Creating Accessible Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF Documents. Matt Polkowsky Assistant Webmaster, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Transcription

1 Creating Accessible Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF Documents Matt Polkowsky Assistant Webmaster, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

2 Programs we will be using For this presentation we will be looking at Microsoft Office 2007/2010* Adobe Acrobat Professional version XI is used to highlight accessible PDF creation and modification * (2010 is very similar to 2007 and all options presented today should be in both versions)

3 For Microsoft Word: Using Styles and Headers Proper creation of hyperlinks Proper labeling of images with alternate text Creating lists and using bullets Use of Tables and Labeling of cells

4 For Microsoft Excel: Creating and Labeling of Charts Label Row and Column headings Creation of hyperlinks Labeling of images with alternate text

5 For Microsoft PowerPoint: Encouraging use of predesigned slide layouts Using the Outline and Notes Panels Use of Word Art feature Fonts

6 For Adobe PDF documents: How to create a tagged document Running an accessibility check and how to solve common problems encountered Tables and Table headings Objects not in the Document Tree Language Specification Image with proper alternate text Proper Document Properties information

7 For Microsoft Word: Using Styles and Headers Proper creation of hyperlinks Proper labeling of images with alternate text Creating lists and using bullets Use of Tables and Labeling of cells

8 Word Styles and Headings It is important to all users that our Word document use proper heading structure and implement a styled layout. This will assure that the reader (whether they are using assistive technology or not) is getting the same experience from the content we present. It also greatly improves the usability and readability of the content. Open up your sample Word Document. Click and drag your cursor over the text where you want to change the style. Then using the Styles and Formatting toolbar at the top of the document, choose the appropriate style for the text.

9 Word Styles and Headings If you already have your text styled the way you want and you just want to make all of the rest of the text that is displayed the same way (like all the Heading 1s for example) then scroll over and highlight the text you want to make into a header. It will most likely be set to Normal. At the top of the page in the Styles ribbon, right-click on the style that you want to change it into. Select Modify to bring up a window to change the various options for the text. Explore what the settings do for your layout and click OK when you are done. Or if you have already formatted the text the way you wanted it, then select Update stylename to Match Selection

10 Word Adding Hyperlinks There are two ways that you create a hyperlink in Microsoft Office: 1. Type in a URL or webpage address and pressing the space bar, Enter, or some other key. This automatically creates a link with the Text to Display field already filled in as the text of the webpage address. 2. Or you can Right-click on the highlighted text and select Hyperlink. It's simple, but the URL may not make sense to the reader, especially if they are using some sort of assistive technology. To change the hyperlink text, select a link, right-click and select Edit Hyperlink, or select Ctrl + K. Change the URL in the Text to display field to something more descriptive (ex. Department of Natural Resources ( Insert the desired text (what you want users to click on to access the link) and click and drag your cursor to highlight the text that you want to make into a link.

11 Word Adding Alternate Text 1. Add an image to a document. Click on the image and a border will appear around it.

12 Word Adding Alternate Text 1. Add an image to a document. Click on the image and a border will appear around it 2. Right-click anywhere within the image to bring up the options for images. Select Size.

13 Word Adding Alternate Text 1. Add an image to a document. Click on the image and a border will appear around it 2. Right-click anywhere within the image to bring up the options for images. Select Size. 3. Select the Alt Text tag, type in a description of the image, then click OK.

14 Word Bullets and Lists Use the Bullet and Numbering preformatted lists as a tool to make your lists accessible. They are found in the Paragraph toolbar. Do not use the "Increase Indent" or "Decrease Indent" features to create lists or tables. Try to use only the standard bullets of disk, open circle, square and open square. These are often the only types of bullets recognized and tagged correctly after being converted to PDF and by assistive technology. Lists using combinations of Bullets, Letters, and Numbers are also created using these icons and tools.

15 Word Tables and Labeling Cells Tables should only be used for including data and never for layout. Use Templates, Styles and Formatting, or Page Layout options to arrange text and images. Use Insert Table rather than text formatted to look like tables using the TAB key or space bar. These spaces will not be recognized by assistive technology. If you have complex tables it is highly recommended that a description or explanation of the table contents be included in the text of the document. If at all possible, construct the table so it will read logically from left to right, top to bottom order. Please make sure that each table only contains one set of data/content and avoid nested tables. Make sure that you create and label each column or row if they are headings. Ensure the table is not floating on the page (in line with text)

16 Word Tables and Labeling Cells Go to menu item Insert In the Tables section, select the Tables Icon Select the number of rows and columns that you want your table to have. Or create using Insert Table instead of Draw Table. Draw Table tends to not reproduce as well when converting to PDF or other formats.

17 Word Tables and Labeling Cells Select the table and a Table Tools menu item should appear Go to menu item: Table Tools > Design In the Table Style Options section, select the Header Row check box Note: Whenever possible, keep tables simple with just one row of headings.

18 Word Tables and Labeling Cells If tables split across pages, set the header to show at the top of each page Right click on the table and then select Table Properties On the Row column, make sure that you have checked Repeat as header row at the top of each page

19 Word Tables and Labeling Cells Table captions or descriptions should answer the question what is the table's purpose and how is it organized? (e.g., Owls in South Carolina with their average weight and wingspan ). Right click on the table and then click on Insert Caption. You may not elect to add a Caption and instead describe the table s content in a paragraph nearby (immediately above or below the table)

20 Word Tables and Labeling Cells Note: At this time, Word 2007/2010 does not properly communicate the location of the header rows to assistive technologies. Here is a way to work around that for some users, especially JAWS users. To specify for JAWS that a table row is a header row: Place the cursor in any cell within the row containing headings Go to menu item: Insert In the Links section, select Bookmark Type ColumnTitle and press Enter or click Add Note: Only mark one cell in the row. You can make bookmarks in any row or column that needs to be interpreted by a screen reader as some kind of header. Just make sure that you don t use the same text in the field. Maybe add a 1, 2, etc. and use RowTitle instead of ColumnTitle if you are describing a row.

21 Word and Excel Charts To create a chart Go to menu item: Insert In the Illustrations section, select Chart Select a Chart Type from the Chart Gallery Select OK Note: This will open the Excel document Titled Chart in Microsoft Office XXXXX, where you can input the data you would like to include in the chart. When you have done this, simply close the Excel window and the data will appear on the chart in the Office Document.

22 Word and Excel Charts Update the datasheet with the data you would like to include in your chart Since we have talked about simplifying things, and removing data that isn t really relevant, we are not going to use the Latin Name row in our chart. You may have to insert some rows and columns beyond the initial 4x4 table that the program starts with. Make sure that you insert rows and columns within the outlined area (default border color seems to be blue). Close the datasheet once all of your information has been put in the Excel document s table.

23 Word and Excel Charts To add titles and labels In the Chart Tools menu section, go to menu item: Layout In the Labels section, select the type of title or label you would like to define (e.g., Chart Title, Axis Titles, Data Labels) To apply a predefined Chart Layout In the Chart Tools menu section, go to menu item: Design In the Chart Layouts section, select a Quick Layout from the scrolling Chart Layouts gallery

24 Word and Excel Charts To change to a different predefined Chart Type In the Chart Tools menu section, go to menu item: Design In the Type section, select the Change Chart Type icon In the Change Chart Type dialog, select a chart type from the left pane Select a Chart Design from the right pane Select OK Other Chart Considerations When creating line charts, use the formatting options to create different types of dotted lines to facilitate legibility for users who are color blind When creating bar charts, go to menu item: Chart Tools > Format and in the Shape Styles section select Shape Fill to apply a texture to help distinguish the bars Change the default colors to a color safe or gray-scale palette Use the formatting options to change predefined colors, ensuring that they align with sufficient contrast requirements

25 For Microsoft Excel: Creating and Labeling of Charts Label Row and Column headings Creation of hyperlinks Labeling of images with alternate text

26 Excel Row and Column headings Naming the different data ranges within your spreadsheet makes it easier to navigate through the document and find specific information. By associating a meaningful name to a data range, you will be enhancing the readability of your document. These named ranges can be referenced in multiple locations of your document and within calculations and equations. To define a name Highlight the cells you would like to name Go to menu item: Formulas In the Defined Names section, select the Define Name button In the Name text box, enter the name for the data range In the Scope drop-down list, select scope within which the name can be referenced (usually Workbook) Select OK

27 Excel Creation of hyperlinks Creating links to other documents or webpages is a little harder in Excel. This is mostly because Excel is not a word processing program (that is what Word is for). Verify that your cells are formatted correctly for text or whatever content is supposed to be there. If not, right-click on the cell that is not properly formatted and select Format Cells. The Text category will be the best format for links and text in cells. Under the Alignment tab, you also have options for positioning and controlling your text.

28 Excel Creation of hyperlinks If you are going to create a hyperlink a single cell, then right click on the cell and select the Hyperlink option at the bottom of the menu that comes up. Excel only allows the linking of cells in their entirety and doesn t anchor the link to a specific word or icon in the cell. Alternately, you may elect to link from an Image or Icon on the document as well.

29 Excel Alternate Text for Images 1. Add an image to a document. Click on the image and a border will appear around it

30 Excel Alternate Text for Images 1. Add an image to a document. Click on the image and a border will appear around it 2. Right-click anywhere within the image to bring up the options for images. Select Size and Properties.

31 Excel Alternate Text for Images 1. Add an image to a document. Click on the image and a border will appear around it 2. Right-click anywhere within the image to bring up the options for images. Select Size and Properties. 3. Select the Alt Text tag, type in a description of the image, then click OK.

32 For Microsoft PowerPoint: Encouraging use of predesigned slide layouts Using the Outline and Notes Panels Use of Word Art feature Fonts

33 PowerPoint Using Styles Every version of PowerPoint since at least 2000 contains a series of highly-accessible slide layouts. PowerPoint is designed to encourage the use of these slide layouts, especially in newer versions. Using these templates will ensure that your files have correctly structured headings and lists, proper reading order, etc. The correct use of slide layouts is probably the most significant thing you can do to ensure that your content is accessible. It sets up the text to be interpreted by PDF creation software and accessibility technology similar to Styles and Formatting in Microsoft Word.

34 PowerPoint Using Styles In the Home tab, select New Slide to add a blank new slide Better yet, use the New Slide dropdown, and a menu of slide types will appear.

35 PowerPoint Outline and Notes Panels PowerPoint contains two panels that can sometimes be used to enhance accessibility: the outline panel and the notes panel. The outline panel contains a text outline of the content that appears in your slides. Reviewing this panel can help ensure the content on the slides is logically sequenced, that slide titles are unique and meaningful and that reading order is appropriate. The text in this panel may also be a good starting place for handouts or HTML alternatives to slides. Alternative text for image and text boxes that are not part of the default layout will not be included in the outline view.

36 PowerPoint Outline and Notes Panels PowerPoint contains two panels that can sometimes be used to enhance accessibility: the outline panel and the notes panel. The notes panel allows the speaker to add notes and information that will not appear on the slides. It can be used to add additional information to printed handouts as well. Placing image or chart descriptions in this area is not reliable and should be avoided. This information may not be accessed by a screen reader, especially if the presentation is saved to PDF or some other format.

37 PowerPoint Using WordArt and Font Choices "Word art" is actually converted to an image when the file is made into a PDF in Office and must be given alternative text. It remains text in Office Use real text rather than text within graphics. When a document gets enlarged, the text will scale properly, but the text within graphics will often blur or become pixelated. Don t rely on the appearance of the font (color, shape, font variations like all capital letters, bold, or italics, placement, layout, etc.) to convey information in an accessible document. Example: using all capital letters might be interpreted by a screen reader as an acronym, with emphasis or given no extra emphasis at all and lengthy segments of capital letters are difficult to read for sighted users too. Do not use blinking or moving text. Avoid small font sizes. There is no perfect size, but if you can t read it unless you squint at the screen (assuming you have no vision disabilities), then it is probably too small. Remember that most PPTs are typically displayed on a larger screen. Select simple, easily-readable fonts and limit the number of different fonts used to under three. I recommend Verdana, Georgia, and Arial. When selecting a color for your text, make sure that there is sufficient contrast between the text and the background.

38 PowerPoint Background Images Only images that convey content or information should be used in your PPT presentation Add background images to all slides by using the tools in the Design tab or right click on an individual slide and select Format Background to add a background image to just one slide at a time. If you use image files in this way to decorate your PPT, they will not be read or interpreted by assistive technology and will be automatically tagged as a background in PDF conversion. Background images against a framed texture or gradient will have to be properly tagged with alternate text (right click on the image and use Size and Position to access the Alt Text tab). With any background, make sure that you have enough contrast between the background and the content colors.

39 For Adobe PDF documents: How to create a tagged document Running an accessibility check and how to solve common problems encountered Tables and Table headings Objects not in the Document Tree Language Specification Image with proper alternate text Proper Document Properties information

40 PDF Creating a Tagged Document Accessible PDF files usually are referring to "tagged" PDF files, even though there is more to an accessible PDF than tags. PDF tags provide a hidden, structured, textual representation of the PDF content that is presented to screen readers and other assistive technologies. They exist for accessibility purposes only and have no visible effect on the PDF file. PDF files are usually created in another program and converted to PDF format. There are probably hundreds of programs that can create PDF files, but only a few of them produce properly tagged PDF files. The accessibility of the PDF depends almost solely on the accessibility of the original document.

41 PDF Creating a Tagged Document It is possible to create accessible PDF files in Office, as long as the following requirements are met: 1. The file must be accessible. That includes providing alternative text for images, proper headings, appropriate link text, etc. before trying to convert a file to PDF. 2. Office 2002/2003 and 2007 users must have Adobe Acrobat Professional installed, minimum version The file must be exported correctly. If a file is created by printing or scanning to PDF, it will not be correctly tagged.

42 PDF Creating a Tagged Document When you install Adobe Acrobat Professional version 8 or higher, an add-in for Microsoft Office is installed by default. The add-in allows you to convert Office files to PDF without opening Acrobat. This add-in also installs an Acrobat menu, which should appear in the Menu bar at the far right. You can then create a PDF file in one of two ways.

43 PDF Creating a Tagged Document 1. Click on the Office Button, hover over Save As, and select Adobe PDF, or press Alt + F, F, A. 2. Or you can select Create PDF from the Acrobat ribbon.

44 PDF Creating a Tagged Document Either one of these options will open the same dialog box (AcrobatPDFMaker). If this is the first time creating an accessible document with this Office product, select Options and ensure that Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF box is selected and click OK.

45 PDF Accessibility Check and Fixes With the newly created PDF file, you will want to verify that all of the accessibility features we have discussed have been properly implemented. Using the Tools tab on the right side of your PDF, select Accessibility, then Full Check.

46 PDF Accessibility Check and Fixes A window will be opened. All of the defaults should be selected already for you. By default, the Adobe PDF standards will be selected Below the pull-down menu, you can see the available accessibility issues that the Adobe PDF option checks Click the Start Checking button.

47 PDF Accessibility Check and Fixes Once the check is completed, it will display a window that indicates one of two results: The check found no problems in this document. The checker found problems which may prevent the document from being fully accessible. Please see the report for more details.

48 PDF Accessibility Check and Fixes The Accessibility Report will be displayed on the left side of the PDF. Scrolling down within the Accessibility Report, follow the prompts to fix any problems identified. You should always review the document and fix any of the issues that you see, even if the Accessibility Report didn t find them.

49 PDF Common Issues and Corrections After the Accessibility Report is displayed, you can scroll down to show a Detailed Report, Summary, and Hints for Repair. The following items are the most commonly seen. Establish Table Headings for Tables Elements not contained in the document structure tree Tab order may be inconsistent with the structure order Image(s) without alternate text All of the text on this page lacks a language specification

50 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Setting up to be able to edit and make changes: On the right side of the PDF document, under the Tools tab, select TouchUp Reading Order.

51 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Establish Table Headings for Tables When you have a table that has been identified and tagged as a table during the PDF conversion, then it will display with the word "Table" next to its number in the reading order of the page that the table is on. Click on that reading order number to highlight the table. Click on the Table Editor button in the TouchUp Reading Order window. Since we have not tagged this table s headers, they are marked as TD and not TH

52 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Establish Table Headings for Tables Right-click one of the cells that you want to become a header and select Table Cell Properties. Check the Header Cell radio button and select Row from the Scope dropdown menu. Click OK.

53 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Establish Table Headings for Tables Now the row header Common Name is tagged as a TH and should be interpreted by accessible technology as such. You can go through the rest of the header cells and select each appropriately as a Row or Column

54 PDF Common Issues and Corrections The Table Editor Options menu comes up from rightclicking anywhere in the table while still in the Table editor mode. This will allow you to alter the colors of certain parts of the table and its labels. Clicking on any part of the PDF outside of the table will allow you to return to the TouchUp Reading Order window.

55 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Elements not contained in the document structure tree This is the most complicated of all the common accessibility issues. It can have several sources. Most of these problems can be solved by creating a PDF from an accessible document to start. Adding Tags to a PDF Document Inaccessible Page Content Inaccessible Link

56 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Adding Tags to a PDF Document To check for accessibility tags, view the document properties (File > Properties or Ctrl + D). If the document has accessibility tags they will be displayed under the Advanced section at the bottom of the Description tab as "Tagged PDF: Yes" If "Yes" is displayed, click "OK" to close Document Properties. If the Tagged PDF indicator is set to No, you must insert accessibility tags. From the Tools tab, select Add Tags to Document After the process is complete, the PDF is tagged and if any potential problems were encountered- the Add Tags Report appears in the navigation pane. Follow the instructions to correct and re-label any tags that are incorrect or out of order. All this can be avoided if you just create a PDF from an accessible and tagged source program.

57 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Adding Tags to a PDF Document This might come up often if you regularly use or create brochures or flyers that have been created using Adobe InDesign or from a scanned source. Just because you can read or scroll over and select text/content, doesn t mean it is tagged (and therefore accessible) text/content.

58 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Inaccessible Page Content or Links These are usually areas of the document where unnecessary spacing or layout from scanned sources (sometimes logos or background-type images) Links that are included in the Header or Footer of a document are also labeled as inaccessible during PDF conversion.

59 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Inaccessible Page Content or Links If they need to be actually included in the content, then drag your mouse over them to highlight the object and then select the appropriate tag (Text, Figure, Heading 1, etc.) in the TouchUp Reading Order tool. If the content is not needed, then click on Background in the TouchUp Reading Order tool

60 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Tab order may be inconsistent with the structure order In some instances, even though the tags have been inherited from the source file, the Accessibility Checker will indicate that tab order is inconsistent with structure order. To correct this issue, do the following: Open the Pages icon or select View, Navigation Panels, Pages (ALT + VNP) Click on any page icon and type Ctrl + A to select all the pages Right-click on one of the selected pages and click on Page Properties

61 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Tab order may be inconsistent with the structure order Click on any page icon and type Ctrl + A to select all the pages Right-click on one of the selected pages and click on Page Properties In the Tab Order Panel, check Use Document Structure and then click OK

62 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Tab order may be inconsistent with the structure order Sometimes that will still cause the objects to have their reading order numbers (the numbers displayed in the top-left corners of their object outlines. This is especially important if you are displaying information in or around an object that is visual like an image or a chart. PDF conversion often puts that object near the end of the reading order for that page. That image in our Word example should be displaying in the order as a 4 and not a 6. We need to find out where that object is placed and change its order manually. Open the Order window on the left navigation bar. If it is not displayed (it looks like four small squares with a z-line going through them), then right-click on that left navigation bar and select Order.

63 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Tab order may be inconsistent with the structure order The Order tab appears on the left side navigation. We can see that the [6] Image w:288 h:424 is at the bottom of the order for Page 1. Click on the little brown box icon to the left of [6] Image w:288 h:424 and drag it up to just below Microsoft Word (our H2 heading). You will see a right-facing black triangle and a dotted line to represent where the object will be placed. Release your mouse button.

64 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Tab order may be inconsistent with the structure order Now that the image is in the correct order we can see that it now has the number 3 displayed. Sometimes page breaks and hard returns can leave objects behind that are not visually displayed in the Word document or the PDF. (But they are seen by screen readers and can take up parts of your reading order.) If you find these, click on them while using the TouchUp Reading Order tool and then select to tag them as Background objects. Do this for any background object (any object that does not give meaningful content or information). Sometimes they can be objects like background images or logos.

65 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Image(s) without Alternative Text - Check and add alternate text for images and figures If you want screen readers to describe graphics and image that illustrate important concepts in a document, you must provide the description using alternate text. Content tagged as a "Figure" is not recognized or read by a screen reader unless you add alternate text to the tag properties. Make sure that all the checkboxes are checked on the TouchUp Reading Order Tool. They should be checked by default, if they aren't checked, then check all three. Make sure that the image is tagged as Figure (It might be tagged as 'Paragraph' or 'Span' depending on the original document. If it is not tagged as a Figure, then tag it as such using the TouchUp Reading Order Tool. Right-click the figure (a blue border then appears around it) and choose Properties from the menu that comes up. Then choose Edit Alternate Text from the tabs at the top of the menu. In the Alternate Text dialog box, type a new (or edit an existing) description for the figure. It is important to remember that someone that might have disabilities related to vision would need this information to know what the image is, so be sure to be descriptive, but concise in this information.

66 PDF Common Issues and Corrections All of the text on this page lacks a language specification Both assistive technologies and conventional user agents can render text more accurately when the language of the document is identified. Screen readers can load the correct pronunciation rules. Visual browsers can display characters and scripts correctly. Media players can show captions correctly. As a result, users with disabilities will be better able to understand the content.

67 PDF Common Issues and Corrections All of the text on this page lacks a language specification To change the language specification, go to File and select Document Properties or use Ctrl + D to bring up the Document Properties window. On the Advanced tab, at the bottom of the tab, select the appropriate language from the Language dropdown and then click OK.

68 PDF Common Issues and Corrections Proper Document Properties Information On the Document Properties window, you can specify some information to help the users find your document, lock in layout options, and add security settings. To access it, press Ctrl + D or open the File menu, then select Document Properties. Description tab: Add a descriptive title. To avoid confusion, use the same text that you would use to link to this document from an external source. In the Author field, enter the person or group that has generated this document. Keywords can help search engines find this document, but it usually looks through the tagged content for text rather than the keywords entered here. The Initial View tab will allow the document to be opened in a default layout orientation, or size relative to the users screen/device. The Security tab will allow you to place settings on your document so that it cannot be copied, altered, or printed.

69 Matt Polkowsky Assistant Webmaster, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

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