On Friday, Microsoft released its new version of office for the iPhone and iOS devices.
The app is called Office Mobile for 365 Subscribers and as the title suggests,
the app is only for current 365 subscriber's.
There is a way to buy a one month's or year's subscription within the app or on Microsoft's site. Students can also get a special 4-year license for $79.99. According to a post on Apple Vis from Bryan Jones, the app is usable, but there are a number of accessibility issues.
To get into the app, you must get past the first set of welcome screens. Here is how you do that: "The first time a User launches this App, they are presented with a series of five pages of introductory material. The first four pages each contain a single sentence of informational text and do not require any input from the User. I'll describe the fifth page later. While VoiceOver can read the text on these pages, there is a trick to moving from one page to another. Use the standard one-finger swipe gesture to swipe right until VoiceOver announces, "Page X of Y." This is at the bottom of each page. Now swipe left once to put the VO cursor back on the main text of the page. Now perform a three-finger swipe left or right and this will move you from page to page. It seems it is not possible to move between pages if VO is focussed on the page number. Once past the initial four pages, the User is presented with a fifth page which contains two properly labeled buttons. The button labeled "Sign in" presents a VoiceOver-accessible login screen for Users who already have an Office 365 subscription and the associated login credentials. The other button is labeled "Buy Now" and it presents a page where you can make an in-app purchase of a one year subscription to Office 365 Home Premium."
... Some of the other accessibility comments include that the app has some properly labeled buttons and functions, but there are also those that are not. Also, the text of Doc and Excel files is erratic.
In an article from the iDownload Blog, Jeff Benjamin describes his major complaints with the app. These include: no ability to insert tables, pictures, or graphs even though the sample documents include these elements, no ability to create new power point presentations, and no SPELL CHECK. How can you have a document creator without spell check?
Have you tried this app? Let us know your experiences by posting a comment.
Source: Go to sourceCategory: Software
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For the past three years Alena has been a feature writer for the online magazine Matilda Ziegler. She has also been a contractor for the Oregon Commission for the Blind, helping blind adults learn to use adaptive technology. She is studying to be a teacher of the visually impaired at Portland State. You might also recognize her from the Serotalk podcast Triple Click Home.
