ODF Annual Report for 2007

The accessibility issues raised by the disability community with respect to office documents have raised worldwide consciousness of the impact of information technology decisions and standards on the lives of people with disabilities. ODF v1.1, approved by OASIS in February 2007, established a high water mark for document formats that should not be allowed to recede with the acceptance of anything less from any other office document format. The following is a list of critical modifications and developments that enable ODF v1.1 to provide the highest existing level of support for people with disabilities:

• In evaluating ODF against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) v.1.0, several accessibility checkpoints representing significant accessibility issues were discovered by the OASIS ODF Accessibility subcommittee in its public, peer-review of ODF v1.0 and subsequently fixed in ODF v1.1.

• The OASIS ODF Accessibility Subcommittee examined the suitability of ODF for the creation of DAISY format digital talking books for people with print impairments and the creation of Braille documents for the blind. The OASIS ODF Accessibility subcommittee explicitly addressed these questions in their review of ODF v1.0 and OASIS adopted additions to ODF v1.1 expressly to support DAISY.

• Subsequent support of ODF v1.1 in the leading Braille transcription application and review by their transcription engineers have validated ODF v1.1 as an excellent basis for Braille production.

• The Open Document Format v1.1 Accessibility Guidelines Version 1.0 were created by the Accessibility Subcommittee and have been approved by the OASIS OpenDocument Technical Committee. The guidelines describe what an ODF v1.1 implementation must do so that users with disabilities are equally able to read, create, and edit documents.

• Involving disability experts and people with disabilities in standards development is a principle articulated by the European Union and other governments. Individuals with disabilities provided input and peer-reviewed ODF v1.1.