From the paper:
If the ISO adopts OOXML as a standard, this will have significant implications, as many national, regional and municipal governments mandate the use of a standard format in public schools and for all official government documents and records. In an increasingly electronic and on-line document world, the accessibility of this format has clear implications for members of disadvantaged or minority communities and persons with disabilities, as access to educational materials, government services, records, opportunities, participation and representation is at stake. Hence, accessibility should be a crucial prerequisite for standardization and adoption. With this in mind, this paper undertakes a preliminary analysis of the OOXML format with respect to its accessibility, with emphasis on accessibility to persons with disabilities. We will demonstrate that the OOXML format fails to adequately support accessibility of documents.
