---- Original Message ------
From: Charles Crawford <[log in to unmask]
Subject: [leadership] Fwd: Announcing OfficeConvert and 
EasyEncode - free,open  source utilities for common file 
conversions
Date sent: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:39:00 -0500


>Hi NCAC members and  friends,

         Here is an announcement from Jamal Mazrui who has been a
great supporter of accessibility for blind and otherwise disabled
people.  If you have a need to use the software being announced, 
then
please feel free to visit Jamal's website and see all the great
applications and information he has available.

--  charlie Crawford.

Original message...

>Now available at

>http://EmpowermentZone.com/OfficeConvert.zip

>and

>http://EmpowermentZone.com/EasyEncode.zip


>OfficeConvert and EasyEncode are two sets of free, open source
>utilities under Windows that I have recently developed for
>conveniently converting files among common formats and
>encodings.  They can aid the production of alternative formats in
>order to maximize accessibility for readers with
>disabilities.  Batch processing is possible, allowing multiple 
files
>to be converted with a single command.

>These command-line utilities are stand-alone executables, 
operating
>in console mode, without a graphical user interface (GUI).  They 
are
>distributed as zip archives rather than Windows
>installers.  Programming knowledge is not required to use them, 
but
>basic familiarity with the Windows command prompt is needed.  The
>utilities may be used either manually at the command line, or
>programmatically by applications that call them to prepare files 
in
>a chain of processing steps.

>OfficeConvert is a set of utilities for converting file formats
>using the COM-based APIs of Microsoft Office applications, 
including
>Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.  Many file formats are
>supported.  Common file extensions may be used to specify the
>formats desired.  Conversions include going to and from formats 
used
>by other office suites, such as the Open Document formats 
supported
>by the cross-platform, Open Office suite.

>Significant capabilities include conversions to plain
>text:  doc2txt, xls2txt, and ppt2txt.  The conversion of a
>PowerPoint presentation extracts text comprehensively, including 
the
>outline, notes, comments, and hyperlinks.  Formats of Office 2007
>and above are supported.  The doc2pdf conversion can be an 
effective
>way of creating an accessible, tagged PDF from a well-structured 
Word document.

>EasyEncode is a set of utilities for detecting and converting 
text
>files among common encodings.  Four encodings are supported,
>accounting for most encodings in use today:  UTF-16, UTF-8 with a
>byte order mark (BOM), UTF-8 without a BOM, and ANSI.  The 
utilities
>can smoothen the transition of text files from one operating 
system
>to another, where an inconsistent encoding can render a file 
unreadable.

>Character encodings are a complex subject.  EasyEncode does not
>eliminate a developer's need for knowledge in this area, but once
>encodings are understood conceptually, the software eases work 
with them.

>The OfficeConvert documentation is also separately available 
online at

>http://EmpowermentZone.com/OfficeConvert.htm

>and the EasyEncode documentation is available at

>http://EmpowermentZone.com/EasyEncode.htm


>Jamal



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