Word Accessibility Cheat Sheet

Review this Word Accessibility Cheat Sheet when you need quick instructions on how to create accessible Word documents. Here are the basics.

Use Accessibility Checker/Assistant

Add Accessibility Checker to Quick Access Toolbar (for re-usability)

1. Click the down arrow on the right of your Quick Access Toolbar (above or below your ribbon).
   1. In the drop-down menu, click “More Commands…”
2. In Word Options, change “Choose commands from:” drop-down menu from “Popular Commands” to “Review Tab.”
3. Select “Accessibility Checker” from the list and click the “Add >>” button.
4. Move “Accessibility Checker” where desired with up and down arrow buttons.
5. Click OK.

Check Word Document Accessibility

Click Accessibility Checker in your Quick Access Toolbar. The “Accessibility Assistant” panel appears on the right. (Or reach it via Review > Check Accessibility.)

Issues that can be found with the auto-checker will appear in the panel. Click each issue; Office 365 programs will lead you to the problematic content and suggest potential fixes.

Fix all issues found with the checker and manually handle headings, links, and the document title as shown below. Doing both better ensures you create a document that’s accessible for all your students.

Headings

• Use Heading 1 for your document’s first and main heading. (Also use it for the Document Title property.)
  • Don’t use Title or Subtitle styles; screen readers ignore them.
  • Use Heading 1 style once per document
• Heading 2s are major sections; Heading 3s are subsections of Heading 2s, etc.
• Create meaningful & understandable heading hierarchy without skipping heading levels. (Open the Navigation Pane [View > Navigation Pane] to see your outline & structure as you write.)

Tip: To quickly set a heading, place your cursor in the text, then click a Heading style on the Home tab.

Updating Headings & Styles

If you weren’t using Heading styles but wish to keep the current formatting:

1. Select the text you want to make a heading.
2. Right-click the heading style in Home > Styles.
3. Click “Update Heading # to Match Selection.”

Images & Alternative (“Alt”) Text

Images that convey meaning: Provide an Alt Text description. Set its position to “In Line with Text” to tell screen readers when to read the alt text.

Decorative images: Need no description; instead, check the “Mark as decorative” checkbox. If decorative, their position doesn’t matter.

Add Alt Text in Word/Office 365:

1. Right-click the image and select “View Alt Text.”
2. If the image conveys meaning:
   1. In the Alt Text panel, add/edit a description to reflect what the image should convey to a student who cannot see it.
      1. Don’t say “image of” or “graphic of” within the description.
      2. End with a period (.) so screen readers pause after reading.
      3. If text is AI-generated, it must be reviewed & confirmed by a human!
   2. Click image to see Layout Options icon at the top-right. Click the icon and set image’s layout to “In Line with Text.”
3. If the image is decorative (or redundant):
   1. In the Alt Text panel, check the “Mark as decorative” checkbox.
   2. Layout options do not matter in this case.

For an earlier version of Office, see Microsoft Support’s Add Alt Text article. Select the tab that best matches the version you have installed on your computer.

Links/Hyperlinks

Links should be descriptive and meaningful out of context and should tell people where they’re going. No vague “Click Here” or “Learn More” links or URLs should exist in your document. (Unless the URL is unlinked in an EndNoteⁱ!)

How to Create a Link/Hyperlink:

1. Select text you wish to make a link.
2. Press Ctrl + K or right-click the selected text and choose Link from context menu, opening the Insert Hyperlink window.
3. Choose “Existing File or Web Page” button on the left.
4. Paste URL into Address textbox.
5. Click OK (or press Enter).

How to Print Links:

If your document will be printed and handed to students instead of sent digitally, you must tell students where the links go. After each link, insert an EndNote that divulges the hidden URL.

1. After each link/hyperlink, insert EndNote (References > Insert EndNote).
2. In the EndNote, paste the URL you just used for the descriptive link.
3. If the URL incidentally becomes a hyperlink (goes blue and/or gets underlined), press Ctrl + K in the link and click Remove Link and click OK.

Now, you’ve listed every (non-hyperlinked) URL in an EndNote “Glossary,” not littering your document with inaccessible URLs.

Data Tables

Create tables using Insert > Table. Choose the table size and Word will automatically insert a table for you.

To Make an Accessible Data Table

Set a table header row, and have it repeat on each page. Rows should never break across pages.

Set the table header row:

1. Select the first row (the headers). Right-click over the selection and choose Table Properties in the context menu.
2. On the Row tab, check “Repeat as header row at the top of each page.” (This sets the first row as a header and repeats it on every page where the table appears.
3. Click OK to save changes.

Ensure no rows break across pages:

1. Select the entire table, right-click over the table, and choose Table Properties again.
2. On the Row tab:
   1. Uncheck “Allow rows to break across pages.”
3. Click OK.

Add a Document Title

Document titles are required for every PDF uploaded to Canvas, but the property should be set in the original document. Titles appear in the PDF tab instead of the filename (and are read aloud to screen reader users).

How to Insert a Title in Word:

1. Copy the Heading 1 of your document.
2. Go to File > Info > Properties > Title.
3. Click “Add a Title” and paste Heading 1 into the textbox.
4. Save the document.

Save Word Document as an Accessible PDF

Use Save As (or Save a Copy) feature to convert to PDF. Save as Adobe PDF plugin does not always provide an accessible PDF. Never use Print to PDF or Export features; they do not create accessible PDFs!

Convert to Accessible PDF

1. Fix all issues found in the Accessibility Checker/Assistant.
2. Go to File > Save As (or Save a Copy), then click More options… link to choose where to save your PDF.
3. In Save As window, change Save as type to PDF.
4. Click Options… button:
   1. Ensure all “Include non-printing information” checkboxes are checked:
      1. Create bookmarks using: Headings
      2. Document properties
      3. Document structure tags for accessibility
   2. Click OK to save options.
5. Click Save to convert Word document to a PDF.

Additional Resources

• How to Create an Accessible Word Document
• Digital Accessibility Resources
• Intro to Accessibility: The What, Why, and How of Accessibility

EndNotes

• i Non-hyperlinked URLs can go at the bottom/end of your document.
  Example: https://esail.tamu.edu/