Accessibility evaluation for open source word processors

Abstract

In parallel with the products of Microsoft's Office suite, two open source word processors are gaining popularity. OpenOffice.org Writer and its more recent alternative (or "fork") LibreOffice Writer both implement as their default storage format the OpenDocument Text format (ODT, a subset of ODF) and support various output formats including the Portable Document Format (PDF) and XHTML. Through the extensions "odt2daisy" and "odt2braille", developed within the European ÆGIS project, both Writers can also export ODT documents to DAISY (audio books, talking books) and to printable Braille, taking into account its language and country dependent formatting rules. This contribution focuses on the accessibility evaluation software that was developed in the same European ÆGIS project, intended to support authors in creating accessible ODT documents that can be converted error-free into DAISY and/or Braille. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin.