Session 2 - Accessible Microsoft Word (Recording, transcript, PPT)
- Estimates suggest that 1 billion people use office products worldwide (Microsoft). Accordingly, persons with disabilities who might be using the products estimated to be 10 or 15 million persons
- Many documents have hidden obstacles that can make it difficult for people with disabilities to access them.
- Making word file accessible
- Add file properties (file names, author, tags). This can be done by
- When saving the file filling in the metadata fields; or Open file menu > info > properties and adding information
- Identify the document structure by applying ‘Styles’
- Select the title by dragging. Open home tab > styles > click ‘Heading 1’ for the title.
- Use the Heading 1 to Heading 6 styles to mark your document’s different sections.
- You can also change the styles by pressing CTRL+Shift+S to open the “apply style dialogue box”
- Pages, line spacing, and indentation tips
- Insert page numbers under ‘Insert’ tab. This will be transferred to other types of files such as PDFs.
- Use 1.5 line spacing
- Avoid using enter keys multiple times to add a page, and use ‘Insert page break’ instead.
- Avoid using Tab keys for indentation; instead use the indentation buttons under the Home > Paragraph
- Color use tips
- Avoid using color as the only means to distinguish information, try using underline, bold, italics if you have some information that you would like to stand out.
- Avoid using low color contrast between the back ground and the foreground colors. The color contrast ratio required by the WCAG 2.1 is 4.5-1 for normal text, and 3-0 for images or large texts
- Limit the color pallet in your document to 4 colors maximum
- Images
- Images carrying information (that are not decorative) should have Alt-Text.
- Images should be in line with the text, otherwise it will not be read
- For hyperlinks, keep the most important keyword first
- Tables should not be used only for layout purposes. Keep tables simple with max 5 columns in word documents.
- Accessibility Checker
- Run accessibility checker (Under the review tab > check accessibility)
- The results will show errors and warnings.
- Errors: These are issues that make it extremely difficult or even impossible for individuals with disabilities to comprehend the content.
- Warnings: Warnings indicate that the content may pose challenges for people with disabilities in understanding it.
- Manual testing can be done by using Microsoft Narrator
- Open Microsoft narrator by pressing CTRL +windows +enter or entering in the search bar in your desktop ‘Narrator’
- Add file properties (file names, author, tags). This can be done by