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Re: Word documents and tables

for

From: Christophe Strobbe
Date: Oct 26, 2010 12:54PM

Hi,

At 20:06 26/10/2010, Cliff Tyllick wrote:
>Hi, Chris.
>
>When this was mentioned at Access U, we were in a class on how to make
>Word documents accessible. We tested it immediately with Word 2007 or
>2010 and, I believe, JAWS 11. The instructor added the bookmark, turned
>JAWS on, and clicked into a cell in the middle of the table. The whole
>class cheered on hearing JAWS read the two headings and then the cell
>data.

Excellent.
The bookmark technique for table headings is not mentioned in the
"Accessible Digital Office Documents (ADOD) Guidance" for MS Word or
OpenOffice at <http://adod.idrc.ocad.ca/node/1>;.
I should test how screenreaders deal with tables in OpenOffice.org /
LibreOffice, but if anyone else has experience with this, please send
a comment to <EMAIL REMOVED> .


>I really do like your sample document.

Before anyone gets a wrong impression I would like to add that I did
not create that document, CEN did.
Last year I sent CEN instructions on how to create a more accessible
version of Guide 6; instead of doing that, they just sent me a
Microsoft Word version of the document.


>I scrolled until I saw a table and found this:
>
>"Table 1 * Factors to consider in clauses on information
>The best designed products or services avoid the need for any
>explanatory information, signalling the way they should be used by form
>and appearance."
>
>And, below this introduction, Table 1 has column headings, row
>headings, and empty cells. Some of the cells are shaded gray; others are
>white.
>
>No explanatory information needed there, eh?


Precisely. Convincing standards bodies to create accessible documents
is an uphill battle.

Best regards,

Christophe


>
>Cliff
>
>Cliff Tyllick
>Usability assessment coordinator
>Agency Communications Division
>Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
>512-239-4516
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>
> >>> On 10/26/2010 at 12:02 PM, in message
>< <EMAIL REMOVED> >, Christophe
>Strobbe < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>Hi Cliff,
>
>
>At 16:55 26/10/2010, Cliff Tyllick wrote:
> >(...)
> >You can designate column and row headings in Word documents, and
> >JAWS (and, I assume, other screen readers) will pick it up. But
> >nowhere in Word's documentation have I found this procedure. Here's
> >how you do it:
> >
> >To make it possible for screen readers to recognize the headings in
> >your table, add a bookmark to the first cell of each table:
> >- If the first row contains column headings *and* the first column
> >contains row headings, name the bookmark "Title#," where "#" is the
> >number of the table.
> >- If the first row contains column headings but the rest of the
> >first column is data, not row headings, name the bookmark
> >"ColumnTitle#," where # is the number of the table. (A decision
> >table might be formatted this way.)
> >- If the first column contains row headings but the rest of the
> >first row is data, not column headings, name the bookmark
> >"RowTitle#," where # is the number of the table.
>
>I once used a similar bookmark technique, but with a bookmark in
>every column header cell and every row header cell. I can't remember
>where that advice came from, and maybe that is a good thing because
>it did not work. A blind trainee who used the document complained
>that the tables were still not accessible. However, transferring
>those tables to Microsoft Excel turned out to be much better, even
>though the tables contain a header row with merged cells. (I am
>referring to the tables in Clause 7 of CEN/CENELEC Guide 6:
><ftp://ftp.cen.eu/BOSS/Reference_Documents/Guides/CEN_CLC/CEN_CLC_6.pdf>;.
>
>Guide 6 contains "Guidelines for standards developers to address the
>needs of older persons and persons with disabilities" but is not
>accessible...)
>
>
> >
> >When JAWS encounters such a table, it will, at the appropriate
> >verbosity setting, behave just like it does in a properly tagged
> >table in an html or PDF document. For example, if the bookmark is a
> >"Title" bookmark:
> >- If you move the cursor directly into a data cell, you will hear
> >JAWS announce the column heading and then the row heading, followed
> >in a different tone of voice by the contents of that cell.
> >- Move the cursor to the next row (same column), and JAWS will
> >announce the new row heading and, in the different tone of voice,
> >the contents of that cell.
> >- Move the cursor to the next column (same row), and JAWS will
> >announce the new column heading and, in the different tone of voice,
> >the contents of that cell.
> >All the "Repeat as header row" does is display (to people who can
> >see) the header row on each new page when the table extends across
> >more than one page. It does not affect what JAWS announces -- at
> >least, it hasn't in any demonstration that I have witnessed. But, of
> >course, redisplaying the header row is important for cognitive
> >accessibility, even for people whose only "impairment" is a moment's
> >distraction as they flipped the page.
> >(...)
>
>Best regards,
>
>Christophe
>
>
>--
>Christophe Strobbe
>K.U.Leuven - Dept. of Electrical Engineering - SCD
>Research Group on Document Architectures
>Kasteelpark Arenberg 10 bus 2442
>B-3001 Leuven-Heverlee
>BELGIUM
>tel: +32 16 32 85 51
>http://www.docarch.be/
>Twitter: @RabelaisA11y
>---
>"Better products and services through end-user empowerment"
>www.usem-net.eu - www.stand4all.eu
>---
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>
>