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<font size=3>I want to agree with the positive remarks by Nolan and
Robert.<br><br>
If someone thinks that some piece of software will act like magic and
create great text, it won't happen. We will always need a
thoughtful, intelligent author. But this means that such an author
can make DAISY files easily using software that they already use
daily.<br>
Norm<br>
At 08:02 AM 11/14/2007, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Excellent points, Nolan and
Pratic. I realize that the editing process is still the major issue
with alt format production, and I doubt we'll get away from that any time
soon. However, this plug-in just might help train folks on the
importance of well structured files.<br><br>
Personally, I'm glad to know MS is at least taking notice. Hats off
to the DAISY consortium as well.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
Robert Lee Beach<br>
Assistive Technology Specialist<br>
Kansas City Kansas Community College<br>
7250 State Avenue<br>
Kansas City, KS 66112<br>
Phone: (913) 288-7671<br>
Fax: (913) 288-7678<br>
E-mail: rbeach@kckcc.edu<br><br>
>>> "Crabb, Nolan" <Crabb.15@osu.edu> 11/14/2007
9:31 AM >>><br>
I think the point Pratik made on this list today about crafting<br>
well-structured word files is an excellent one. I'm a little
concerned<br>
by the attitude of almost-dismissal regarding the Microsoft
plug-in.<br>
Some of us, particularly those of us who rely on screen readers,<br>
remember well the horrors of the '90s when getting Microsoft to pay
any<br>
attention at all to accessibility issues was, for a time, nearly<br>
impossible. It's all well and good to draft clever one-liners on
this<br>
list about garbage files and crap files. But somewhere nestled
amongst<br>
those clever one-liners can perhaps be a couple of lines of
celebratory<br>
text. Granted, this plug-in will not be the end-all and
be-all,<br>
rendering all other DAISY creating processes obsolete. But this is
one<br>
old access tech dinosaur who remembers the nightmares of Internet<br>
Explorer 4.0, which was far worse than 3.5 in terms of access, and
who<br>
can't help but extend a heart-felt congratulations to the DAISY<br>
Consortium folks and frankly to Microsoft, for that matter, for
even<br>
getting started on this project.<br><br>
The Microsoft Word 2007 plug-in for PDF creation isn't perfect
either,<br>
but if the Word file was well constructed and the creator paid
careful<br>
attention to using styles and so forth, it's not terrible. It
comes<br>
pretty close to creating an accessible PDF file--not perfect, but
pretty<br>
close.<br><br>
For that matter, the Duxbury folks have long advocated the use of
styles<br>
in Word as one way to create even better more accurate braille<br>
formatting and translations. Those who fail to do that can
create<br>
legendarily awful braille! I know! I've seen it!
:-) Yet, we don't<br>
dismiss Duxbury out of hand for at least trying to integrate its
product<br>
with Word's file structure.<br><br>
Today, after many years and iterations of software, a student who
needs<br>
something brailled and who has the hardware and software necessary to
do<br>
it can create highly usable braille for him or herself. Not always,
of<br>
course. We all know of thousands of instances where tables, charts,
and<br>
graphs are problematic for all but the most expert among us. But
those<br>
of us who remember hand-transcribed braille with all its oddities
and<br>
length of production time will be among that small cadre of folks
who<br>
can recognize that we've made huge strides in terms of quality
braille<br>
production. This little seemingly not-too-significant plug-in may
be<br>
the beginning of what will someday become a highly automated DAISY<br>
creation process. After all, if someone who neither reads braille
nor<br>
knows much about it can, by following closely the styles and other<br>
elements of a well-structured Word file, create beautifully
formatted<br>
material in many circumstances, , surely the day will come when the<br>
DAISY process experiences similar benchmarks of success. We do
well, it<br>
seems to me, to celebrate what progress now is and hope for
additional<br>
progress tomorrow. Perhaps the reminder that none of us will
be<br>
replaced any time soon by highly automated software will allow us
to<br>
celebrate the positive things this plug-in and all the
behind-the-scenes<br>
efforts it represents on all sides means. The fact that Microsoft
is<br>
even willing to educate itself somewhat concerning DAISY is, to those
of<br>
us who remember darker times, nothing short of a pre-holiday
miracle. <br><br>
Best Wishes,<br><br>
Nolan<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
Nolan Crabb<br>
Director of Assistive Technology<br>
The Ohio State University<br>
2054 Drake Center, 1849 Cannon Dr., Columbus, OH 43210<br><br>
Ph. (614) 735-8688<br>
E-mail: crabb.15@osu.edu <br><br>
<br><br>
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<font size=2>---------- ---------- --------<br>
EASI Events for November<br>
Webinar 4-part Series Taming PowerPoint and Designing for Accessibility On and Off the Web <br>
Read more and register at easi.cc/clinic.htm<br>
Month-long Online Course Barrier-free E-learning<br>
Read more and register at http//easi.cc/workshop.htm<br><br>
Norman Coombs<br>
CEO EASI (<a href="http://www.easi.cc/" eudora="autourl">www.easi.cc</a>)<br>
(949) 855-4852 Pacific time zone) <br><br>
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