Karlen Communications
Conference Handouts
This page contains conference handouts and more general "how to" documents. Some of these documents might also appear on one of our web pages specific to a Microsoft Office product.
All older tutorials related to Microsoft Office for Windows 2016 are on a page dedicated to that version of Office.
Newer Tutorials for Microsoft 365 and updated tutorials can be found on the Karen McCall School on Teachable as free handouts.
Disability, Access to Education and the Pandemic.
Journal of Computers Helping People with Special Needs
Research, ICCHP Conference, Linz Austria, 2016, Springer Lecture Series, McCall.
A Strategic Approach to Document Accessibility: Integrating PDF/UA into your Electronic Content, ICCHP Conference, Paris France 2014, Springer Lecture Series, Mccall/Spencer..
Legislation and Standards of Accessibility versus Intelligent Design, Universal Learning Design, ICCHP/ULD Conference Proceedings, Paris France, 2014, McCall. This is a tagged PDF document.
Journal of Technology & Persons with Disabilities
PDF/UA Structure Elements and the User Experience Brings together the two parts of accessible PDF documents, the structure elements as identified in ISO 32000, how they are implemented through ISO 14289 and the user experience. Structure elements or Tags provide the mechanism by which PDF documents are accessible to those of us with disabilities. However, there appears to be a disconnect between the implementation of Tags in a PDF document and the user experience.
Globally Defining an Inclusive Education Standard is a paper identifying the need to globally define what we mean by "inclusive education" for people with disabilities. Among the recommendations in the paper is the hiring of teachers with disabilities and the reform of curriculum to ensure that all graduates (with and without disabilities) are ready for employment in a global economy that establishes accessible digital environments and content as part of "who we are. as per the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. This paper was presented at CSUN 2016 in March 2016.
Featured Guest in Blog Articles
Q&A with MVP Karen McCall"As someone with a visual disability, technology has been the key to my lifelong learning"
MVP Spotlight: Karen McCall, MVP for Word and Accessibility MVP, by Microsoft MVP Community, United States.
Accessible PDF and the Potential of PDF/UA by AccessIQ, Australia.
Webinars
Accessible Word to PDF Documents, WAG Webinar, item 3.1 in the Table of Contents.
Accessing PDF Forms 101: Webinar 1 of 3 for AMAC
Accessible Form Template Design: Webinar 2 of 3 for AMAC
The Basics of PDF Form Controls: Webinar 3 of 3 for AMAC
The Need for a Global Inclusive Education Standard, WAG Webinar, item 4.2 in the Table of Contents.
EASI Webinars on Accessibility, PowerPoint and Excel
Create More Accessible Images.
Accessible PowerPoint Placeholders.
Send to Microsoft PowerPoint (create your PowerPoint Presentation in Microsoft Word).
Office 2007 Ribbon Commands (sample of a Table of Contents in an Excel workbook).
Week 1 presentation in alternate format.
Resources from slides for the EASI Accesibility, PowerPoint and Excel webinars.
Conference Handouts
Comparing OCR in PDF Tagging Tools: Adobe Acrobat Pro, Foxit, PowerPDF (2019 with sample documents attached)
Comparing TOC in PDF Tagging Tools: Adobe Acrobat Pro, Foxit, PowerPDF (2019 with sample documents attached)
Hearing the Needs of an Aging Demographic (CSUN 2017)
Windows Virtual Desktop from the Keyboard (Windows 10)
Windows 10 Accessibility (EASI Webinar August 2016).
PDF and the User Experience Survey Results
Global Inclusive Quality Education Standard
Understanding and Advocating for PDF/UA
The Need to Globally Define an Inclusive Education Standard.
PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) and Section 508 (NPRM 2015)
AODA: Buying into Collaboration (University of Guelph 2014)
AODA: Blueprint for Exclusion - A Case Study 2013 conference presentation in tagged PDF.
AODA: A blueprint for Exclusion, Update 2014 conference presentation in tagged PDF.
Accessible Document Design Conference Handout 2017 with attachments.
EASI Advanced Word Tutorials
The following tutorial files were created to support a four part webinar series I did for EASI on advanced features in Word. The tutorials are done from the perspective of someone using a screen reader to add Footnotes, Citations, and a Bibliography, use Track Changes, create an Index, modify a Table of Contents or import/export styles. The tutorials can be used as standalone documents for those who want to learn how to use these features with adaptive technology and from the keyboard (not the mouse).
The tagged PDF documents have sample Word documents attached so you can practice. I’ve write protected the attached Word documents.
Importing and Exporting Styles
Track Changes, Comments and Comparing Documents
A Picture is Worth 300 Words This CSUN 2001 presentation by Wright State University and the Dayton Art Institute is an excellent resource when looking at the quality and quantity of Alt Text for images. While most of the time, as a document author, you would want to be more subjective, having to work through an exercise where you have to use a complex image such as a piece of art and only use 300 words to describe it to those who can’t see it is both fun and educational!
Handouts for EASI Webinars
The following files were used in the "Columns in Word and Tagged PDF" webianr.
Columns in Word (source Word document).
Columns in Word tagged from Microsoft Word conversion tool.
Columns in Word tagged from Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Ribbon.
Columns in Word - Word document repaired
Columns in Word Repaired converted to tagged PDF
Making Applications Easier to Use
Make the Internet Easier to See.
Outlook 2010Attachments (and RTF Mail Format).
Older Handouts - But Still Useful!
- Basic Computer Literacy Checklist. this can be used for assessment or training, by people using adaptive technology or people who don't use adaptive technology. If you say "I can use a computer" these are the things you should be able to do.
- CCTV/Video Magnifier Assessment Protocols. A form you can use if you are an assessor, trainer or person going for a CCTV assessment. This form is designed to be client based.
- Equipment Setup Checklist. When your computer is delivered, this checklist will help you verify the tools you need are working. this checklist is primarily for people who will have adaptive technology installed on their computer.
- OCR/Scanning Literacy Checklist. What you should know about your OCR/Scanning software after 10 hours of training. A resource for assessors, trainers and people who are being assessed or trained on using their scanning software such as OpenBook [Freedom Scientific] or the K-1000 [Kurzweill Educational Software].
- Screen Magnification Literacy Checklist. What you should know about your screen magnification software after 10 hours of training. This resource can be used by assessors, trainers and people being assessed or trained to use screen magnification software such as ZoomText [AiSquared] or MAGic [Freedom Scientific] .
- Screen Reading Literacy Checklist. What you should know about your screen reading software after 10 hours of training. this resource can be used by assessors, trainers and people being assessed or trained to use their screen reading software such as JAWS [Freedom Scientific], Window-Eyes [GW Micro], or HAL [Dolphin] .
- Voice Recognition Literacy Checklist. What you should know about your voice recognition software after 10 hours of training. Although this is based on Dragon NaturallySpeaking from Nuance, it can be applied to the speech tool in Microsoft Office or on a tablet PC. A resource for assessors, trainers and people who will be assessed or trained on using voice recognition.
The resources relating to adaptive technology and the equipment setup checklist are based on the Ontario Ministry of Health's ADP [Assistive Devices Program] criteria. Feedback is always welcome.
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