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Re: PDFs that read one word per line

for

From: Karlen Communications
Date: Feb 2, 2010 4:39AM

OK, gottcha. This course assumes that people have been stumbling around in
Word so know how to type and have used things like single cell tables, text
boxes, flung formatting at text and so forth and now need to "learn how to
do it right" and make more accessible documents. It does explain why you are
doing things to improve accessibility and the impact on someone using
adaptive technology as well as the average person reading your documents.

So it takes you through the steps of using headings and custom headings, how
to create them and apply them as well as why you are changing the way you
create "headings" and that by using the styles you are adding the structure
to the document that is missing when you create a visual representation of a
heading by flinging formatting at text.

I've written books on Word from the keyboard but these are reference tools
for trainers/their students to use to create lessons not tutorials
themselves.

Cheers, Karen


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Cliff Tyllick
Sent: February-01-10 6:15 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PDFs that read one word per line

Karen, I followed the link to the Criterion 508 course (
http://www.criterion508.com/solutions_elearning_accessible.html ), and I see
this in the description:

"This course is not intended to teach documentation professionals how to use
Microsoft Word 2003, but rather only how to create accessible document
structure using Microsoft Word 2003."

Is that description accurate? If so, then I am sorry to say that this is not
the course we need. We need a course that assumes the student has no
knowledge of Word and teaches them to use Word the right way -- the way that
produces accessible documents.

Thanks, though, for bringing this book and course to my attention.

Cheers,
Cliff

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


>>> "Karlen Communications" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 2/1/2010 4:20 PM
>>>
I do this and more in my training and in my book "Logical Document Structure
Handbook: Word 2003" http://www.karlencommunications.com/products.htm

I am currently creating a book for Word 2007 but have been doing workshops
and training on creating accessible documents in Word since 2005. My book
has been converted into an online course offered by Criterion 508 Solutions
Inc http://www.criterion508.com

I don't repair Word documents but do audits and provide a report.

I've also written an online course on creating accessible PowerPoint for
PowerPoint 2007 for Criterion and it should be on their new web site
shortly. Contact them if you are interested in a site license. They don't
have single licenses for individuals.

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Cliff Tyllick
Sent: February-01-10 3:58 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PDFs that read one word per line

Mike Langum says:

>The key is to ensure that authors (usually in MS Word) are properly trained
in:
>* the use of word styles (to set heading levels),
>* adding column head structure to tables,
>* adding alternate text to graphics images,
>* avoiding text boxes (if possible)

Cliff replies:
I've been waiting for someone to point this out. I, for one, am highly
frustrated and incredibly dissatisfied with the training generally offered
for Office products. For example, Microsoft offers Word training online.
Most training courses I have seen so far follow the syllabus laid out by
Microsoft, which is something like this:

Lesson 1: Type, cut, and paste.
Lesson 2: Change the way some of your text looks.
Lesson 3: Use the paintbrush to copy that appearance and reproduce it
somewhere else.
Lesson 4: Add some pictures!
And so on.

In other words, it's as if they are training us to take this powerful word
processor and use it like an eight-pack of Crayolas, a pot of paste, and a
pair of safety scissors. Is it any wonder that someone who learned how to
use Word from this training does not routinely create accessible documents?

Another thing: If you skip ahead to Microsoft's lesson about tables, in the
introduction to that lesson you will find this statement:

"A Word table is something you can add to your document to help organize
text and other content on a page. It's simply a container that works very
much like a closet organizer or that tray in your silverware drawer: it
provides separate spaces for your important items so that things are easy to
find, visually appealing, and don't feel overcrowded."

Oh, really?

At our agency, out of frustration and lack of any other options, we are
developing our own Word training, "Creating Accessible Documents in Word:
The Basics." Our course takes this approach:

Lesson 0: Use plain English. (But that's another course. Take it, too.)
Lesson 1: Headings, outlines, and the document map
Lesson 2: Using and choosing templates
Lesson 3: Why not to use "Normal." For anything. Ever.
Lesson 4: Getting control of lists
Lesson 5: Meaningful Links
Lesson 6: Tables, Figures, and Other Nontext Elements. We cover this at a
very basic level: "Never, ever, use a text box. Never, ever use 'Draw
Table.' Before you create a table, make sure a table is the right choice.
When it is, make it no more complex than necessary. Finally, make sure the
information in tables, meaningful illustrations, and other significant
nontext elements is also conveyed in the text itself. If that isn't
possible, get help from someone who has completed the advanced course."

In the advanced course, we will cover modifying styles, creating templates,
redesigning overly complex tables (our employees need a lot of practice at
this), linking to alternate formats (think "tables in html"), adding "alt"
text, and any topics suggested by the students from their own personal
experience.

But these courses are not quite enough. We also have to deal with Word's
unusable-for-creating-accessible documents interface. Because a number of
our computers are too old to run Windows 7, we are still using Word 2003,
where the default interface includes Word's Standard and Formatting
toolbars. These toolbars have umpteen buttons that lead away from
accessibility and only three buttons that lead toward accessibility. Those
three buttons are anything but prominently featured:
* One, located way off at the left end of the Formatting toolbar, opens the
Styles and Formatting task pane. If you make the effort to set this task
pane up properly, it can help you create well-structured documents.
* Another button, found at middle left of the Standard toolbar, opens the
Document Map. This feature shows you whether Word can recognize the
structure that you think you have created.
* The third button is way off to the right end of the Formatting toolbar.
This button adds hyperlinks. When used properly, hyperlinks can make it
easier for everyone to follow any cross references built into your document.

In Word 2003, we have built our own toolbar around these and similar
buttons. We call it the Accessibility toolbar. It features no buttons that
change the appearance of text without tagging the reason for that change --
no bold, no italics, no increase indent, none of those. If you want a big
heading, you click a button labeled "H1." If you want a subheading, you
click a button labeled "H2." Because we are using Word 2003, we can make
sure that our employees see this toolbar by default.

And our efforts have actually been rewarded. Our employees are starting to
get it. Better yet, many of those who learned what we teach have found that
using Word this way saves them so much time that they are eager to teach
their co-workers what they've learned. I won't say our message has gone
viral, but it's at least gone fungal.

Looking ahead, we see new problems. In Word 2007's ribbon, Microsoft has
given us a bunch of great new buttons that apply styles, but they have also
left in place all the buttons that only change the way the text looks. So
now we have the 16-pack of Crayolas.

By and large, we like the right half of the ribbon, where all the buttons
for styles appear. But we don't want our employees distracted by the
formatting-only buttons on the left. Unfortunately, controlling the ribbon
in Word 2007 is nowhere near as easy as customizing a toolbar for Word 2003.
But we're working on it.

Once we solve that problem, we intend to see if there is something we can do
about another behavior -- Microsoft's literature calls it a "feature" -- of
Word 2007. If you hover the cursor over any block of text long enough, all
the formatting buttons slowly fade into view around that text -- at first, a
ghostly image; ultimately, in high definition. "Click us," they beckon.
"Change the way it looks. Don't apply a style. It would be so easy, and you
know you want to."

Reviewing the accessibility barriers in our agency's older PDFs, I would
estimate that at least 90 percent began in a Word document. Very, very few
are a result of anything that happened during the creation of the PDF.
Microsoft made it easy to get where we are today.

And y'all have been complaining about Adobe? When have they ever taught
people to create an inaccessible document?

Cliff

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