RE: MS Office and Accessibility

Hello all,

 I agree with Kelly.

 JAWS have functions cutomized (scripts) for each application. When you open
a Word document in IE, just the IE functions are available, not the
functions specifically developed for Word to read tables, forms and other
tasks for more complex documents.

If you can force document to open in the Word application, in a standardised
environement like an intranet, i think it's not a problem for screen reader
like JAWS.

 Jean-Marie D'Amour, M.Ed.
CAMO pour personnes handicapées
www.camo.qc.ca
Montréal, Québec, Canada

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kelly Ford" <Kelly@kellford.com>
> To: "Scarlett Julian (ED)" <Julian.Scarlett@sheffield.gov.uk>;
> <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:51 AM
> Subject: RE: MS Office and Accessibility
>
>
> > If you are doing this in a closed environment where you have control
over
> > the Desktop of the end user, I would actually advise going for a
> > modification of the individual systems to open these files in their
native
> > applications.  You mentioned NT and JAWS for example has a great deal of
> > ability in working within Excel that is lost when dealing with any HTML
> > solution.  This is especially true if you are expecting the end user to
> > modify or enter data in these files.
> >
> > Kelly
> >
> >
> >
> > At 08:31 AM 10/23/01 +0100, Scarlett Julian (ED) wrote:
> > >Denise,
> > >thanks for that information. When you say you tested a simple Excel
> > >spreadsheet, what was in that? Just cells of data with no charts,
> formulas,
> > >linked worksheets? I think I know the answer already but not having the
> > >relevant technology I can't check for myself.
> > >
> > >I'm not too concerned about the interactivity atm, anything like that
can
> > >wait till all the info is held in a database. In the interim any
> > >modifications to information held in the Office files is best done on
the
> > >users local machine. The modification of data is not a two way process
> afaik
> > >i.e. any changes made by the user are for their own use and do not need
> to
> > >be saved back to the web server.
> > >
> > >As far as saving Office docs as html goes - given the bloated and
> peculiar
> > >code this method produces, that is my last choice solution. However, in
> the
> > >interests of corporate harmony I think this may have to be the way to
go.
> > >The problem is the sheer volume of files (over 2000!) and an
> understandable
> > >unwillingness on my colleagues' part to start a new system from
scratch.
> I
> > >know it should all have gone into a database from day 1 and I think
> they're
> > >realising that now.
> > >
> > >regards
> > >Julian
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: Denise Wood [mailto:Denise.Wood@unisa.edu.au]
> > >Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 6:04 PM
> > >To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> > >Subject: RE: MS Office and Accessibility
> > >
> > >
> > >Thanks David
> > >Yes I tested both Word files saved as html via Office 97 and as web
pages
> > >from Office 2000, and also a simple spreadsheet saved as a web page
from
> > >Excel 2000 using Lynx with Windows Eyes and all of these files were
fine
> > >both viewed on screen and with spoken output.
> > >However they were not overly sophisticated files so would need to test
> for
> > >robustness using a wider range of Office formatting options and
> > >functionality. Also, I neglected to ask Julian in my email if he is
> > >embedding the files as application specific resources because he wants
> the
> > >interactivity. If that is the case then no, you can't (well in my
> experience
> > >any way) achieve that in a non-browser specific way. Embedded
> interactivity
> > >requires IE 4 or higher.
> > >Denise
> > >Dr Denise L Wood
> > >Lecturer: Professional Development (online teaching and learning)
> > >University of South Australia
> > >CE Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000
> > >Ph:    (61 8) 8302 2172 / (61 8) 8302 4472 (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
> > >Fax:  (61 8) 8302 2363 / (61 8) 8302 4390
> > >Mob: (0413 648 260)
> > >Email:  Denise.Wood@unisa.edu.au
> > >WWW:
> http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Denise.Wood
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: David Poehlman [mailto:poehlman1@home.com]
> > >Sent: Tuesday, 23 October 2001 2:08 AM
> > >To: Denise Wood; 'Scarlett Julian (ED)'; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> > >Subject: Re: MS Office and Accessibility
> > >
> > >
> > >have you tried them out with screen readers?  I often find that there
> > >are no alt tags and that many of the links are marked up poorly.
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: "Denise Wood" <Denise.Wood@unisa.edu.au>
> > >To: "'Scarlett Julian (ED)'" <Julian.Scarlett@sheffield.gov.uk>;
> > ><w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> > >Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 12:33 PM
> > >Subject: RE: MS Office and Accessibility
> > >
> > >
> > >Julian
> > >Can't you save the documents as html documents (if office 97) or web
> > >pages (if
> > >office 2000). I have views a few different files saved via Word and
> > >Excel in IE
> > >5, NS 4 and Lynx and they all open OK.
> > >Denise
> > >Dr Denise L Wood
> > >Lecturer: Professional Development (online teaching and learning)
> > >University of South Australia
> > >CE Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000
> > >Ph:    (61 8) 8302 2172 / (61 8) 8302 4472 (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
> > >Fax:  (61 8) 8302 2363 / (61 8) 8302 4390
> > >Mob: (0413 648 260)
> > >Email: Denise.Wood@unisa.edu.au
> > >WWW:
> > >http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Denise.Wood
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: Scarlett Julian (ED) [mailto:Julian.Scarlett@sheffield.gov.uk]
> > >Sent: Tuesday, 23 October 2001 1:02 AM
> > >To: 'w3c-wai-ig@w3.org'
> > >Subject: re: MS Office and Accessibility
> > >
> > >
> > >Firstly, apologies for the "Hi all" greeting and the corporate
> > >disclaimer
> > >that my employer tags onto the end of all my emails for me. I have no
> > >choice
> > >but to post to public lists from work so you'll have to just pretend
you
> > >didn't see it ;-)
> > >Secondly, my badly phrased original post has thrown up some interesting
> > >answers. I accept the points about access of proprietary file formats
> > >causing problems but what I was really after was whether or not the
> > >presence
> > >of a .doc or .xls or .ppt file opening within a browser ( I chose IE
> > >because
> > >I don't think NS automatically tries to open them) would cause problems
> > >for
> > >screen readers. Sorry, I should have been more specific in my original
> > >query.
> > >The users for this portion of the site are schools that all have a
> > >common
> > >desktop installation (MS Office 97, NT4, IE5+) and hence the
specificity
> > >of
> > >my question. Ideally I would get all infomation presented in html but
to
> > >do
> > >this I have to get the info owners in our organisation to agree. They
> > >are
> > >under the illusion that because their client group all have Office that
> > >it
> > >is ok to serve up Office files rather than html pages. I need a solid
> > >argument why they can't do this .
> > >
> > >
> > >Julian Scarlett
> > >Web Design & Document Management System Officer
> > >PPU
> > >Education Directorate
> > >Sheffield City Council
> > >0114 2735721
> > >mob 07904914976
> > >julian.scarlett@sheffield.gov.uk
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Received on Tuesday, 23 October 2001 09:15:05 UTC