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Accessibility Features

Word documents that are mostly simple text, perhaps with headings and images, and a few other basic features, can be accessible. Complex Word documents will need to be touched up in other formats. Important: some accessibility features are unavailable if a document is published in native Word format.

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Create Headings with Word Styles

Big Bold Text Does NOT Count!

Assistive technology cannot infer meaning from just formatting (such as large, bold, or underlined text). Styles create a structure that assistive technology can quickly access.

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Verify headings show in the headings list in the Navigation Pane (or Document Map Pane in the Sidebar, as it's called in Word 2011 for Mac). You can use the Navigation Pane to go to specific parts of the document by clicking on or selecting the heading.

In Word 2013 and Word 2010 (Windows):

Open the Navigation Pane (Ctrl + F). Make sure "Headings" is selected to browse headings.

In Word 2011 (Mac):

Choose the Document Map Pane option from the Sidebar icon in the main menu (or View > Sidebar > Document Map Pane)

Note: The Outline View also shows the list of headings in the document. In Word 2013 and 2010 on Windows, select View > Outline. The Outline View button in Word 2011 (Mac) is in the bottom left corner (or View > Outline in the menu bar).

Modify Heading Styles (Optional)

You can modify styles so that you can create the look and feel you want in your document by right-clicking on the style's name, then selecting "Modify." This will bring up a dialog allowing you to change the look of the headings.

Once you assign a style using this method, all headings at this level will have the same visual appearance, making it much easier to maintain a consistent look throughout the document.

Accessibility Tip: Nest headings properly (e.g., the sub-headings of a "Heading 1" are "Heading 2", etc.). Do not skip heading levels. The headers convert to accessible tags when the Word document is converted to PDF.

Table of Contents

Table of contents helps readers see an outline of the content. Word creates a table of contents based on the heading structure of the document, so proper heading structure is important. Screen readers can read the table of contents, so it is helpful for navigating within the document.

To generate a table of content, apply styles to the headings that are to be included in the table of contents. After you apply these styles, you can then create a table of contents with a few simple steps.

To Insert a Table of Contents

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Modify Heading Styles (Optional)

You can modify styles so that you can create the look and feel you want in your document by right-clicking on the style's name, then selecting "Modify." This will bring up a dialog allowing you to change the look of the headings.

Once you assign a style using this method, all headings at this level will have the same visual appearance, making it much easier to maintain a consistent look throughout the document.

Accessibility Tip: Nest headings properly (e.g., the sub-headings of a "Heading 1" are "Heading 2", etc.). Do not skip heading levels. The headers convert to accessible tags when the Word document is converted to PDF.

Table of Contents

Table of contents helps readers see an outline of the content. Word creates a table of contents based on the heading structure of the document, so proper heading structure is important. Screen readers can read the table of contents, so it is helpful for navigating within the document.

To generate a table of content, apply styles to the headings that are to be included in the table of contents. After you apply these styles, you can then create a table of contents with a few simple steps.

To Insert a Table of Contents

1. Place the cursor in your document where you want to create the table of contents
2. Go to menu item: References
3. In the Table of Contents section, select Table of Contents
4. Select the style that you want to use

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• Very good contrast (Foreground=black, Background=white, Ratio=21:1)
• Acceptable contrast (Foreground=#767676, Background=white, Ratio=4.54:1)
• Unacceptable contrast (Foreground=#AAAAAA, Background=white, Ratio=2.32:1)

Is the last line of text above very easy to read?

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Racers listed in red made the Olympic team:

• John Doe
• Jack Sprat
• Billy Bob

Good Example

Racers listed in red made the Olympic team:

• John Doe
• Jack Sprat (Olympic Team)
• Billy Bob

The table below is another good example of using color and text to convey information. Color coding is used, for the benefit of sighted users, and text is used, for broader accessibility (Green = "On Time", Yellow="At Risk", Red="Late").

Borders

Borders — on the whole page, on paragraphs, on tables, on table cells, on text boxes, on columns, etc. — can be an effective way to group information or draw attention to it visually, but screen readers don’t acknowledge borders, so don’t rely on borders alone to convey information.

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Increasing the line spacing to 1.5 lines or 2 lines can increase the readability, especially for readers with dyslexia or other reading disorders who may lose track of their place on the page.

Bad Example: Text with Close Line SpacingThis text is somewhat hard for some people to read because when the line spacing is set too close together. The text from the lines above interfere visually with the text from the lines below. The whole experience is visually not very pleasing, and it can slow down readers quite a lot, especially if they have reading disorders. You should increase the visual spacing of the lines.

Good Example: Text with Wide Line Spacing

This text is somewhat easier to read because the line height is set to double the size of the previous example. The text from the lines above does not interfere with the text in the lines below. You may decide to make the line height somewhat less than 2, and that is fine. Just don't make it too tight.

Line Justification

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Line Justification

Whenever possible, avoid full line justification. It is easier on readers when there is a jagged edge of text on the right side of the page. Lines that are justified on the right make it harder on readers to keep track of their location on the page. This is particularly true for readers with certain forms of dyslexia and other reading disorders.

Full justification also can create unnaturally large or small spaces between words, making the visual flow more difficult to follow.

Bad Example: Full Justification

This example shows a paragraph from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with full line justification. The text is aligned on the left and on the right and is harder for some people with reading disorders to read.

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

The screenshot of text below shows the same paragraph as above, with the unusual spacing between words — and the resulting "rivers" of white space — highlighted to make it more obvious.

Good Example: Left Justification

The paragraph below is the same as in the previous example, but with the text aligning only on the left. The spacing between words is more natural, reducing the visual effects of "rivers" of white space. Many people with reading disorders find this easier to read.

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Flashing or Blinking Animations

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This is an example of a simple table, as it has only one row of headers across the top.

This is an example of a complex table because it has multiple headers that go with one given data cell. This CANNOT be made accessible in Word, but you can touch it up in HTML, EPUB or PDF to make it more accessible.

If you get a document that has complex tables there is a way to "flatten" the table into a simple one. How would you do it for the above table?

One option would be to split the above table into two tables, which avoids the two main problems of 1) having a column of row headers on the side, and 2) having merged cells.

This solution won't work for all tables, but it's worth considering whenever possible. It will save you a lot of hassle when it comes to exporting to PDF format in particular. You can add the extra accessibility features to PDF files, but it's not a fast or easy process, and you have to do it every time you export the document, even if you didn't make any changes to the tables.

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