[Athen] Excel accessibility wizard needed!

[Monica Olsson]

Hi Karen,

Thank you again for your reply to my Excel accessibility question. I shared your recommendations and exam Excel file with the Accounting professor and student. Both shared additional comments and questions about how they are using Excel to complete homework assignments. I do not know the answers to their questions. Do you or any others here have further insight to share with us? I plant to contact Microsoft's accessibility helpdes- as well. Thank you! ~Monica


>From the student:


"One question I would ask Karen is what specifically she would recommend to allow accessibility to inputting formulas when referencing specific cells with a screen reader.  After typing “=” within excel, the user can start entering a formula.  When trying to access cells if the user does not know the specific cell at present I do not know how to use the highlighting feature to select cells to add.  The screen reader does not provide feedback when selecting cells within the formula bar.  During our meeting I hope to give you a better picture of what this looks like.



At present we use the go to dialog within the formula bar accessed with “control+g” or “f3 to paste a range name.  This can be time consuming as we need to label specific cells or already have the range name in place.  If a user wants to select cells surrounding the cell the formula is being entered in, does a way exist allowing the user to accessibly read the cells being selected with the arrow keys?"


>From the professor:



"First, the question, for Karen:  Is there a reason why she did not use a “TitleRegion..E14” range name that would enable a screenreader to read the row and column title anytime the user has selected any cell within the table parameters?  (Does the screenreader automatically read row and column titles for any cell within a defined table?)



Then my observation:  The most(?) common use of Excel files is to calculate, then present or communicate data/information to the user of the file.  Often the file creator is also the end user, but often the end user is a second party.  Karen’s file is a good example of the file creator communicating data/information to a second party.  The student and I are using Excel to accomplish a somewhat different task – we are using Excel as an e-homework delivery system, comparable to MyAccountingLab (Pearson), or CNow (Cengage), or Connect (McGraw-Hill), or WileyPlus (Wiley), or MyOpenMath (free, OER e-homework platform).  So my objective is to present the student with an Excel file that provides data (often embedded in sentences or paragraphs) and a pre-designed working area in which he does the accounting AND gets autofeedback as he works through the accounting requirements within a file.  Our unorthodox use of Excel is part of what’s causing our biggest challenges – we’ll take you through examples when we meet."



[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]

Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

molsson at sbctc.edu<mailto:molsson at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-3922 • c: 206-914-7187

sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> • Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

________________________________
From: Monica Olsson <molsson at sbctc.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2022 9:12 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Excel accessibility wizard needed!

Thank you for sharing, Karen.




[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]

Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

molsson at sbctc.edu<mailto:molsson at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-3922 • c: 206-914-7187

sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> • Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

________________________________
From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Karen McCall <K4mccall at outlook.com>
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2022 12:12 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [SPAM] Re: [Athen] Excel accessibility wizard needed!


This is the file I use in my accessible Excel training.



I also recommend creating a linked TOC as the first worksheet.



By creating the links, using your example of the instructor already creating named ranges, you could only link to the major topic areas, not all the named ranges. This would provide flexibility in either seeing all the named ranges or using the links to see/go to specific ones.



Cheers, Karen



From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Monica Olsson
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2022 3:02 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Excel accessibility wizard needed!



Thanks, Karen. I am mostly tracking your suggestions...and think this may be close to what the professor is already doing.



Do you have an example excel file I could look at, please? Or would you consider a brief conversation with me on Zoom? Thanks again!





[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

molsson at sbctc.edu<mailto:molsson at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-3922 • c: 206-914-7187

sbctc.edu<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbctc.edu%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C90b5891373d341f6ec8508da40139d3a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637892750251043729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RaSaJDyfIrbaUAnKPoQMw1iuzI55B3SXIUeWZ8VXyHw%3D&reserved=0> • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSBCTCWashington&data=05%7C01%7C%7C90b5891373d341f6ec8508da40139d3a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637892750251043729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sq99e4SSm4fOZ22iFJGq6i6aOF9xGrwQcXBP8Mw7Zco%3D&reserved=0> • Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fwasbctc%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C90b5891373d341f6ec8508da40139d3a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637892750251043729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=oNSWmlsZ0hm5xAJEu%2BOc3bo8eo5J4kpp0r%2Fn6PmM1SM%3D&reserved=0>



________________________________

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> on behalf of Karen McCall <K4mccall at outlook.com<mailto:K4mccall at outlook.com>>
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2022 8:03 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: [SPAM] Re: [Athen] Excel accessibility wizard needed!



One of the things I recommend I is using named ranges or a defined name for a cell to create links to specific topics in an Excel worksheet or workbook.



I typically teach that row 1 is reserved for accessibility support: cell A1 contains a description of the worksheet with any oddities. Cells B1 horizontally across row 1 contains links to specific cells in the worksheet so that someone can easily get to the point that they want.



Cheers, Karen



From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of Monica Olsson
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2022 10:31 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: [Athen] Excel accessibility wizard needed!



ATHEN colleagues,



I need your help!



Are you or anyone you know an Excel accessibility wizard? I am working with an Accounting professor that has done an incredible job redesigning her materials to be accessible to a blind student in her class. She has sent me specific questions about her excel files and there is a need for deeper support that is beyond my current knowledge.



Her question is below and I have attached the mentioned files as well.




>From professor:




While we have recently discovered a feature that lets a student efficiently use range names to create formulas (eliminating the need to know WHERE a given piece of data is actually located), there are times when naming ranges is not efficient.  So there are still times when we need to be able to refer to a specific location in the process of creating a formula.  If the data is located on a sheet other than where the formula resides, the only way we have been able to enter the cell address in the formula is by PRE-locating the cell, then eventually typing the cell address into the formula.  This is cumbersome, time-consuming and a distraction from the flow of accounting thought.  So we are still hoping for a better way.



I’ve attached two of our accounting files, (both the original file and the completed file) in case you want to forward them to your contact, but I’m not sure how useful they are without some explanation.





[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

molsson at sbctc.edu<mailto:molsson at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-3922 • c: 206-914-7187

sbctc.edu<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbctc.edu%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C90b5891373d341f6ec8508da40139d3a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637892750251043729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RaSaJDyfIrbaUAnKPoQMw1iuzI55B3SXIUeWZ8VXyHw%3D&reserved=0> • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSBCTCWashington&data=05%7C01%7C%7C90b5891373d341f6ec8508da40139d3a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637892750251200245%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0mGa1gvR5mgBhunxZ3zegUt6jz3rue%2BdAWyxmJgEOs8%3D&reserved=0> • Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fwasbctc%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C90b5891373d341f6ec8508da40139d3a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637892750251200245%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4gDQ5jCuEtGcZgz5aL2gUVjIwfm9MnRjURTMceKjODk%3D&reserved=0>


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