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Navigation for Module 6: Word
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  1. *Introduction
  2. *Files You Need
  3. *Improve Word Access
  4. *Upload Word File
  5. * Save As Webpage
  6. *Convert Word to HTML
  7. *Publish to Blackboard
  8. *Publish to WebCT
  9. *Resources

Save as Webpage Feature in Word

Now, let us examine the "Save as Web Page" method of publishing a Word document. This section presents the steps required to prepare for and save a Word document in HTML format, and then discusses the accessibility pros and cons of this method.

Using the Filter to save the Word document as HTML


Description of Image 7: First page of filtered HTML file from Word document viewed in Internet Explorer



Description of Image 8: Second page of filtered HTML file from Word document viewed in Internet Explorer


When you use Word to generate a web page, the code includes a lot of Office-specific markup that allows you to open the file and edit it in Word later. This extra code can easily double the file size of the page, can cause problems for browsers other than Internet Explorer, and can present obstacles to students using assistive technologies. Microsoft has recognized these issues and created the Office HTML Filter for Office 2000 and Office XP; instructions for its use vary according to the version of Office. Please choose your version: Office 2000 HTML Filter or Office XP HTML Filter

Take a look at the first page (see Image 7) and the second page (Image 8) of the filtered HTML file from the sample Word document when viewed in a Internet Explorer.

As you can see, both pages of the document appear almost exactly the same as they did in Word. The result in Netscape is the same.

The file size for the filtered HTML file is nearly one fourth that of the original Word document, and users do not need to have Word installed in order to view the file.

Making this file completely accessible to users with disabilities will require a few changes to the code, but overall this option for getting a document online is considered the most viable.

While using Word's "Save as Web Page" feature does not create completely accessible documents, the process serves two valuable purposes:

You have looked at two different approaches for posting Microsoft Word documents online:

Posting the document in its native Word format is the easier of the two but has poises two significant drawbacks:

Converting the document to HTML takes more time, because the formatting must be corrected to ensure proper HTML translation. This method has the advantages that a user does not need to have Word installed on his or her computer to view the file and the file size is significantly smaller than the original document. Still, the HTML that Word generates is not entirely accessible to people with disabilities and even Word's "filtered" HTML is bulkier and "messier" than it needs to be.

On the next page, you will look at the changes that need to be made to the HTML file to make the content accessible to all users.

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Convert Word to HTML


 
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