Creating Accessible Documents

1. Creating Accessible Documents IT Symposium 2011

2. Colette Johnson • Web Developer at Minnesota Management & Budget • Certified MySQL Database Administrator • Certified in JAWS (screen reader) • Committed professionally to develop products that • aid in productive work development; • aid successful job training; • aid in a better understanding of state government; and • aid in gainful employment for job seekers. • Committed personally, as a result of personal experiences with a family member, to creating easier life experiences for persons with disabilities though community and family development opportunities • Website development: http://www.b-accessible.com(reporting and search tool for persons with disabilities to search for or report businesses that meet basic accessibility needs; restaurants, hotels, etc.) • Website development: http://www.b-web-accessible.com(resources and reporting tool for persons with disabilities to report non-accessible websites; in very preliminary steps)

3. Accessibility versus Ada • The focus of this training is related to Accessibility not ADA • ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990)addresses "reasonable accommodation" based on an individual's own needs relating to a disability ; such as a special keyboard, a ramp to a home, etc. • Accessibility (Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) mandates that when the federal government procures, creates, uses, and maintains electronic and information technology that it must be accessible to persons with disabilities whether they are employees or members of the public.

4. Accessibility vs. Usability Goal: Create documents, products and websites usable to all persons- including persons with disabilities • Accessibility is being able to access or open a product • Usability is being able to use the product, navigate and understand content

5. Awareness of a Disability • 1 in 3 families have a family member that is a person with a disability • 1 in 3 of us will develop a disability as we near retirement • Disabilities could include, but not limited to • Deafness • Color blindness • Seizures • Cerebral palsy • Low vision, blindness • Central Field Vision Loss • Tremors • Stress Injuries that limit use of hands • Dyslexia • Cognitive Disabilities • Macular degeneration, Glaucoma, Cataracts

6. Designing to a standard Wall outlet meets standards- it is irrelevant what a user plugs into it, if it is built to the standards of a wall outlet, it will work. • Document developers should be focused on designing to meet a standard, NOT designing to meet a need. If we meet the standards the document will meet the needs. The person using the document then becomes a neutral entity • You do not need to learn how to use the technologies that persons with disabilities use • You do not need to make a “special” document for any one group of users. The document will be readable for everyone if developed to the standards in the Minnesota Accessibility initiative • Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act are met in the State of Minnesota Accessibility Initiative

7. Residual effects • A curb cut on a street corner was developed to aid wheelchair users, and it has had residual effects in aiding strollers, runners, bikers, etc. • The original use of Styles in WORD allowed for authoring and editing documents for a much more rapid process. The residual effect is that it has been applied to create navigation for assistive devices • If you have to listen to a Podcast at your desk and don’t want to disturb your coworkers, you can read the podcast with the now required open/closed captioning for video

8. Assistive Devices & Programs • Screen Readers (text to Speech) • JAWS • Windows Eyes • Speech Recognition devices • Dragon Speak • Assistive Devices • Alternate keyboards (on-screen keyboards, eyegaze keyboards, and sip-and-puff switches ) • Braille translators • Screen Magnifiers • PAC-Mate (proprietary software issues)

9. Background Hidden code

10. Document Object Model The Document Object Model is an interface allows programs to dynamically interpret structure related to the Style and attributes of documents

11. Document Object Model If a document is created using attributes in the native document, that can be interpreted by the DOM to create related Tags, PDF Tags created by the DOM are then usable to assistive devices such as JAWS

12. WORD Document properties

13. Document Properties • Document properties, also known as metadata, are details about a file that describe or identify it. Document properties include details such as title, author name, subject, and keyWORDs that identify the document's topic or contents • They are used by search engines and screen readers to find and identify content in documents • File | Info | Properties | Advanced Properties

14. Document Properties The most important fields are the Title & Subject

15. Document Properties

16. Assigning WORD Styles

17. Navigation Pane View navigation as you create your documentView | Navigation Pane Checkbox: Checked

18. Assigning Styles Proper Style Attributes create navigation by assigning Tags to the PDF relative to the Style assigned

19. Assigning Styles Note that the current Style is “Normal”

20. Assigning Styles Increasing the text size using the drop down does NOT reassign a new Style to the content

21. Assigning Styles To change the Style assignment you must click on the desired Style

22. Assigning Styles See how the font changes depending on the Style you choose

23. Assigning Styles To change the Style assignment you must click on the desired Style

24. Assigning Styles Assign Headings in logical order. A screen reader user will use commands to jump from header to header. If they are not in a hierarchy they do not make sense to the user.

25. Styles = Navigation Screen reader users can navigate documents using keystroke commands. If the Styles are used properly a user can pull up a list of Headings on a page using • Insert + F6

26. Usable Styles The DOM recognizes the following WORD Styles and creates Tags in a PDF using the assigned attributes • Heading 1 to 6 (heading 7-9 are also available but JAWS does not recognize them as navigation) • List Paragraph • List Bullet • Normal • Body Paragraph • Strong • Emphasis

27. Modifying Styles • DO NOT create your own User Defined Style- a new Style will NOT be recognized by the DOM • Modify an existing Style to meet your preferences • Right Click on the Style Assignment and select “Modify”

28. Modifying a Style • A Modify Style window will appear. Modify the preferences • DO NOT change the name of the Style

29. Modifying a Style The Format button will give you additional options to modify the Style

30. Modifying a Style Border: Change your border or shading preferences for the Style

31. Modifying a Style Paragraph: Change the Spacing before and after a Style, it is especially useful to add 12 points under a Normal Style to eliminate extra paragraph breaks when adding an extra return to place space between paragraphs

32. Modifying a Style Line and Page Breaks keeps Headings with the related paragraph content; can automatically break to a new page or column

33. Modifying a Style Modifying a Style creates the “look” for a document but the preferences are ignored by the DOM. The DOM doesn’t care if text is red, just that it’s a Heading or List Item

34. Style Set Alternatives Additional accessible Styles are available under Home | Change Styles | Style Set

35. Bold and italic Note the Style on the right still says Normal. Using the buttons at the top for B and I do NOT write the attributes to the DOM to create Tags

36. Bold and italic You must use the Strong Style in the Style Menu to create a BOLD effect

37. Bold and Italic You must use the Emphasis Style in the Style Menu to create an Italic effect

38. Numbered List Items Do not manually create list items (note the Normal Style)

39. Numbered List Items Use the button on the top or the List Paragraph Style to format an accessible numbered list

40. Bulleted list Do not use Insert Picture to insert a bullet in front of a list; it is okay to change the bullet “look” by modifying the Style as you would a Heading

41. Bulleted List Use the button on the top or the List Bullet Style to format an accessible bulleted list

42. Styles recap • Use existing Styles only and use themodifying option to change your Stylepreferences • Do not create User-defined Styles

43. Styles Questions?

44. Tables

45. Tables • Tables are very difficult for persons with disabilities. Use a table for what it is designed for, a table, not page layout or text layout. • You must be able to navigate a table using keystrokes

46. Step 3: Tables Insert a table Insert | Table | Insert Table

47. Inserting a Table Select a number of rows and columns

48. Inserting a Table Do NOT use any other method to insert a new table

49. Formatting a Table ALWAYS use a solid border to prevent each dash or dot being interpreted as a graphic

50. Text to Table Do not use Tabs or Spaces to create tables. It may look like a table; however, it does not have the structure, and it will not be recognized as a table and therefore not be accessible or usable by assistive technologies