OpenOffice.org (OpenOffice Writer)

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OpenOffice.org the product is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites. Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office, and the vendor-neutral OpenDocument standard from OASIS.

Writer is OpenOffice.org's word processor: use it for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book with embedded illustrations, cross-references, tables of contents, indexes, bibliographies. You can also create accessible PDF files directly from OpenOffice Writer.

You can download any of the free OpenOffice office suite components at http://www.openoffice.org/.

In addition to Writer, there are other components to the OpenOffice office suite including the Impress presentation program, and the Calc spreadsheet. This tutorial will limit its discussion of generating accessible PDFs from the OpenOffice suite to Writer, though the techniques are similar for the other components of OpenOffice.

There is a practice file on the CD to practice these techniques.

Practice Files:

6_OpenOfficeFile.odt

Solution:

6_OpenOfficeFile_Solution.odt

Preparing an OpenOffice Writer Document for Making Accessible PDF

OpenOffice Writer has a number of features that help optimize files for accessibility before converting them to Adobe PDF. The following tips provide information on how to use these features in OpenOffice Writer for creating high quality accessible PDF documents.

Tagging

Adopting certain conventions while authoring in OpenOffice Writer will help generate a logical read order and a more accessible PDF file after conversion .

Always use Paragraph styles, such as Heading1, Heading2, etc. rather than character formats for formatting text in a Word document. Acrobat PDFMaker and Acrobat 7.0 read paragraph styles to identify structural elements for tagging.

Use bullets and numbering to create lists and outlines, these convert well to tags.

If the layout has two or more columns, use Writer's Columns feature (Format > Columns) to lay out the columns. Don't use spaces, tabs, or the table feature to simulate multicolumn text. Columns translate well to a tagged Adobe PDF file, while tabs and tables often require manual repair work with the Touch Up Reading Order tool in Acrobat 7.0 Professional.

Create live hyperlinks and cross references.

Create tables by using the table feature in OpenOffice Writer (Table > Insert > Table) or Ctrl +F12, rather than by using the tab key or spacebar to position text on the page. Using the table feature enables Acrobat 7.0 Adobe Reader to correctly recognize and tag the content as a table.

If possible, do not create excessively deep rows in a table and do not allow rows to break across pages. To keep a row from breaking across pages in OpenOffice Writer, turn off the "Allow Row to Break Across Pages and Columns" option for that row.

On tables that span two or more pages, make headers repeat to help readers follow the flow of information. To do this in Writer, turn on the "Repeat Heading Rows" option for the number of header rows you would like to specify (This setting can be found in the Text Flow Tab of Writer's Table Format dialog - to display, select a table and from the Writer menu Table > Table Properties. The settings are found on the second tab labelled "Text Flow").

Adding Alternative Text to OpenOffice Writer Graphics

To add alternate text descriptions to graphics in OpenOffice Writer, use the Picture dialog.

You display this dialog for a an OpenOffice Writer graphic one of three ways:

Double click on the graphic (easiest method)

Right Click on the graphic and select Picture from the menu

Select the graphic, by clicking on it, and then choose Format > Picture from the OpenOffice Writer menu

With the dialog open, select the second tab, labelled "Options", and enter the desired text in the field labelled Alternative (Text Only) (See Figure 3 - 28 Picture Dialog for Specifying Alternate Text in OpenOffice Writer)

Figure 3 - 28 Picture Dialog for Specifying Alternate Text in OpenOffice Writer

Generating Accessible PDF from OpenOffice Writer

Once your document is complete, you instruct Writer on how to appropriatly convert the document's elements to their accessible PDF equivalents. You do this by selecting the File > Export as PDF... option from the Writer menu (See Figure 3 - 29 Export as PDF Option in OpenOffice Writer) .

Figure 3 - 29 Export as PDF Option in OpenOffice Writer

This will then result in the display of the PDF Options dialog in OpenOffice Writer where you would ensure the check box labelled "Tagged PDF" is checked (See Figure 3 - 30 PDF Options Dialog in OpenOffice Writer) .

Figure 3 - 30 PDF Options Dialog in OpenOffice Writer