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Re: Microsoft Accessibility Collaboration Opportunities

for

From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: May 14, 2016 12:33AM

Hello,
I did not know one could create forms using Office...
A problem I seem to have is that I am not sure how to sign documents
(either PDFs or Word documents) with my signature.
So I may be totally missing this feature, but for a blind person, having
the ability to just sign by pressing a button would be amazing!

What is quick access? And why did they take out the menu bar? That is what
I would like to know... Now I am always scared I will miss something when I
am arrowing through the menus.
Also, spellcheck is not accessible anymore when one uses f7 with NVDA.
these are just a couple problems I find with word.

But I think there are usability enhancements, features and bugs. The
problem is trying to distinguish between the 3. As a beta tester, I almost
always couch something as a bug or a feature request and much of the time
the things I say are not acted on. So who do we talk to in order to get
this ms group working?
Thanks,


Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;

On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 10:50 PM, Cliff Tyllick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Bevi, I had several conversations with the large group Microsoft sent to
> CSUN. They are definitely interested in making Office products not only
> more accessible but also more usable for creating accessible content.
>
> You are absolutely on target with the disconnect between the features
> built into Microsoft applications and the features people who work
> productively with those applications need. Easily half of the Quick Access
> styles make no sense—"Intense Emphasis"? Give me a break!
>
> That said, the folks from Microsoft have heard the message. They want to
> hear what we have to say. So participate in their forums, and follow and
> tweet to @MSFTEnable, the Microsoft Accessibility Twitter account. It would
> be easy for us to get adversarial with them, but to do so would be
> counterproductive. Let them know what you need their software to do. If you
> have developed hacks or workarounds to get it done, let them know what they
> are. They know they don't know, and they want to learn.
>
> For my part, I have shared the Productivity Tab for Word 2010, which
> consolidates many features that support accessibility in one interface. I
> have also pointed them to the tutorials the Texas state agencies produced
> on creating accessible documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with
> Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively.
>
> I think it would be great to get a discussion going with them about the
> challenges of producing accessible forms in Word. I know of at least two
> hacky approaches various groups use to make forms accessible in Word. It
> would be nice if there could be one standard baked-in approach that
> reliably produced accessible forms. It would be great if selection lists
> and all the other features that make forms highly usable could also be made
> to be accessible.
>
> In talking with them, I pointed out how features they created with other
> purposes in mind—stylesets, for example; page background color, for
> another—could be used to customize presentations quickly to meet individual
> needs. And I learned of a feature or two that are helpful but have been
> well hidden.
>
> So engage them. Make suggestions. And listen. They are eager to work with
> us to create the products we need.
>
> Best,
>
> Cliff Tyllick
> Accessibility Coordinator
> Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services
> 512-438-2494
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> Although its spellcheck often saves me, all goofs in sent messages are its
> fault.
>
> > On May 13, 2016, at 4:26 PM, Chagnon | PubCom < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> wrote:
> >
> > Yes, Jennifer's suggestion is a good one. Combined with input by a
> targetted accessibility group, the open public forums can reinforce the
> need for accessibility.
> >
> > As a professional beta tester for 30+ years for more software companies
> than I can count, I've learned several things:
> >
> > 1. Software engineers know how to program. But they don't know anything
> about what we users do with their software, so their understanding of what
> tools we need and the end-products we're trying to create is nil.
> >
> > 2. They don't have a clue what accessibility is about, especially those
> engineering teams located in countries that either haven't adopted
> accessibility laws or haven't yet implemented their countries' policies.
> The majority of software engineering teams are no longer located in the US,
> Canada, Europe, and other countries with accessibility laws.
> >
> > 3. Their bosses, who allocate the R&D funding to program features into
> the software, don't have a clue what accessibility is about, so they don't
> give accessibility the go-ahead on the development schedule.
> >
> > 4. Open forums are managed by the lowest level staff at the software
> company, usually those without much experience in programming or software
> use. They literally are counting the number of requests that come in on
> various topics, and then relaying those numbers to the upper echelons in
> the marketing department.
> >
> > Therefore:
> >
> > 1. The more that we can reach the decision makers at the software
> companies, the greate likelihood we'll see better software in a couple of
> years.
> >
> > 2. Having a direct organized group speak directly to them is one method.
> Open Forums can help, but we'll need to make sure enough "numbers" make
> their voices heard by the forum counters. Coordination by members of the
> two groups is critical.
> >
> > —Bevi Chagnon
> >
> >
> > > > > > > > > > > > >