Introduction to Editing an MS Word Doc to Improve Its Accessibility Abilities
Suppose you/we are given the following Word doc, and our job assignment is to make it W3C compatible for web viewing by those with intellectual disabilities or some other aspect that prevents them from viewing the paper on their computer. What steps will you take/do to "fix" it? Several excellent sources are out there to help you; I will use them and provide the reference list. So, given that, let's get started.
STEP #0: You first need to read/scan the document for its logic. Does the logic flow so that someone who is disabled or not can learn quickly from it? Just because someone gives you a Word Doc to fix for accessibility does not mean it is written well. Let's look at the document I will use in this BLOG. 
At 1st glance, it looks good. But there are accessibility problems.
1> As you read it, the paragraphs are not organized to flow
2> It needs to be clarified what someone wants you to learn and know. What to focus on?
3> At the same time, you should check the reference. Guess what? It is incorrect.
4> Colors are immaterial for the disabled reader
5> Font size. What flavors do you want, H1, H2, H3?
6> An outline of the paper does not exist at the top, which will have hyperlinks when done
7> The reference is cited 3 times and it is not clear where to find it in the reference article
8> Underlined segments need to be readable for the intellectually challenged person.'
10> Finally, the image descriptions need to be more comprehensive. They need more elaboration.
Given all that, let's look at a marked-up Doc
One can see there are at least 10 items to do.
NEXT STEP: Given all the descriptions and editing needed, we need to rewrite the new document so that it clearly describes the goal you want the reader to learn. So, to do this, you should go back to Iannotti's (2024) article, study it, clarify the topic you want to write and rewrite it.
For our purpose, I want to focus specifically on grafting. I need to write the intro clearly and then add the steps for grafting. Based on rereading that article I now have the following.
What
is Plant Grafting?
How to
Combine Two Plants
Outline of This Paper
1.
Read and Study the Original Paper
2.
Rewrite/Edit a Proposed New Paper
3.
Add Images
4.
The End Result
First, Read and Study the Original Paper
1. Study
it and determine where rewrites are needed.
Determine
the logic of what needs to be explained to the reader.
It
could be parts or the whole for rewiring
Second, rewrite as needed.
The result
is as follows.
Trees are very special for use. They
can produce an abundant supply of the fruits that we like and enjoy. For our
example here, let us consider an orange and grapefruit tree. How can we make them
better. Actually, what can we do with each of them to create something unique
and special?
What we can do is join the two
together by using a process called grafting. Grafting is a physical process of
joining two different tree stems into a unique single stem. To perform this
operation, we need three items.
Ø
A piece, called a stem, from the orange tree.
Ø
A second stem, from the grapefruit tree
Ø
A binding material to hold them together, a piece of sticky
tape.
First:
Cut the orange stem at an angle of 45-degree. This will be the bottom part.
This bottom part is called the rootstock. This is because it will be the bottom
part of the new graft. Inb addition, the 45-degree cut on this lower piece is
referred to as having a wound. This would be like an open would on your hand if
you cut yourself.
Second:
Repeat the 45-degree cutting process on this top part. This top part is called
a scion.
Third:
Very carefully, align the two 45-degree cuts into one seamless connection.
Fourth:
Then, very carefully also, apply the bandage tape to hold the two securely
together.
That completes the basic editing process.
3. Add the images to show the process. Preferenctally these need be added at the very bottom of the paper.
4.
Add elaborate descriptions of these images. This must be done by
hand. Do not rely on Microsoft Word Accessibility option to do this for you.
See Iannott (2024) for an explanation of
this.
NOW THAT I HAVE RE-WRITTEN THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, THEN ADDED THE IMAGES + A MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TRHEM, WE NOW HAVE THE FOLLOWING FINAL RESULT.
SWITCH-BOX - Switching between regular paper versus disabled paper. The person doing and writing the interface code needs to do this because the two are not the same. BROWSER-CHECKING - Browser checking is a requirement. All browser, MS Edge, Google, Firefox, Linu, others usually display your writeup differently on eachnone, Now a days, the articles are starting to say which browser touse for the disabled person to use, and it definitelymust include JAWS. Immmersive Readers are available on some.
I hope you have enjoyed this article. Creating accessible web pages to accomodate disabled students is a fill-time job. Besides the writing and the images, there are also the audio and videos to consider. Disabled students love a good video so be sure to include a talking vdo, and have some fun with them. The references which follow will keep you busy bercause there is are numerous items to lerrn and know. A lot of schools these days have a disability computer section in the library these days. And there is usually a full-time person workinbg there to help those in beed of special items to have available for these students. Many students need a "scribe". The scribe is a person who goes together with the student to the class and takes hand written notes, which wiull later be transcribed digitally into the computer for listening and learning.
