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Microsoft Office and ATHEN Collaboration

Explore how our group collaborated with Microsoft Office to educate software companies on Universal Design and engage designers and engineers in accessibility discussions. Learn about the goals of our collaboration and how we function as a team. Discover the progress we made with Outlook for Windows and Mac, and our expansion to collaboration with Word.

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Microsoft Office and ATHEN Collaboration

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  1. Microsoft Office and ATHEN Collaboration November 2016 Hadi Rangin, University of Washington David Gorelik, Microsoft Outlook

  2. Background from U of Washington

  3. Prior collaboration with software companies • “Reactive accessibility" doesn't work • Working with vendors for 12 years • LMS: blackboard, D2L, Moodle & Canvas • Library: Elsevier, Ebsco & Ex Libris • Conf system: Eluminate & Zoom • HR: Elucian, PeopleSoft & Workday • Misc: Qualtrics, ServiceNow, PollEverywhere, Trumba, Panopto & many more

  4. Collaboration with Microsoft Office: A journey • Tested & evaluated Outlook and Lync at UIUC • Failed to engage MS in constructive collaboration; VPAT was their main concern • Tried to engage Outlook client and OWA in a collaboration at UW • Failed again • We were approached by Outlook team earlier this year • We were very skeptical but agreed to test the water • Found Microsoft this time very genuine & serious

  5. Goals of Collaborations • Educate software companies in Universal Design • Engage designers & engineers in accessibility discussions • Make accessibility a part of Design, Development and Quality Control processes

  6. How our Group Functions • Reaching out to the Accessibility community • Using Athen Pro collaboration application environment • Conducting survey on participants' MS Office experience • Signing NDA to enable more open discussions • Communicating via mailing list • Monthly calls

  7. Starting with Outlook… • Working with two completely separate teams for Windows & Mac • Compiling functional tasks for each application • Assigning tasks to members to try • Reporting back to the group • Compiling issue list and prioritizing for each application • Monthly meetings: update on issues, elaborating on difficult issues

  8. Issue List Construct • Priority: 1-3 • 1 = show stopper • Owner • Title/Description/Comment • Status • ETA fix Bugs

  9. Background from Office

  10. Accessibility is about people, not about compliance

  11. Office 365 accessibility strategy (1/4) Thinking about accessibility as a part of the design process, not an afterthought. Most widely used features Working with focus groups Including accessibility from Day 1 Getting and acting on customer feedback

  12. Office 365 accessibility strategy (2/4) Thinking about accessibility as a part of the design process, not an afterthought. Working with focus groups Most widely used features Including accessibility from Day 1 Getting and acting on customer feedback

  13. Office 365 accessibility strategy (3/4) Thinking about accessibility as a part of the design process, not an afterthought. Including accessibility from Day 1 Most widely used features Working with focus groups Getting and acting on customer feedback

  14. Office 365 accessibility strategy (4/4) Thinking about accessibility as a part of the design process, not an afterthought. Getting and acting on customer feedback Most widely used features Working with focus groups Including accessibility from Day 1

  15. Office 365 accessibility strategy Thinking about accessibility as a part of the design process, not an afterthought. Most widely used features Working with focus groups Including accessibility from Day 1 Getting and acting on customer feedback

  16. Using a screen reader with Office 365 is more Desktop Mac Online • Reliable • Consistent • Usable • Efficient Everywhere you use Office Universal iPad Tablet Phone iPhone Phone

  17. Back to our Collaboration

  18. Outlook for Windows by the #’s • Identified 100+ issues • Prioritized “top 5” show stoppers • 5 total issues fixed / 4 issues in progress • David & Hadi met a few times face-to-face • A site-visit scheduled for December

  19. Top 5 Outlook for Windows issues (actually 6 ) Requires “detective work” and lots of collaboration to succeed

  20. DEMOAccessibility Checker & F1 Help

  21. Outlook for Mac by the #’s • 60+ issues gathered from collaboration group • By Assistive Tech • 40: Keyboard only • 15: VoiceOver and keyboard • 7: Zoom • By status • 21: Able to reproduce and can move forward • 41: Clarification needed / in progress

  22. Outlook for Mac: Where we are today • Other: • On-site meeting helped with influence redesign of Outlook, starting with Message List and Folder Pane (improving accessibility and usability for all users while making more Mac platform appropriate). • Received feedback on new features, including Accessibility Checker, now in Insider program and coming soon to production

  23. Now expanding the collaboration to Word • Working with both Windows and Mac • Meeting with the group • Seeing the application in action • Multiple issues in discussions • Current focus on ensuring the current set of improvements are both better and not worse (no regressions) • Next month’s set of improvements is the largest accessibility push Word has ever had

  24. Conclusion • Proactive vs. reactive accessibility • Engaging software companies in collaboration (we don’t bite) • Shape the future of your IT Please join us at 4pm for What’s new in Microsoft Office 365

  25. Appendix

  26. Resources Related to Office 365 Accessibility Blogs on Office 365 Accessibility Plans and Progress http://aka.ms/A11YinO365 Support Articles on Office Accessibility Capabilities http://aka.ms/officeaccessibility Demonstrations of Office 365 Accessibility Capabilities http://aka.ms/inclusionmechanics Accessibility conformance reports for customers EN 301 549 Reports: https://aka.ms/en301549 WCAG 2.0 AA Reports:https://aka.ms/wcag2.0 US Section 508 VPATs: https://aka.ms/508vpats

  27. Resources to Learn More or Get Help Overview of Commitments and Offerings • www.microsoft.com/accessibility Twitter to Stay Connected • @MSFTEnable Accessibility Support Service • Enterprise Disability Answer Desk

  28. Videos Worth Watching Video to learn about Accessibility in Windows 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUKUtB7f9Vc Video series to Explain EN 301 549 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-BEi2yyuFw&list=PLfCFZkKjngqrnEaIymHKvsym025w0cOF3 Video series to Explain Accessible Authoring in Word aligned with US Federal government’s Electronic Document Accessibility initiative (AEDCOP) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY_z_-LKXnjmJ9TtJ_NEMUgwChZhmMHOh Customer story - a teacher uses Skype for Business and Yammer to teach mathematics to her blind and visually impaired students across the Washington-Oregon border: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgEUjREM8zE Customer story - two students with hearing impairments experience Skype Translator in the classroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3WfKzzBXew

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