We at Purdue are committed to continuous improvement and as accessibility practices are updated, we will update our manuals. This version of the manual was finalized on 7.5.18 When creating an accessible word processing documents, there are five main things to check before running the accessibility checker. You will need to verify that: Headers are used appropriately; Spacing is done correctly; Hyperlinks are not too long; Each image/table includes an appropriate alt text description provided; and Any tables in the document have a header row indicated. Step-by-step visuals are provided below. Verify that headers are used appropriately A good heading structure is probably the most important accessibility consideration. Use Styles to identify Heading 1, Heading 2, etc., rather than simply increasing the font size and making it bold. This provides structure that is used to navigate through the document when using assistive technology like a screen reader. Screen readers start by reading the headings. Headings range from most important or prominent (H1) to subsequent subsections decreasing in importance under a main topic (H2, H3, H4). Basic text is set to the Normal style and will be read left to right, top to bottom in order as it appears in the text. Note: if you don’t like the look of the formatting for the default styles, they can be edited to better meet your needs. Select the text, and then select the appropriate heading style from the Styles section of the Home tab ribbon. Word 2016 (PC) Word 2017 (Mac) By default, Heading 1 and Heading 2 are available in the ribbon. Word will automatically NOTE: add Heading 3 to the menu after Heading 2 is used in the document, and so on for additional heading levels.
We at Purdue are committed to continuous improvement and as accessibility practices are updated, we will update our manuals. This version of the manual was finalized on 7.5.18 When creating an accessible word processing documents, there are five main things to check before running the accessibility checker. You will need to verify that: Headers are used appropriately; Spacing is done correctly; Hyperlinks are not too long; Each image/table includes an appropriate alt text description provided; and Any tables in the document have a header row indicated. Step-by-step visuals are provided below. Verify that headers are used appropriately A good heading structure is probably the most important accessibility consideration. Use Styles to identify Heading 1, Heading 2, etc., rather than simply increasing the font size and making it bold. This provides structure that is used to navigate through the document when using assistive technology like a screen reader. Screen readers start by reading the headings. Headings range from most important or prominent (H1) to subsequent subsections decreasing in importance under a main topic (H2, H3, H4). Basic text is set to the Normal style and will be read left to right, top to bottom in order as it appears in the text. Note: if you don’t like the look of the formatting for the default styles, they can be edited to better meet your needs. Select the text, and then select the appropriate heading style from the Styles section of the Home tab ribbon. Word 2016 (PC) Word 2017 (Mac) NOTE: By default, Heading 1 and Heading 2 are available in the ribbon. Word will automatically add Heading 3 to the menu after Heading 2 is used in the document, and so on for additional heading levels.
Word_accessibility_manual.docx