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From: Howard Kramer
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2016 11:11AM
Subject: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
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Passing along this announcement from Microsoft:



Microsoft recently released an announcement about new accessibility
capabilities in Office 365 (details below).


Recently released accessibility enhancements showcased in this Office Blog
post
<https://blogs.office.com/2016/08/25/productivity-and-inclusion-office-365-accessibility-update/>
worth
calling out for the higher education community include:

1. The ability to see data more clearly in Excel Online in High
Contrast Modes

2. The ability to run accessibility checks on content in Office for
Mac apps

3. The ability to get spelling suggestions in Word for PCs even when
the misspelled word is very different from the intended word



Microsoft will continue to make progress in enhancing the accessibility of
Office 365 apps in the coming months and invites members of the higher
education community to give ideas to help make all products truly usable by
people of all abilities
<https://microsoftaccessibility.uservoice.com/forums/307429-microsoft-accessibility-feedback>.
Also, we hope to see many of you in person or virtually on Nov 17 at the
Microsoft session at the AHG conference
<http://accessinghigherground.org/creating-inclusive-classrooms-campuses-microsoft-technologies/>;
.

--
Howard Kramer
Conference Coordinator
Accessing Higher Ground
303-492-8672
cell: 720-351-8668

Join us for the *Accessing Higher Ground Conference
<http://accessinghigherground.org/>;* in Denver, Colorado, Nov 14-18, 2016.
Request for proposals will be announced at the beginning of March.



Complete program information and registration is open for our full line-up
of webinars, *AHEADtoYOU!
<http://ahead.org/learn/virtual-learning/webinars>;* And the *Technology
Access Series <http://ahead.org/learn/virtual-learning/at_webinars_15_16>;*.
Site capacities for all webinar events is limited; please register at your
earliest convenience for the largest selection.



Not yet a member of AHEAD? *We welcome you to join AHEAD now.
<http://ahead.org/join/become-a-member>;*

From: Duff Johnson
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2016 11:18AM
Subject: Re: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
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Thanks, Howard,

Since the subject comes up quite frequently here, I thought I should also highlight that in the same blog-post, Microsoft makes more welcome news in the electronic document front, specifically:

"Word applications for Mac now give you the ability to export documents as tagged PDFs and will soon be in conformance with the PDF/UA standard. We are working to offer this capability for Excel and PowerPoint apps for Mac next."

Duff.

From: Elizabeth Pyatt
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2016 12:24PM
Subject: Re: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
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The additional accessibility tools for the Mac versions of Word is wonderful news, but I am not sure how to get an update. Has anyone been able to do that or get information?

Best
Elizabeth

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.
Instructional Designer
Teaching and Learning with Technology
Penn State University
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = , (814) 865-0805 or (814) 865-2030 (Main Office)

3A Shields Building
University Park, PA 16802
http://www.personal.psu.edu/ejp10/psu
http://tlt.psu.edu

From: Jared Smith
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2016 12:36PM
Subject: Re: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
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Elizabeth Pyatt wrote:
> I am not sure how to get an update. Has anyone been able to do that or get information?

You must have Word 2016 for Mac. Go to Help... Check for Updates to
get the latest updates. This adds a Tools... Check for Accessibility
option to run the checker.

When saving to PDF, there is an option for "Best for electronic
distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service)". Of
note is that unlike Word on Windows which generates the tagged PDF
directly, you can only generate a tagged PDF using this option and the
online service - it sends your document to an online service and then
saves the PDF file locally for you. It's quite transparent, but could
be a security concern for some people.

Jared

From: Whitney Quesenbery
Date: Thu, Sep 08 2016 6:30PM
Subject: Re: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
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Unfortunately the "export to PDF" is a welcome step, but not nearly there.
Here are the limitations that Microsoft has confirmed.

1. You can ONLY do this by using a cloud service, with no terms shared, so
no idea what might happen to your file. Beware anyone in sensitive work.

2. Only Microsoft fonts. Their conversion of some that I've tried were
really dreadful. A san serif font similar to Arial turned into Georgia and
destroyed pagination.

3. No Asian languages. Not No Asian Languages In Your Document but they
must be removed from your system settings. Not your word preferences. Your
Mac system preferences. To send a file to the cloud.

4. No options. Just send it and get back what you get.

5. Beware of themes. If you convert a file with a theme, you get something
that looks like it might work. It has tags and other signs of accessibility
but if you look at the reading order for a page it's one big element. No
idea what that means.

Worst of all. Not one bit of this is documented anywhere.

The only hope about it being a cloud service is that it might be updated
faster with some pressure to get a service that meets the needs of a
modern, global world.

Whitney

On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 2:36 PM Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Elizabeth Pyatt wrote:
> > I am not sure how to get an update. Has anyone been able to do that or
> get information?
>
> You must have Word 2016 for Mac. Go to Help... Check for Updates to
> get the latest updates. This adds a Tools... Check for Accessibility
> option to run the checker.
>
> When saving to PDF, there is an option for "Best for electronic
> distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service)". Of
> note is that unlike Word on Windows which generates the tagged PDF
> directly, you can only generate a tagged PDF using this option and the
> online service - it sends your document to an online service and then
> saves the PDF file locally for you. It's quite transparent, but could
> be a security concern for some people.
>
> Jared
> > > > >
--
*Whitney Quesenbery*
(lists) = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
(work) = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

From: Duff Johnson
Date: Fri, Sep 09 2016 7:41AM
Subject: Re: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
← Previous message | Next message →

Hi Whitney,

> Unfortunately the "export to PDF" is a welcome step, but not nearly there.
> Here are the limitations that Microsoft has confirmed.
>
> 1. You can ONLY do this by using a cloud service, with no terms shared, so
> no idea what might happen to your file. Beware anyone in sensitive work.

Interestingly, on MacOS, at this time, Adobe's the same way - to make a tagged PDF you have to upload the Word file to Adobe's servers. As of right now, neither company seems willing / capable of putting the relevant code on the machine itself, for some reason.

> 2. Only Microsoft fonts. Their conversion of some that I've tried were
> really dreadful. A san serif font similar to Arial turned into Georgia and
> destroyed pagination.
>
> 3. No Asian languages. Not No Asian Languages In Your Document but they
> must be removed from your system settings. Not your word preferences. Your
> Mac system preferences. To send a file to the cloud.

Thanks for pointing that out! VERY weird!

> 4. No options. Just send it and get back what you get.
>
> 5. Beware of themes. If you convert a file with a theme, you get something
> that looks like it might work. It has tags and other signs of accessibility
> but if you look at the reading order for a page it's one big element. No
> idea what that means.
>
> Worst of all. Not one bit of this is documented anywhere.
>
> The only hope about it being a cloud service is that it might be updated
> faster with some pressure to get a service that meets the needs of a
> modern, global world.

…a slightly more optimistic perspective might hold that it's early days for the rollout of this technology, and so it's not all as buttoned-up as will be necessary in the big picture.

It's clear they in general, they want to respond to what the users are asking for. The more encouragement Microsoft (and Adobe) hear about getting it right - and not just as a service - the better!

Duff.

From: Whitney Quesenbery
Date: Sat, Sep 10 2016 3:41PM
Subject: Re: Office 365 Accessibility Announcement from Microsoft
← Previous message | No next message

Duff, I am definitely holding out the optimistic perspective that this is
just the beginning. But, having waited for so long, I do think that it's
important to say loudly and clearly that this is not enough.

One other thing that bugs me on Windows: the lack of a way to set a set of
settings (sic) and use them over and over again. It would be so much easier
to teach someone by showing them the correct setting for their purpose,
saving it in some way, and letting them use it again, rather than having to
keep cheat sheets to make sure that each and every time you check and
uncheck all of the right boxes.

(I'm thinking about programs like Audio Hijack which are great at letting
you set up different recording options, and naming them something
meaningful to you.

Maybe some recipes with explanations of what each setting does would be
helpful. Any takers? Collective effort here on the list?

Whitney

On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 9:41 AM Duff Johnson < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Hi Whitney,
>
> > Unfortunately the "export to PDF" is a welcome step, but not nearly
> there.
> > Here are the limitations that Microsoft has confirmed.
> >
> > 1. You can ONLY do this by using a cloud service, with no terms shared,
> so
> > no idea what might happen to your file. Beware anyone in sensitive work.
>
> Interestingly, on MacOS, at this time, Adobe's the same way - to make a
> tagged PDF you have to upload the Word file to Adobe's servers. As of right
> now, neither company seems willing / capable of putting the relevant code
> on the machine itself, for some reason.
>
> > 2. Only Microsoft fonts. Their conversion of some that I've tried were
> > really dreadful. A san serif font similar to Arial turned into Georgia
> and
> > destroyed pagination.
> >
> > 3. No Asian languages. Not No Asian Languages In Your Document but they
> > must be removed from your system settings. Not your word preferences.
> Your
> > Mac system preferences. To send a file to the cloud.
>
> Thanks for pointing that out! VERY weird!
>
> > 4. No options. Just send it and get back what you get.
> >
> > 5. Beware of themes. If you convert a file with a theme, you get
> something
> > that looks like it might work. It has tags and other signs of
> accessibility
> > but if you look at the reading order for a page it's one big element. No
> > idea what that means.
> >
> > Worst of all. Not one bit of this is documented anywhere.
> >
> > The only hope about it being a cloud service is that it might be updated
> > faster with some pressure to get a service that meets the needs of a
> > modern, global world.
>
> …a slightly more optimistic perspective might hold that it's early days
> for the rollout of this technology, and so it's not all as buttoned-up as
> will be necessary in the big picture.
>
> It's clear they in general, they want to respond to what the users are
> asking for. The more encouragement Microsoft (and Adobe) hear about getting
> it right - and not just as a service - the better!
>
> Duff.
> > > > >
--
*Whitney Quesenbery*
(lists) = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
(work) = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =