a Microsoft house, so I'd have Excel available, but at home, although I have Windows 98 for the occasions where software only runs on Windows, I do not have any means of reading Excel. I do have an MS Word Viewer, as in many circles, Word is used as though everyone could read it. I'm going to have to very desparate to access a site's contents before I download any viewer. > Content-Type: text/html; pseudo HTML deleted.
Received on Monday, 16 July 2001 18:28:07 UTC