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How to: Enhance the Accessibility of Office Live Small Business Applications

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As you develop Microsoft Office Live Small Business applications, it is important to keep in mind the following accessibility recommendations that will help to make your applications easy to use by the largest number of users possible.

  • Provide keyboard access   The keyboard user interface assists users who are blind, or who have certain motor disabilities, to navigate an application and interact with its features.
  • Use text equivalents for graphics   Text can be readily outputted to speech synthesizers and Braille displays, presented visually on computer displays, and rendered in a number of sizes.
  • Identify row and column headers in tables   Tables present special difficulties to screen reader devices. Screen-reader tools designed to enable users to navigate table cells and headers, and to access table cell information, report incorrect information to the screen reader if the row and column headers have not been marked properly.
  • Title each frame   If you group elements and identify the relationships between elements, all users benefit. The title should convey the purpose of the frame.
  • Provide alternatives to color   Make sure that all information is also available through a means other than color. You can use color to indicate state, but always make sure that the information is also available by other means.

The Information Technology Industry Council has developed the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, or VPAT, a standardized form that shows how a software product meets key regulations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The Microsoft Office Live VPAT describes how the accessibility features of this product help federal agencies address the requirements of Section 508 Standards.

For more information about accessibility, see Microsoft accessibility.

For more information about VPATs for Microsoft products, see Section 508 VPATs for Microsoft products.