[BlindMath] XLSTAT accessibility

[Godfrey, Jonathan]

Hello,



Please refer to https://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/statsoftware/ where the following text appears after all other proper statistical software is discussed:



Excel

I put Excel in this list as I know there are people using it to complete statistical tasks. I do not like relying on it as I don't consider it to be statistical software but it does have its uses. The problem is that while Excel is fairly accessible, the range of features from a statistical standpoint is fairly limited.

Add-on packages are commonly used to bridge this gap. Access to the functionality of add-on packages should not be muddled with access to Excel. Thankfully, the add-on packages for Excel that are used in educational settings are commonly distributed with a textbook and are therefore free. I can only advise that testing be done before anyone relies on access to the functionality of add-on packages. There are just too many add-on packages to mention them all here but one does get special mention.

At the 2014 Summer University, Anthony Reas showed how the add-on known as XLSTAT can be used by blind people. I didn't attend his workshop because I was hosting a workshop of my own, but feedback was good and I've asked him for his version. In Anthony's words:

XLSTAT is one of the more comprehensive add-on packages that adds statistical power to Microsoft Excel in regards to both accessibility and feature set. Being integrated into Microsoft Office's spreadsheet software, most data-entering and preparation procedures can be handled with the standard Excel options.

When the add-on is activated, XLSTAT creates a new Excel ribbon, from which all available analysis tools can be accessed using a menu-like structure, dividing into categories and subcategories. Once an analysis tool is selected, a dialog box appears that lets you select data, typically by entering data-regions into edit fields, and selecting the desired options and outputs for your analysis using simple check boxes and drop down lists. In addition, each dialog contains a button that leads you to the relevant HTML help page which is readable and understandable without any further issue.

Overall, these dialog boxes are rather accessible other than one major drawback. In more recent versions of Microsoft Office, data-regions entered in data entry fields are no longer announced by screen readers and cannot be reviewed by the arrow keys without a review cursor, as using them will change the actual data selection. However, the amount of text that has to be entered in those fields is rather small, which makes this limitation easy to overcome. Also, XLSTAT output can be classified as accessible to a large extent, for its textual part is generated as a standard Excel table, which can be read, manipulated, and saved in the same way as any other Excel data. Additionally, the graphical output can be saved and pasted into another application. Still, whether these graphs could be embossed to a good quality tactile form remains an open question for now. The base package of XLSTAT comes with enough features to suffice the usual needs of a social or behavioral science student partaking in an introductory statistics course or working on smaller research projects. These features include regression analysis and ANOVA, hypothesis testing, factor analysis, etc. Furthermore, a wide array of feature extensions available from the XLSTAT website are able to add functionality for more specialized designs. While a base student XLSTAT license costs an annual 50 dollars, and the base feature set may not be as rich as is present in some other statistics software, its rather high accessibility level and its easy-to-use dialog based interface could make it into a viable working solution for students and professionals who are less comfortable with command-driven tools. Especially those who are already familiar with Excel and will, as a result, experience almost no learning curve, could benefit most from this product.

(End of Anthony's words).