Somebody at Redmond has blown a gasket. Has a screw loose. Too few sandwiches in the picnic. SharePoint 2007 boasts a host of excellent features, not least of which includes 'greater accessibility'. But what does that mean in real terms?

Well, it certainly doesn't mean that MOSS 2007 or should I say Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is accessible. Not in the slightest. It's greatest no-no is that it uses tables for format. I'm sorry, I'll say that again. It uses tables for formatting.

In a world of elegant CSS it's an unquestionably poor show on Microsoft's part and renders the use of MOSS 2007 'out of the box' in any public (or Government) organisation out of the question. More so in the UK where we have new (and justifiable) laws shunning such inaccessibility. Bare in mind that I'm currently working for the organisation in the UK that would implement such laws, and the problem is slightly more serious. As you can imagine.

Don't think that the clever use of Web Parts will save you either. Sure, you can code up such libraries, hand cranked if your like. But guess what the Web Part Page uses to site it's contents in. You guessed it; Tables. Tables!!

What is wrong with these people?

So.... the solution. Well, after quite a few conversations and secret meetings not akin (so I would imagine) to the Freemasons, what can I suggest. Simple. Write your OWN ASP.NET pages to gain full AAA compliance and simply leverage the SharePoint Server using the Windows SharePoint (web) Service. Best of both words. Content is managed in a very lovely way and you have full and absolute control over the container it comes in.

When I get more on this... I'll let you know.

Tags: sharepoint 2007, aaa, accessible