Use the Accessible Microsoft Excel Checklist to double-check your Excel file before publishing it. It will remind you of key accessibility best practices to remember when creating your Excel file. This checklist is based off of the UMass President's Office Create Accessible Excel Files training course.

Worksheet Summary and Unique Worksheet Names

The summary should be added to the A1 cell. The summary should include a general description of what can be found on the current worksheet, such as “This worksheet includes one data table and a graph. The data table begins on A3 and covers 2022 Massachusetts resident enrollment numbers. The graph starts on A15 and provides a line graph representation of the numbers in the table.“ Make sure your summary is descriptive enough to let screen reader users know if there is more than one table on the same sheet.
Reference the Rename a worksheet article for step-by-step instructions.

Table Format Best Practices

The Title should be entered in a cell directly above the table. Do not merge cells to display the title. After you have added the title, you should set the title style as a Heading 1. You can assigned a heading by going to the Home tab in Excel, selecting the Cell Styles menu item, and selecting the heading under Titles and Headings.
Access the Create and Format Tables Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions.
A descriptive table name provides screen reader users with a quick way to jump to a table in your spreadsheet. The name cannot have any spaces, the first letter of each word should be uppercase, and should be descriptive enough to explain what the table does, such as “AnnualStudentEnrollment.” Access the Create more accessible tables in Excel Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions based on your device (Windows and Mac).
Merging cells prevents screen reader users from knowing how cells relate to rows and columns in a table
Do not use blank cells for formatting purposes. For example, do not add an extra blank row between rows to provide spacing. Instead, adjust your column and row heights and widths through the Format tab of Excel. If you have a blank cell due to the fact that there is no data for a specific data set, the optimum experience for users of assistive technology would be to indicate this information directly in the cell with either a “0,” “null,” or “no data” value.
A common inaccessible excel practice is to highlight rows of data with background colors to convey a specific meaning for that information. However, using color as the only way to convey meaning leaves out the blind, colorblind, and deafblind communities. You should instead add a column with the data you are trying to convey, such as a priority column with values of High, Medium, and Low, rather than using color to convey that meaning. You can use color along with text, but keep in mind the following: over saturated yellows and reds can create a vibration effect for folks with reading glasses, vestibular disorders, and the neurodivergent community; and you should always test background colors with the WebAIM Contrast Checker so you do not create readability issues for the color blind and low vision communities.
Screen reader users scan hyperlinks with shortcut keys. Hyperlinks that do not provide context of where a blind or low vision person will be sent are not accessible. Links should convey clear and accurate information about the destination. For example, avoid using link text such as "Click here," "See this page," "Go here," or "Learn more.“ This link text is not descriptive. Instead include the full title of the destination page, such as Work with Links in Excel, the actual title of a Microsoft knowledge article.

Accessible Charts

Access the Add or remove titles in a chart Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions by device (Windows, Mac, etc.).
Chart types that should include axis titles are line charts, bar charts, scatter plots, and column charts. Axis titles provide crucial context about the data being represented on each axis. To add Axis labels, access the Chart Design tab in Excel, select the Add Chart Element menu item, select Axis Titles, and then select the type of Axis you would like to add.
Data labels ensure that your chart does not rely on color alone to convey meaning. Access the Add or remove data labels in a chart Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions by device.
Data labels should always provide the primary meaning of the chart. However, you can also use color to convey the same meaning. When doing so, you should still ensure the color palette used is designed with the color blind community in mind. You can use the Chroma.js Palette Helpler to generate an accessible color palette.
Charts load as images in excel so screen reader users cannot access their content. Always add alt text to a chart in Excel so that anyone using a screen reader can receive a description of the chart. The alt text should convey all the content they would miss by not being able to see the chart, including what type of chart it is. Access the Create more accessible charts in Excel Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions by device.

Final Steps: The Accessibility Checker and Saving Your Spreadsheet

Important: The Accessibility Checker in Excel can only be run after you have formatted a table as a table. It will not register any issues with a table until you have done this step. While the Accessibility Checker won’t catch everything, it can catch several accessibility issues you may have missed, including: Any graphs or charts that are missing alt text; Auto-generated alt text that hasn’t been updated; Missing table headers; and Warnings about merged cells. Access the Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions by device.
The File Properties behind the scenes stores metadata that is read to screen reader users and is also used for website searches. As people tend to use a previous file to create a new file rather than start from scratch with a template each time, when you do not update the file properties, you run into either a file name that does not match the current file, or if you have never added a file name behind the scenes, a blank file name instead. Neither option is a great experience for screen reader users and will impact people finding your content through a website search. Access the View or change the properties for an Office file Microsoft article for step-by-step instructions.
When you are ready to save your file, ensure your file name is descriptive enough to remember and find. This will improve the overall experience for screen reader users as well as anyone who downloads your file. If you do not provide a descriptive file name, the file will be hard to find if anyone downloads it and tries to find it at a later date.
Unless the content is proprietary, there is no reason to save it as a PDF. If you do save the file to PDF, further remediation will be required using Adobe Acrobat for the file to be formatted correctly. Previously, PDFs were used to ensure content could not be changed. However, PDFs can actually be switched back to their native format through the export feature so PDFs are not as secure as they appear. There is a way to lock down PDFs entirely as read only, but that function actually prevents PDFs from being accessed by assistive technology and should not be used.

Optional: Send a Copy of the Completed Checklist to Yourself

Note that your submission will not be saved in a database. The only copy will be the copy you receive via email.