Office Open XML (OOXML) is an electronic document file format based on XML originally developed by Microsoft Corporation to their proprietary Microsoft Office suite as an alternative for previous proprietary document formats. In December, 2006, the organization Ecma International published a standard (ECMA-376) based upon this format. Ecma International then submitted this standard to the International Standard Organization's JTC-1 committee for fast-track consideration of its adoption as an international standard. As of July, 2007, that process is ongoing.

If the ISO adopts OOXML as a standard, this will have significant implications, as many national, regional and municipal governments mandate the use of a standard format in public schools and for all official government documents and records. In an increasingly electronic and on-line document world, the accessibility of this format has clear implications for members of disadvantaged or minority communities and persons with disabilities, as access to educational materials, government services, records, opportunities, participation and representation is at stake. Hence, accessibility should be a crucial prerequisite for standardization and adoption. With this in mind, this paper undertakes a preliminary analysis of the OOXML format with respect to its accessibility, with emphasis on accessibility to persons with disabilities. We will demonstrate that the OOXML format fails to adequately support accessibility of documents.

There are grave issues with respect to the accessibility of Office Open XML as a format and potential standard that should preclude its adoption at present. It may be the case that OOXML can be improved to ameliorate some of the more specific technical concerns, but it is most likely too late for the higher-level issues, especially those inherent in the process by which OOXML was developed. We suggest that energy would be better spent in the ongoing effort to improve the existing ISO ODF standard (with which OOXML would overlap and compete if it is adopted). In any event, decisions with respect to standardized document formats should be made in consultation with members of disability communities, disabilities experts and developers of assistive technologies, with universal accessibility as a core requirement as opposed to an ad hoc afterthought.