Office Application Accessibility Review: Apple iWork Numbers '09 | Accessible Digital Office Document (ADOD) Project

Version
Date of Current Version: 16 February 2011
Latest Version (HTML): http://inclusivedesign.ca/accessible-office-documents/numbers-review

Contents
Usage Notes
Review Results
Screen Reader Test 1. Accessing an Existing Test Document
Screen Reader Test 2. Creating a New Document
Acknowledgments

Usage Notes

Overview

At the time of testing (February, 2011), Numbers ‘09 was found to be relatively accessible using keyboard navigation. In addition, screen reader testing appeared to show that use is possible with VoiceOver OS X 10.6, with some limitations.

Testing Details

Screen reader testing was performed using VoiceOver OS X 10.6.
Keyboard navigation testing was performed on OS X 10.5.8.

Disclaimer

This document is provided for information purposes only and is neither a recommendation nor a guarantee of results.
If errors are found, please report them to: adod-comments@idrc.ocad.ca.

Review Results

This table summarizes the result of our reviews using the “ADOD Assessment Framework: Success criteria for assessing the accessibility of office application user interfaces”

ADOD Assessment Framework: Success criteria for assessing the accessibility of office application user interfaces	Result
[ADOD-Office-Applications-UI 7.1] Use all applicable operating system and accessibility standards and conventions that are important or essential to accessibility. The techniques for this checkpoint include references to checklists and guidelines for a number of platforms and to general guidelines for accessible applications. ADOD Note: The Checkpoint is very general, and includes: Supporting relevant accessibility API(s); Web-based tools conforming to WCAG; Keyboard access; Providing keyboard shortcuts where recommended for a platform; Respecting platform settings (such as “high contrast” modes); and Providing documentation.	Yes. Screen reader support is confirmed by testing (see below). Most features are keyboard accessible. Respects platform settings including “high contrast” mode.
[ADOD-Office-Applications-UI 7.2] Allow the author to change the presentation within editing views without affecting the [office document]. This allows the author to edit the document according to personal requirements, without changing the way the document is rendered when published.	Yes. “Zoom” feature and support for platform high contrast settings.
[ADOD-Office-Applications-UI 7.3] Allow the author to edit all properties of each element and object in an accessible fashion.	Mostly. Selection actions, menus, and shortcut menus are navigable via keyboard. Some inserted graphical objects (e.g., shapes) appear to require the mouse be used for editing.
[ADOD-Office-Applications-UI 7.4] Ensure that the editing view allows navigation via the structure of the document in an accessible fashion.	No. Does not allow navigation via the structure alone. Shortcut keys navigate spreadsheet (e.g. cell by cell).
[ADOD-Office-Applications-UI 7.5] Enable editing of the structure of the document in an accessible fashion.	No. Document can be edited cell by cell, not by document structure alone.
[ADOD-Office-Applications-UI 7.6] Allow the author to search within editing views.	Yes. Via the “Find and Replace” feature.

Screen Reader Test 1. Accessing an Existing Test Document

In this test, the evaluator used a screen reader to explore a pre-existing test document that had been created by a sighted colleague, following the “Authoring Techniques for Accessible Office Documents: iWork Numbers ‘09”. The test document included the elements in the left-hand column (i.e., heading, table of contents, etc.).

Able to Access?	VoiceOver OS X 10.6
Image with “alt” text	No. VoiceOver did not identify an image. However the alternative text for the image was in the appropriate cell.
Data table	Yes. VoiceOver did not announce that the cells with formulas had formulas. Pressing option + enter on a cell with a formula showed the formula in the formula editor.
Bar chart with “alt” text	Yes. VoiceOver would not read details of the chart, but it identified it as an object beside the table object that represents the spreadsheet. The alternative text was read.
Formatted text	No. The text was available, but the VoiceOver text attributes command (control + option + t) did not appear to work in the table.
Cell with a note	No. The text of the cell was available, but VoiceOver did not announce that a note was available.
Search function	No. The search dialog was accessible. After performing the search the focus was not moved back to the table, when manually moving back to the table the target cell was not focused.

Screen Reader Test 2. Creating a New Document

In this test, the evaluator used a screen reader to create a new test document which was to include the elements in the left-hand column (i.e., two levels of heading, an image, etc.).

Able to accomplish?	VoiceOver OS X 10.6
Add and then edit regular text (e.g. do a select-cut-paste)	Yes. To cut and paste an entire cell it was necessary to select the cell, cut, to move to the new location, and to paste. To cut a particular segment of text from a cell it was necessary to move to the cell, to press option + enter to open the formula editor, to select and cut the text, to press escape to return to the spreadsheet, to move to the new cell, and to paste.
Insert an image	Yes. Inserted an image using Insert > Choose… VoiceOver didn’t recognize the image on the slide. Testing with JAWS and Excel the image was in the document.
Insert a 3-by-3 data table and fill it with content	Yes.
Create a chart from a data table	Yes.
Use text formatting (bold, text colour)	Yes. It was possible to apply a bold format by highlighting the text and selecting Bold from the toolbar, the color picker appeared to be inaccessible with VoiceOver.
Save document	Yes.
Other Comments by the Screen Reader Tester:	For the most part Numbers performed as intuitively as a VoiceOver user would expect for an Apple product. The sheet (table) could be navigated with standard VoiceOver table navigation commands, or with the arrow keys alone. Note that using the arrow keys alone did not always appear to work properly, no navigation would occur. Using shift + arrow keys was the only way to select a range of cells.

Acknowledgments

This document was produced as part of the Accessible Digital Office Document (ADOD) Project (http://inclusivedesign.ca/accessible-office-documents).
This project has been developed by the Inclusive Design Research Centre, OCAD University as part of an EnAbling Change Partnership project with the Government of Ontario and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Partner logos: UNESCO-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Government of Ontario and the Inclusive Design Research Centre (OCAD University)

(a) the reproduction is offered at no cost to the recipients; and
(b) the reproduction must preserve the "Version" section; and
(c) the reproduction must preserve the "Acknowledgments" section; and
(d) the reproduction must preserve this copyright notice.