The 2007 Microsoft Office system includes improved support for screen readers, magnifiers, speech recognition, alternative displays and other assistive technologies. More than 10 million compatibility packs that allow users of earlier versions of Microsoft Office to work with Open XML have been downloaded around the world. Open XML documents will be made available to the 180 million people worldwide who are blind or visually impaired through the creation of a downloadable plug-in that translates Open XML into DAISY XML, the globally accepted standard for talking books.

Technical guidelines for Open XML accessibility implementation are available on http://openxmldeveloper.org/archive/2007/07/02/Accessibility_of_Open_XML.aspx

AIA - Accessibility Interoperability Alliance
*       A coalition of leading information and assistive technology companies, including Microsoft, have formed  the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), an engineering working group dedicated to enabling developers to more easily create accessible software, hardware and Web products.
*       Microsoft’s partnership with AIA will bring unified industry action to create greater interoperability will stimulate the development of increased innovation around accessibility.
*       AIA brings together accessible technology leaders from IT, AT, Web, test, and tool companies to address the complexity of developing accessible products and improving interoperability to provide more choices
*       AIA’s collective experience and expertise will result in a broader array of market-driven accessible technology solutions that are interoperable, innovative and flexible

Accessible technology enables individuals to adjust their computers to meet their needs (i.e. visual, hearing, dexterity, cognitive, and speech needs); including accessibility options built into products as well as specialty hardware and software products enabling greater interaction with technology.

*       Why Accessibility Matters
a.      Technology solutions that are accessible to everyone and adapt to each person’s unique needs are essential - providing accessible technology eliminates barriers for people with disabilities.   Over 74.2 million computer users in the United States alone would likely or very likely benefit from the use of accessible technology due to having mild-severe difficulties/impairments (Source: Microsoft commissioned study, conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., 2003).  Specifically:
i.      40% (51.6 million) of computer users are likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to mild difficulties/impairments.
ii.     17% (22.6 million) of computer users are very likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to severe difficulties/impairments
b.      Businesses today need technology solutions to empower and retain employees - accessible technology is instrumental in meeting this need.  With over 101 million working age adults (ages 18-64) in the United States experiencing mild to severe difficulty/impairment (Source: Study commissioned by Microsoft, conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., 2003), accessible technology allows businesses to do the following:
i.      Retain current employees experiencing mild-severe difficulty/impairment
ii.     Expand their recruitment pool of candidates
iii.    Enhance team collaboration and communication among all employees - including those with disabilities

c.      Today’s digital world requires technology users have access to and the ability to share and archive information.  Users, with and without mild-severe difficulties/impairments want to share documents for business and personal purposes, regardless of the technology platform or software application being used, and want to be able to store and archive those documents so that access to the information contained in them can take place well into the future - open document formats, such as Open XML,  provide a rich infrastructure and community of developers that create the  applications for people with disabilities.

*       Interoperability and Accessibility
a.      Users have an expectation that being able to share documents “just happens.” They want to be able to use different documents on different platforms and applications.  With multiple document formats in existence today, interoperability becomes the technical context by which document sharing and data transfer between documents “just happens.” Use of a single document format on multiple platforms and with multiple applications is promoted through the widespread availability of that format.  This is achieved through that format being documented and the intellectual property needed to work with it being made available for widespread use.
b.      For technology users with mild-severe difficulties/impairments, these advantages are already being seen in Open XML solutions like the DAISY translator and Juke Dox.  Moreover, incredibly accessible sets of productivity applications like Microsoft Office 2007 use the Open XML formats today.
c.      Where users want to work with multiple formats and move data between them, they look to translation technologies.  Translators are technical tools that are easy to use because they create an effective bridge between formats.  This enables collaboration between users that for whatever reason choose to use different formats, and it further enhances access to the data.

d.      Microsoft recently announced its intent to work with the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), a new engineering working group dedicated to making it easier for developers to create software, hardware and Web-based products that are accessible to people with disabilities. (AIA is an engineering collaboration between assistive technology vendors, IT companies, and key NGOs).

e.      Founding members of AIA include information technology companies such as Adobe, BayFirst Solutions LLC, Microsoft and Novell Inc.; hardware companies such as HP; and assistive technology companies such as Claro Software Ltd., Dolphin Computer Access, GW Micro Inc., HiSoftware Inc., Madentec Inc., Texthelp Systems Inc. and QualiLife. Leading nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) may also participate and share their expertise on these and future AIA projects. More information about the AIA can be found at http://www.AccessInteropAlliance.org.

f.      The founding members of the AIA have selected four projects to begin their work:
*       *       i.      Consistent keyboard access. Developing a set of keyboard shortcuts to provide consistent behavior to users of assistive technology products in any Web browser
*       *       ii.     Interoperability of accessibility APIs. Modifying and/or extending existing accessibility models (Microsoft UI Automation, IAccessible2 and others) to improve the interoperability and exchange of information between IT and assistive technology (AT) products
*       *       iii.    UI Automation extensions. Adding features and capabilities to support additional rich document scenarios, address new Web scenarios and more.
*       *       iv.     Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (ARIA) mapping through UI Automation. Designing the mapping of rich Web accessibility information through UI Automation to ensure maximum value for AT products and, therefore, for people with disabilities

*       Open XML and Accessibility -
a.      Open XML provides a rich infrastructure for creating content that meets the needs by people with disabilities and enables them to read, create, and edit documents with access to the semantics captured by document creators.  In addition to the accessibility support that was present in the first version of the specification, specific work was done to ensure that Open XML met the needs of users with disabilities and could provide the level of support needed in a document format.   Examples of modifications that were made in response to feedback from experts in the field and general comments include:
i.      The ability to associate content controls and form controls to specific labels
ii.     Improving support for defining navigation order
iii.    Working with data cells and headers in complex tables
iv.     Associating accessibility information with frames and framesets including the addition of a lone description element

*       Solution Examples

EXAMPLE: DAISY
a.      The aim of this Open XML to DAISY XML translator project is to enable blind and visually impaired users to save text files created within the world’s most widely used word-processing program into the world’s most broadly adopted accessible, enriched format.  The resulting “Save as DAISY” feature in Microsoft Office Word will provide for a translation from a WSIWYG document to a logical, semantically-rich construction that is the heart of a DAISY reading experience.
b.      Microsoft’s “Save as DAISY” is the first step toward bringing alternative, enhanced forms of multimedia into mainstream publishing.   For example:
i.      The scale of Microsoft Office Word will result in exponential increases in available DAISY content and make the conversion process considerably less complex than in the past by integrating the translation into a process users are familiar with, just saving as DAISY.
ii.     Publishers will be able to offer audio versions of books like encyclopedias or reference books which require more sophisticated navigation than simply reversing and fast forwarding.
iii.    Senior citizens will be able to choose an accessible format for reading or receiving the news.
iv.     With assistive technology becoming more beneficial to mainstream technology users, one can envision a commuter using an electronic book based on DAISY technology to listen to audio files while driving, or read text while relaxing at home.

2007 Microsoft Office system
a.      Improved support for Assistive Technology Vendors: MSAA support is greatly improved for a variety of technologies such as screen readers, Braille keyboards, magnifiers, and speech recognition applications.
b.      A More Accessible User Interface:  The 2007 Microsoft Office system UI communicates more information that accessible technology can use (screen readers, learning aids, magnifiers, enlargers) than ever before.
i.      Screen Tips information is exposed to assistive technology, providing a great deal of information about controls without the need to access help.
ii.     UI context is conveyed for all ribbon controls.  For example, a screen reader can tell you the bold button is in the font group on the Home tab.  In this way, blind users can create a much better “mental map” of the UI by knowing control context.
iii.    Quick access toolbar provides a way for users to place the features they need frequently in the same place so that navigation is easier and finding tools is always the same or something like that.
iv.     Painless editing experience: Live Preview is particularly helpful to mobility impaired users, for example someone who is only able to execute 2 or 3 keystrokes per minute.  Keystrokes saved by Live Preview in an operation such as choosing a font, for example, are considerable and very valuable to such a user.
v.      Improved high contrast/large font support
vi.     SmartArt(tm) Graphics:  This is a new tool for creating great looking graphics, diagrams and flow charts within Word, Excel, and PowerPoint by using text entry only.  This empowers disabled users to create powerful and compelling content easily.
vii.    Keyboard Features: There are more accelerator keys and full legacy key support to make transition to the new Office System as easy as possible.
*       The 2007 Microsoft Office system includes improved support for screen readers, magnifiers, speech recognition, alternative displays and other assistive technologies. More than 10 million compatibility packs that allow users of earlier versions of Microsoft Office to work with Open XML have been downloaded around the world. Open XML  Community: Global Momentum
*       Open XML documents will be made available to the 180 million people worldwide who are blind or visually impaired through the creation of a downloadable plug-in that translates Open XML into DAISY XML, the globally accepted standard for talking books.
*       Technical guidelines for Open XML accessibility implementation are available on http://openxmldeveloper.org/archive/2007/07/02/Accessibility_of_Open_XML.aspx

About the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA) AIA - Accessibility Interoperability Alliance
*       A coalition of leading information and assistive technology companies, including Microsoft, have formed  the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), an engineering working group dedicated to enabling developers to more easily create accessible software, hardware and Web products.
*       Microsoft’s partnership with AIA will bring unified industry action to create greater interoperability will stimulate the development of increased innovation around accessibility.
*       AIA brings together accessible technology leaders from IT, AT, Web, test, and tool companies to address the complexity of developing accessible products and improving interoperability to provide more choices
*       AIA’s collective experience and expertise will result in a broader array of market-driven accessible technology solutions that are interoperable, innovative and flexible.