Word Accessibility
Whether you are making a Word document or preparing a PDF, the easiest way is to make the document accessible when you create it. Here's how:
Quick Tips
- Title - Set a Title.
- Click File, Info, look under Properties, and enter a clear, meaningful Title.
- Headings - Use "Styles" for headings.
- Find "Styles" on the Home menu. Right-click a style and use "Update to Match Selection" or "Modify..." to customize it's appearance.
- Use Heading 1 for the title of the document, Heading 2 for main section headings, Heading 3 for sub-section headings, etc.
- Check "Navigation Pane" on the View menu to see the headings in your document.
- Lists - Use "Bullets" or "Numbering" for lists.
- Lists are pretty automatic, but don't insert blank lines between list items.
- Use Paragraph Settings to uncheck "Don't add space between paragraphs of same style" and change before/after spacing if needed.
- Columns - Use "Columns" for columns.
- Find "Columns" on the Layout menu. Don't use spaces, tabs, or tables to make columns.
- Insert "Column Breaks" to control where new columns start.
- Tables - Use "Table" for tables.
- Find "Table" on the Insert menu. Don't use spaces, tabs, or columns to make tables.
- Keep tables simple, with column headers in the first row and row headers in the first column.
- Don't merge cells or use blank rows, columns, or cells to control table appearance; adjust border styles and/or cell margins instead.
- When pasting a table from Excel, paste it as a table rather than an image, link, or object.
- For tables that run on to additional pages, set "Repeat Header Rows" on the Table Layout menu.
- Pictures - Add "Alt Text" to Pictures (and Shapes, Smart Art, etc.)
- Right click a picture, select Edit Alt Text (for older versions, select Format Picture, Alt Text), and enter the Alt Text.
- Enter alt text that communicates what the picture communicates. Ignore any instructions to "describe" the picture.
- If there are words in the picture, put them in the alt text.
- If the picture is a decoration and doesn't communicate anything, check "Mark as decorative".
- Positioning - Use "In Line with Text" for Picture Positioning/Wrapping.
- Don't position meaningful Pictures or Text Boxes "Behind text" or "In front of text".
- Test the reading order of objects that are wrapped by text.
- Check Accessibility - Use Word to do three accessibility checks.
- Find "Check Accessibility" on the Review menu. Click the bottom half of the button to show its menu:
- Check Accessibility - review and fix any errors and warnings the accessibility checker finds.
- Alt Text - with the Alt Text pane showing, click on each image in the document to check (and if necessary correct) its alt text.
- Navigation Pane - check that all the headings in your document show in the Navigation pane at the correct level.
- Be aware that the Accessibility Checker can find many but not all accessibility issues and sometimes makes mistakes.
- Find "Check Accessibility" on the Review menu. Click the bottom half of the button to show its menu:
- Check Color Contrast - Use the free Colour Contrast Analyser to check colors.
- Check that all text/background color combinations "Pass (AA)".
More Information
- WebAIM: Microsoft Word - more instructions for making Word documents accessible.
- Microsoft: Make your Word Documents Accessible - best practices from Microsoft.
- Microsoft: Accessibility Checker - how to use Word's built-in accessibility checker (which can find many, but not all, accessibility errors).
- Word Accessibility Exercise - an exercise to try your own Word accessibility skills!