Accessibility in Microsoft Products

Accessibility in Microsoft Office 2010


Microsoft Office 2010 programs have many helpful accessibility features that both make it easier for people with disabilities to use these products, and, for all content creators to make more accessible documents, presentations, and other materials.

Creating accessible documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with Microsoft Office 2010

Create accessible Office files so individuals with disabilities can read and use your files. Learn how to create accessible Word documents by adding alternative text to images and objects, organizing content to be easily read by screen readers, including captions for audio and video files, and more. Also, learn about creating accessible Excel files including alternative text for images and objects and how to specify table headers.

Check documents for accessibility With the click of a button in Word 2010, Excel 2010, and PowerPoint 2010 you can scan a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to identify areas that may be problematic for users with disabilities to view or use. The feature, called "Accessibility Checker," helps you create more accessible content by highlighting and explaining accessibility issues, so they can be fixed before the content is finalized. Screenshot of Accessibility Checker command

Video Demo:
Check accessibility
of a PowerPoint 2010
presentation

Powerpoint accessibility checker

Video Demo:
Find and fix
accessibility issues
in Word 2010

Accessibility checker and link to Office accessibility video

Video Demo:
Find and fix
accessibility issues
in a workbook

Excel workbook and link to Office accessibility video

Video Demo:
Create
accessible documents
with Office

screenshot of Office accessibility video


Screenshot of Save As Daisy button drop-down menu and link to video demoCreate talking books in Word An add-in for Microsoft Office Word 2010 helps you produce accessible documents for people who have visual disabilities. The Save as Daisy add-in for Word allows Word documents in Open XML format to be saved into DAISY XML. This can then be converted into DAISY Digital Talking Book (DTB) format which is compatible with many available reading programs.


Screenshot of Captions EditorAdd closed captions to videos in PowerPoint presentations Captions for video and audio files help people who have hearing impairments access the content. The STAMP subtitling text add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint lets you add closed captions to the video and audio files you include in your presentations.


Use the keyboard to create a SmartArt graphic People with some mobility and dexterity impairments can still conveniently create a SmartArt graphic (a visual representation of information) using the keyboard rather than the mouse. Screenshot of SmartArt object

Screenshot of Format Picture dialog boxDescribe shapes, pictures, tables, and graphics for people who cannot see them For people who cannot see shapes, pictures, tables and other objects in your documents, you can add a description to each using alternative, or ALT text. By using ALT text in your documents, even complex content can be conveyed to readers who cannot see the objects.


Make web browsing accessible to all SharePoint Designer 2010 includes a built-in compatibility checker for common accessibility standards to help make sure websites are easy to use for everyone. "More Accessible Mode" in SharePoint Services provides greater accessibility for custom controls.


Create PDFs accessible by people with vision impairments Tagged PDF files make it easier for screen readers and other assistive technologies to determine a logical reading order and navigation for the file, as well as allowing for content reflow when using large type displays, personal digital assistants (PDA) and mobile phones.


Make Microsoft Office easier to see, hear, and use

Screenshot of Backstage viewGet quick access to frequently used commands To make commonly used commands such as Print and Save, and newer features like the Accessibility Checker more readily available, many actions previously found on the File menu or Microsoft Office button can now be found in the Microsoft Office Backstage view. This reduces keystrokes and searching, and makes navigation easier. See video demo: What and where is the backstage view?

Screenshot of ribbon access keysUse the keyboard to quickly move around the ribbon The menus and toolbars in all Office 2010 programs have been replaced with the ribbon. To move through the ribbon with a keyboard instead of a mouse, you can press CTRL+RIGHT ARROW or CTRL+LEFT ARROW on a ribbon tab to move to the next or previous ribbon group tab. You can also access any command in a few keystrokes by using access keys. Every command in a program that uses an Office ribbon can be accessed this way. See video demo: Getting Started—Exploring the Ribbon

Screenshot of Zoom command buttonZoom in or out of a document, presentation, or worksheet for better visibility on screen You can zoom in to get a close-up view of your file or zoom out to see more of the page at a reduced size. You can also save a particular zoom setting with a document or template, presentation, or worksheet. Screenshot of Zoom bar from bottom of document

Screenshot of document view buttons on the ribbon Get the big picture with Full Screen Reading view. To make text on screen clearer and easier to use, Word 2010 features a Full Screen Reading view that improves the resolution and display of text.


Screenshot of AutoCorrect dialog boxAutomatically correct spelling mistakes Correct typos and misspelled words as you compose by using the AutoCorrect feature in Office 2010. You can also insert symbols and other pieces of text automatically as well. AutoCorrect is set up by default with a list of typical misspellings and symbols, but you can modify the list to suit your needs.


Screenshot of Speech Recognition controlCommand your computer by voice Speech recognition allows you to navigate your computer by voice rather than the keyboard and mouse. Although speech recognition features are not available in the Office 2010 programs, they are available in Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and you can set up speech recognition in Windows to work with Office 2010.


Screenshot of Speak button in the Quick Access ToolbarHear written text read aloud The ability of your computer to playback written text as spoken word is a text-to-speech or TTS function. Depending upon your configuration and installed TTS engines, you can hear most text that appears on your screen in Word 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010 and OneNote 2010.


Hear foreign text read aloud with Mini Translator For those who receive email messages or documents that contain words in different languages, Microsoft Office 2010 features a Mini Translator that lets you point to a word or selected phrase with your mouse to get a translation displayed in a small window. The Mini Translator also includes a Play button so you can hear an audio pronunciation of the word or phrase, and a Copy button so you can paste the translation into another document.
Screenshot of Mini Translator button on the ribbon
Office 2010 logo

More Information

Free screen reader

AI Squared (formerly GW Micro) and Microsoft are pleased to offer customers using a licensed version of Office 2010, or newer, a free download of Window-Eyes screen reader for Windows PCs.

For more information and to download Window-Eyes, visit www.windoweyesforoffice.com.