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Creating Accessible Excel Documents

Creating Accessible Excel Documents. for Vision Impaired Users of AT Joshue O Connor DT202. Introduction.

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Creating Accessible Excel Documents

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  1. Creating Accessible Excel Documents for Vision Impaired Users of AT Joshue O Connor DT202

  2. Introduction There are may things that can be done to make Excel content and worksheets accessible to students studying accountancy in DIT. The following is an outline of some steps that the tutor can take to make sure that the course materials are accessible to blind and vision impaired users of AT (including screen reader users and screen magnification users).

  3. Some must do simple tips.. General Description of Document Layout. A consistent convention must be used throughout the document and a note should be provided indicating the direction of the text flow, indicating whether it is top to bottom or left to right. For Data Tables Identify Row and Column Headers. Headings must be clearly separated from other text so that it is better understandable. Provide a text equivalent for all non text elements. This can be done through providing descriptive text titles for elements by adding text wherever possible. Examples are titles for charts and alternative text for pictures and diagrams.

  4. More must do Simple Tips.. Ensure that hyperlinked text makes sense out of content. Hyperlinked phrases such as "click here" can be confusing for people who use screen readers. Make each hyperlink descriptive of the content to which it links. Ensure that documents that use colour are understandable for people who cannot perceive colour. Colour and highlighting can be used for markup, but should not be the only way to provide information. If colour is used, use a high contrast between background colours and text colours. Students with low vision may not be able to read text that does not have a high degree of contrast between text and background. Use light text on dark backgrounds and dark text on light backgrounds..

  5. More must do Simple Tips.. Label each worksheet with a meaningful name. Each worksheet should be labelled aptly as opposed to Sheet1, Sheet2, etc which are the default sheet names. [1]

  6. Some should do simple tips.. Provide titles for rows or columns of related information. Descriptive Notes can be provided. Just before a chart is displayed a small note containing a description of the chart may be provided. This descriptive text could be changed to the same color of the background if it is to be hidden. Make text equivalents short and to the point. Avoid providing overly lengthy details about clip art or photographs unless necessary to explain the relevance of the image. However complete information of relevant graphics must be conveyed.

  7. Some should do simple tips.. Use the automatic "Bullets and Numbering" command to format lists and outlines. Avoid using manual outlines or using asterisks or hyphens to denote bulleted points.Reformat documents in large print if requested by a student. If a document is password-protected, students will not be able to modify the font size. Consider providing the password to a student with a disability so he or she can modify the font size if needed, or provide the student with a password-protected document that is reformatted with a larger font size.

  8. Some may do simple tips.. Specify the expansion of each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it occurs. Extend columns that contain word-wrapped information. If any cell contains word-wrapped information, widen the column until all of the information is on one line. Create bulleted lists automatically: Try checking the "automatic bulleted lists" option in "AutoFormat As You Type" section of the AutoCorrect dialog box. Saving a Word document as a text file allows for the quick and easy removal of colors, highlighting, and formatting. Saving a Word document as a text file allows for the quick and easy removal of colors, highlighting, and formatting. If the document is readable as a text-only file, it should be accessible.

  9. Some may do simple tips.. Print the document using black ink only. If the colored text is hard to read on a black-and-white printer, many users will have to work harder to assimilate the information. Consider using sans-serif fonts. Undecorated sans-serif fonts, such as Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana, are easier to read in large print than serif fonts such as Times New Roman or Courier. Combine related worksheets into one large worksheet if requested by a student. It may be difficult for some students who cannot effectively use a mouse to switch between worksheets. A student may request that

  10. Creating Forms with Input Messages and Hyperlinks in Microsoft Excel The Input Message feature of Excel can help to provide much needed feedback and instructions for users of JAWS screen reader and also for screen magnification users. The use of Hyperlinks can be used to speed up Excel navigation within the form.

  11. VALIDATION CRITERIA FOR FORMS (Excel Versions Prior to 2007) From any cell or selected group of cells: 1) Open the Data menu. 2) Select the Validation menu item. 3) A three-page Data Validation dialog box opens with focus on the Settings page. This dialog box allows you to choose the kinds of messages, titles, prompts, and errors to use, and whether tool tips are shown or not. 4) Press TAB to move to the Allow combo box for Validation Criteria.5) Here you can choose to allow Any Value, Whole Number, Decimal, List, Date, Time, Text Length, or Custom based on formulas. The first choice, Any Value, is used most often for names or general alpha-numeric input.

  12. VALIDATION CRITERIA FOR FORMS (Excel Versions Prior to 2007) The Time and Date choices force input to be in the form of a valid time or date and offer you two further fields where you can restrict the values to a range of dates or times. The same is true for several of the other choices. For example, if you choose Whole Number you can then restrict input to include the following choices:

  13. VALIDATION CRITERIA FOR FORMS (Excel Versions Prior to 2007) Between Not between Equal to Not equal to Greater than Less than Greater than or equal to Less than or equal to The choices available depend on the item selected in the Allow combo box.

  14. Creating a Dropdown List Using the Settings Page Select the Allow Combo Box Choose "List" in the Allow combo box. Move to the Source edit area. Type a list of values separated by commas. For example: George, Paul, Ringo, John. To use a range of cells with a defined name, type the equal sign (=) followed by the name of the range. To use cell references, select the cells on the worksheet and then press ENTER. Select the "In-cell dropdown" check box and make sure it is checked

  15. Creating an Input Message Using the Input Message Page Move to the next page of the multi-page dialog box, the Input Message page. Move to the "Show input message when cell is selected" check box and make sure it is checked. Move to the next control, the "Title" edit box. It may be best to leave this blank. The title, if created, becomes part of the message. Creating a title is often redundant, and causes information to be spoken twice, once for the title and once for the message.

  16. Error handling Using the Error Alert Page Move to the next page of the multi-page dialog box, the Error Alert page. Select the first check box, "Show error alert after invalid data is entered" and make sure it is checked. Select the Style combo box. There are several choices here, Stop, Warning, and Information.

  17. Error handling Using the Error Alert Page [Stop Error] The Stop error choice does not allow any other input than what was set in the validation criteria established previously. If you choose this item and incorrect data is placed in the cell, a dialog box with title and text of your choosing opens. The only choices for this dialog box are to either Retry the input or Cancel out of the input, with Retry as the default button.

  18. Error handling Using the Error Alert Page [Warning Error] The Warning error choice gives users greater flexibility for input than what you might normally allow. It opens a dialog box with a title and text warning of your choosing. The Warning error choice gives users greater flexibility for input than what you might normally allow. It opens a dialog box with a title and text warning of your choosing. The choices for this dialog box are Yes, No, and Cancel, with No as the default button. The choices for this dialog box are Yes, No, and Cancel, with No as the default button.

  19. Error handling using the Error Alert Page The Information error choice also gives users greater flexibility for input than what you might normally allow. It also opens a dialog box with a title and text warning of your choosing. The choices for this dialog box are OK and Cancel, with OK as the default button. Make sure Stop is selected and move to the next control. Focus moves to the Error Message edit box, which is a multi-line edit box. This edit box has a maximum of 225 characters. Write a suitable and useful error message, depending on the situation you wish to outline. The more descriptive the error message the better, and also if there is some additional advice that will help with error recovery, then let the user know also.

  20. Creating a Date Input Field Follow the same procedures above but create a Date Input field in a cell. Also use the Error Alert page to give the end-user a warning if the input is incorrect. Move to an empty cell in the worksheet and open the Data menu.Open the Data Validation dialog box.In the “Allow” combo box for Validation Criteria, choose "date" in the list and then go to the Data combo box. For this example, assume the company was created in the year 2005, so choose "greater than" as the data validation and press TAB to move to the next control, which is the Start Date. Enter a date of 12/31/2004. This prevents anyone from typing a date prior to 01/01/2005.

  21. Creating a Date Input Field Go to the Input Message page, check the "Show input message when cell is selected”. Type something into the Input Message edit box: eg "Enter the date of your request.” To test, go to Error Alert page.Make sure “Show error alert “is checked. Go to the Style combo box and choose Stop. Move to the Error Message edit box and type in something like the following: "You must enter a date greater than December 31, 2004." Select the OK button and activate it to close the Data Validation dialog box.

  22. Creating a Date Input Field [Excel 2007] For Excel 2007, the Data Validation dialog box is the same, and it is located in the Data tab of the ribbon.

  23. Inserting Hyperlinks that Point to Input Fields  To make navigation easier for JAWS or screen magnification users, insert hyperlinks into the worksheet that point to each of the major fields you want users to move to. You can put the hyperlinks anywhere in the worksheet, but if you want them to be invisible to sighted users, read the next section.

  24. Excel Versions Prior to 2007 Select the cell where you want the first hyperlink to be. This is not the cell you want the hyperlink to point to, but a cell that will contain the hyperlink. Usually this is near the top of the form, but it could be anywhere in the worksheet and still be easy for JAWS or Screen Magnification users to find.

  25. Excel Versions Prior to 200 Open the Insert menu, or open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Focus lands in the Address edit combo box. Select the button "Existing File or Web Page" and change it to "Place in this Document”. In the "Type the Cell Reference" edit box type in the cell reference for the first field on your form. For example, it might be A10. Move to the "Text to Display" edit box and type the text you want the JAWS or user to hear in the list of links. For example, you might type "Customer Name" for the customer's name field.

  26. Excel Versions Prior to 200 Select the ScreenTip button and enter the same or similar text here to have a descriptive pop-up message appear visually when a mouse hovers over a link. This is optional, since you may be hiding the links anyway, but can still be useful. Close the Set Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box when finished. In the “Edit Hyperlink” dialog box. Select OK.The new hyperlink is now inserted into the document.

  27. In Excel to 2007 Select the Insert tab of the ribbon. Choose “Hyperlink” or open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.Follow the instructions listed above for prior versions of Excel to continue inserting a hyperlink into the worksheet.

  28. Making the Hyperlinks Invisible to Sighted Users Hyperlinks are a very important way of making documents easier to navigate for non-sighted users but having too many can be a problem for sighted users, so sometimes you may need to make them invisible! To do this select the links that you want to hide, one at a time and perform the following steps:

  29. Excel Versions Prior to 2007 Activate the Format menu. Select the Cells you wish to hide in the menu. Select the “Format Cells” dialog box opens.Move to the Font page and select the Colour “White” from the combo box. The Format Cells dialog box closes and the link is now invisible to the sighted user and will not show up in the print copy either. However, JAWS users can find them using the regular get list of links, INSERT+F7.

  30. Excel 2007 Move to the Home tab. In the Themes Colours gallery move to the list of colours and select white.The link now becomes the same colour as the background colour.

  31. Help Text in the First Cell, A1, Using an Input Message A very simple but effective way of helping a non-sighted user orientate themselves when they first open a work sheet is to put initial instructions on how to navigate the form into cell A1 using an input message. Be sure to move the focus to this cell prior to saving the worksheet for the final time. That way, the help text will be seen by sighted users as soon as the worksheet opens, and JAWS reads the instructions out loud to their users.

  32. Setting the Input Fields to the Unlocked State Before protecting a worksheet, you need to unlock the fields where you want people to fill in data; otherwise they will not be able to fill in the form. Also, this protects the text and other elements elsewhere in the form from being changed.

  33. Excel Versions Prior to 2007 Move to the first cell you want to unlock. Open the Format menu and the Format Cells dialog box. Move to the Protection tab page. Select the checkbox "locked" and uncheck it. Close the Format Cells dialog box.Repeat the process for all cells where data is to be entered.

  34. Excel 2007 Open the Format Cells dialog box. Move to the Protection tab page. Move to the checkbox "locked" and uncheck it. Close the Format Cells dialog box.Repeat the process for all cells where data is to be entered.

  35. Protecting the Worksheet [Excel Versions Prior to 2007] Open the Tools menu.Open the Protection submenu. Protect Worksheet (or Protect Workbook if desired). A Protect Sheet dialog box appears with focus in the password field. Type in a password if you want to prevent others from changing the form. Then type the password again, the Protect Sheet dialog box closes.

  36. Protecting the Worksheet [Excel 2007] Go to the Review tab of the ribbon. Select “Protecting the worksheet”. A Protect Sheet dialog box. Type in a password if you want to prevent others from changing the form.

  37. References [1] http://www.catea.gatech.edu/grade/guides/excelmust.php [2] http://www.freedomscientific.com/Training/accessible-forms-in-excel.asp

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