[clifftyll]

Thanks, Stefan, for pointing out that the ribbon will be customizable in Word
2010. But the problem isn't just my convenience. It's whether Microsoft is
willing to make its software help people create accessible documents.

So far, it has not. Over half of the functions on the Home tab of the Word
2007 ribbon change the appearance of text without adding tags that can be
picked up by a screen reader. And if they are all you use to create your
report, then you have to do your own widow/orphan control, footnote
placement, table of contents, and so on. And the resulting electronic file
will be inaccessible.

And what's worse is that virtually all Word training teaches people how to
use Microsoft's default buttons, not how to find and use the features that
make Word a powerful word processor. So it is all but impossible for
governmental agencies to find training that will teach their employees how to
use Word to comply with the law known as Section 508.

I want the software bought by my employer to have a default interface that
leads people to do things the right way, so instead of spending my time
creating that interface, getting it distributed to my co-workers, and
developing customized training to teach them to use it, I can do the job I
was hired to do.

Is that too much to ask?