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Re: PDFs that read one word per line

for

From: Cliff Tyllick
Date: Feb 1, 2010 4:06PM

Maureen, thanks for reminding me about these courses.

At best, these documents are cursory introductions to the reasons we need to create accessible documents. They do not offer enough information about techniques in Word for our employees to be able to go back to their desks and routinely create accessible documents.

Furthermore, they miss a number of key points. For example, the Word 2003 tutorial does not mention document structure at all. Not one word.

Our training provider has offered a similar approach: "We offer three levels of Word training. In these classes, we will not mention one word about accessibility. To learn about accessibility, your employees need to come back for our new courses, 'MS Office Accessibility' and 'PDF Accessibility.' Of course, this means your training budget per employee must increase by 33 to 67 percent."

When our employees enroll in a class to learn Word, we want them to come out of that class following practices that make documents accessible. From the very beginning, they should learn an efficient, effective way to use Word to produce documents that comply with accessibility requirements.

The simple fact is that making a new document accessible is not a burden; in fact, it's a bonus. If our employees must take an extra class to learn about accessibility, then they definitely will consider it to be a burden -- especially when, as with these tutorials, that class offers them next to no new information.

If your purpose is to use them as an introduction to the importance of accessibility, then they will do a reasonable job. But do not mistake them for the kind of training that will get them to understand what to do in Word and how to do it to obtain an accessible document.

Cliff

Cliff Tyllick
Usability specialist and Web development coordinator
Agency Communications Division
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-4516
<EMAIL REMOVED>

>>> "Hencmann, Maureen" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 2/1/2010 4:35 PM >>>
Has anyone reviewed these tutorials from Microsoft for accessibility techniques? I use them in my assistive technology class and have found them to have some of the foundational elements you are seeking. I would value others' input.

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/default.aspx

Kind regards,
Maureen Hencmann
Associate Director, Partnership Services
New Ventures of Regis University
303.964.3652
800.388.2366 ext. 3652