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Re: Accessible Word Docs - Need Help

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From: Krack, Joseph@DSS
Date: Jun 9, 2016 12:35PM

Carolyn,

I would recommend making this an accessible PDF form. It is possible to make an accessible Word form, but the limit of 138 characters in the Help Text would really make this impossible.

Someone using a screen reader may hear something that is easier on the ear if you change the way you make the lines, but they still would be unable to fill it in. All forms can be printed and filled in by hand, and I would encourage that all forms be made to be accessible.

I am working on creating a new training for creating accessible forms, but when I was with the Department of Rehabilitation I put together a short booklet on creating accessible forms in Word and PDF that you can take a look. Please let me know if you find the booklet useful, or if you have any questions. (http://www.dor.ca.gov/DisabilityAccessInfo/How-do-I-Construct-Accessible-Documents.html)

I hope this helps.

Joe Krack
Manager, Accessibility and Policy Unit
ADA Coordinator, Department of Social Services
744 P Street, MS T8-4-70
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 651-5647 (direct)



-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Carolyn Dudas
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2016 11:09 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Accessible Word Docs - Need Help

I'm working with staff to help them make their Word documents accessible.
Most of the Word documents are forms which are meant to be printed and completed by hand. By forms, I mean that there are fields which are followed by what appears to be a solid line, but in actuality is just the underscore character repeated multiple times. For instance, there are fields called "First Name" and "Last Name" which are followed by a series of underscore characters. Example: First Name__________________ Last Name________________.

Also, there is an essay question on the form. Again, the author originally typed the underscore character multiple times (for a total of 9 lines) so that someone can write their response. Example:
"Why would you be a good candidate for this program?"
To make this document accessible for a person reading it via a screen reader, I've advised staff to use a leader tab formatted with an underscore rather than typing the underscore multiple times. Is the leader tab the recommended method for creating underlines for this type of form?
Is this OK in terms of accessibility --- can a screen reader correctly read the document?

Recommendations would greatly be appreciated.

I'd especially like if someone who is proficient in using a screen reader or uses one daily could actually "read" my sample document to see if it's accessible. If you are willing to do this, please let me know offline and I'll send it to you as an attachment. Thanks.

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Carolyn Dudas