Create Accessible Word Documents Training Video and Transcript

Welcome to the Create Accessible Word Documents training. My name is Kristina England. I am the digital accessibility specialist for the president's office and I will be facilitating this training.

The training agenda for Word accessibility is as follows. Who benefits from accessible Word documents? The importance of hierarchy and structure; content best practices; making images and charts inclusive; the accessibility checker and saving your Word document; and finally, ongoing verification, the Word accessibility checklist.

So who benefits from accessible Word documents? Several disability communities benefit from accessible Word documents. Here are some examples of how communities benefit from accessible Word documents. The blind and deafblind communities benefit from well-structured documents that have correct headings, use built-in list styles, have properly designed tables, provide descriptive links, and have alternative text for images and visuals. The neurodivergent community-- which includes the dyslexic community, ADHD community, and autistic community-- benefits from well-structured documents with a clear visual heading structure, familiar and readable font styles, descriptions for complex charts and graphs, and that follow plain language guidelines.

The low vision community and colorblind community benefit from documents that follow color contrast guidelines, as well as accessible formatting of links. When a document is born accessible, many in the disability community are provided equal access to of documents without having to disclose a disability.

You may be wondering, if a document is accessible, does someone still need an alternative format? An alternative format is a medium that allows a person with a disability to access your content in the format that works best for them, including a large print version, a Braille version, or an audio-only version of the content. Alternative formats will still exist based on specific employee or student accommodation requests. For example, a blind employee may request a Braille version of a document. Based on their disability and access needs, that accommodation would still be relevant.

Now let's talk about the importance of hierarchy and structure, which is vital to providing an accessible document to screen reader users. The first component of providing hierarchy and structure is to provide a meaningful file name and document properties. The file name is the first piece of content anyone will access. The file name should be clear and should not include any special characters. In addition, you should always update the document properties, as the title in the document properties is provided to screen reader users, and is also critical for rendering a meaningful name for the file via both Google search and site search.

This is a demo of how to update the file name and document properties in a Word document. I currently have Word open, and I have the cover page of a document. On the cover page is the University of Massachusetts logo, followed by the words "Create an Accessible Word Document." Those words are going to be my file name, and they're going to be the title in my document properties.

So I'm going to go ahead and select them, and copy that content. Then I'm going to go up to the File tab in Microsoft Word. I'm going to open that, look for the Save As option. If this is a document where you haven't saved it with the document title yet, you would select Save. When I select Save As, it shows my current document title or file name. And the file name is "Sample File for Word Training." I'm going to go ahead and select that, and copy in the new content. So now I've replaced that previous file name with "Create an Accessible Word Document." I have the Save button. I'm going to go ahead and select that. And I now have saved this document as Create an Accessible Word Document.

Now I need to go in and update the document properties. So I'm going to go back to File. I'm going to select the Info menu item, and under the Info page you have several sections. There's Protect Document, Inspect Document, Version History, Manage Document, and then there's the Properties section. We are going to look for the Title field in the Properties section. The Title field has Sample File for Word Training, which was the previous file name. Word does not automatically update this. So I'm going to go into the Title field, select that content, delete it, and then copy in Create an Accessible Word Document. I can tab out of there, and now my Title field is updated.

The other part you want to check is the author information for the file. If you are saving an old document, copying that document to use it as a template, it might have someone else as the author. So you want to change that. In this case, the author is myself, so I do not need to change it. And I have updated the document properties that I need to update for screen reader users.

Another key aspect of hierarchy in structure is using built-in headings. Heading levels should represent the structure of the document and are vital to conveying the overall structure to screen reader users. A Heading 1 is the main content heading or the document title. There is generally just one Heading 1 per document, although it is possible to have more than one. For example, a journal where each article is a Heading 1. A Heading 2 is a major section heading. A Heading 3 is a subsection of the Heading 2, and a Heading 4 is a subsection of the Heading 3, and so on, thus creating that hierarchy.

In addition, heading style designs should always meet color contrast and readability guidelines. A Word document template is included in this learning path with heading styles that meet these requirements.

Now let's go over how to apply heading styles in your Word document. I have an example Word document open. I'm on the cover page of my document with the University of Massachusetts logo and some plain text that reads as "Create an Accessible Word Document." This is my document title, so I need to assign it as a Heading 1.

I'm going to select "Create an Accessible Word Document," and I need to be on the Home tab of Word. So make sure you're on the Home tab. And then you want to look for the Styles section of the Home tab. You want to expand the Styles section by selecting the Styles Expand menu. And once you do, you'll have various style options. You want to select Heading 1, because this is the document title. Now that I select Heading 1, it assigns the Heading 1 style to that content.

I'm going to scroll down to the second page and also show you how to assign a Heading 2, which is the same steps. However, the Heading 2 is being assigned to a main section of the document. In this scenario, it is Use Built-in Bullet and Numbered Lists. I selected that text, and I'm going to go back up to the Styles component, expand it, and select a Heading 2. That is now styled as a Heading 2 within the Word document. And that is how you assign headings within Word.

Another key aspect of hierarchy and structure is to use built-in bullets and numbered lists. Using the built-in bullet and numbered list styling in Microsoft Word ensures that screen reader users receive key semantic information about a list. For example, if you use built-in bullets, screen reader users will hear "item one of five," so they will know there is a list of five items. If you just put dashes or asterisks, all a screen reader user will hear is "dash" or "asterisk." The number of items will not be conveyed. This is even more critical for step by step instructions, where a screen reader user would like to know the total steps provided for a process.

Now let's walk through how to use the bullet and numbered list styles in Microsoft Word. I have the second page of a document open. I am in the section Use Built-in Bullet and Numbered Lists. There are three paragraphs. The second and the third paragraph are actually going to be bulleted items under the first paragraph. So I'm going to go ahead and select those two paragraphs. So I'm selecting, "for example, if you use built-in bullets, screen reader users will hear 'item one of five.'" I'm selecting that paragraph, and then I'm also selecting the paragraph that says "this is even more critical for step by step instructions."

Once I've selected that content, I want to make sure I'm on the Home tab of Microsoft Word, and I want to go to the Paragraph section of the Home tab menu. Under the Paragraph section we have the Bullets feature and the Numbering feature. These aren't step by step instructions. The order doesn't matter. For screen reader users, we don't need to say "this is step one of five." We just need to say "this is a list item," and it's one of five list items. So that would be considered an unordered list. I'm going to go ahead and select the Bullets formatting. And that actually puts the content into bulleted format. And now people, when they land on this, it would be "item one of two, item two of two." And that's how you apply bullet styling in Word.

Now let's talk about how to lay out your content in Word. The first aspect we're going to talk about is what not to use to lay out content in Word. You should not use text boxes or tables for layout purposes. Avoid using text boxes in Microsoft Word, as they make it difficult for screen reader users to access the contents of the text box in the proper context of the page. If you do need to use text boxes specifically for design and content on the cover page of a document, you should always set the text boxes to be in line with the text on the page, so that the content is exposed to screen reader users. If you skip this step, the content is treated as an image and is invisible to screen reader users.

Tables are for providing a clear structure to data, such as a contact list or a table of financial numbers. Using tables for layout purposes, such as to make content appear in two columns, creates an inefficient and confusing experience for screen reader users. So what is the best way to lay out content when you want to have multiple columns on a page? You should use the built in Column feature for content layout.

Microsoft's built-in column functionality is a great tool for establishing the visual layout of your document while maintaining accessibility. You can establish column breaks at any point on a page. You do not need to make the whole page two columns. For example, a page could begin full width and then switch over to column design when needed in the page layout. Also, just avoid narrow columns so that you support text resizing for the low-vision community.

Now let's go over how to apply columns in Microsoft Word. I have the second page of a document open, and I have multiple sections on this page. I'm going to go to the second section on the page, which is called Two Column Layout Example. And I'm going to highlight all of the content within that section. And once I've highlighted it, what you want to do with the content you want to make into multiple columns is you want to go to the Layout tab in Microsoft Word. Once you go to the Layout tab, look under Page Setup and there will be a Columns option. Select the Columns option, and then select the amount of columns that you want to apply to that content.

In this case, I'm going to select two columns. Once I select the two columns, it puts the content within the Two Column Layout Example section into two columns. And that's how you apply columns to content within a page.

When you do use tables to deliver data in a semantic way, always ensure the tables are structured properly. Here's three best practices to keep in mind. First, keep the title of the table separate. Sometimes folks try to add the title of the table as the top row of the table, but this breaks the overall semantics of the table for screen reader users. The title should be above the table and assigned the appropriate heading level within the document structure. Second, always designate a header row for your table. And third, do not merge or split cells. This breaks the accessibility of the table and prevents screen reader users from reading the data in a clear and understandable way.

Another key aspect of accessible table design is the proper use of color. First, ensure the colors you use for the header row and borders of the table meet color contrast guidelines by using the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker. This checker will be available in the resources of this learning path.

In addition, do not use color as the only way to convey meaning. Using color as the only way to convey meaning leaves out the blind, low-vision, colorblind, and deafblind communities. For example, sometimes people will use red and green to denote the status of content. Instead, add a column with the data you are trying to convey, such as a Status column with the values of "project is on track" and "dates being missed." This also provides clarity for neurodivergent employees.

If you use color in addition to status, always avoid oversaturated colors and ensure the colors you select pass color contrast guidelines when paired with the text in the column.

Now I'm going to show you how to make an accessible table in Word. I have Example of an Accessible Table section of my Word document open. This is a Heading 2. Underneath it I have Third-Party Product Testing Status, which is the title of my table. I want to make that a Heading 3. So I'm going to go ahead and select that. I need to make sure I'm on the Home tab of Microsoft Word. Go to the Styles section of Microsoft Word. Drill down until you find a Heading 3. Go ahead and select Heading 3. And now my table title is a Heading 3. Again, that table title needs to stay outside of the table and above it.

And now the table itself, I've inserted a plain table, no styling. And how you insert a table is if you go to the Insert tab in Microsoft Word and then look for Tables. And then once you expand the Tables menu option, you have the ability to add tables based on the amount of columns and rows that you want to add to the table. Going to close that. I'm going to go ahead and select my whole table. And you'll notice there's a Table Design tab within Microsoft Word when you've selected a table, as well as a Table Layout tab. I'm going to select Table Design.

Under Table Design, I can find if my table has been assigned a header row. That is under the Table Style options. This table already has a header row. That means that top row of the table will be read to assistive technology users, and will deliver key semantic information to them as they navigate the table.

Now what I want to do is actually add a style to this table. And as mentioned before, you want to make sure the color contrast passes color contrast guidelines when selecting a table style. I'm going to expand All Table Styles just so I can see what table styles I have as options. My recommendation is to go to List Tables and to select either List Table 3 or List Table 3, Accent 1. List Table 3 has a black background for the header row, and List Table 3, Accent 1 has a dark blue accent. I'm going to go ahead and select the Accent 1 for the blue background.

Once I select that, now I have some good color contrast in my header row. However, my border still needs to be better defined. So what I'm going to do with border styles is I'm going to go to the Border Styles menu option, still under the Table Design tab in Microsoft Word. And I'm going to go ahead and make sure I have a good design selected. And what I like to stick to is single solid line with a 1 and 1/2 point design to it. So that is already selected here.

Then I'm going to close that and I'm going to go to Borders. And that, I'm going to select the dropdown for Borders. And I want to make sure my table has all borders assigned. So that is the top of the cell, the left of the cell, the right of the cell, and the bottom of the cell, so that I have a very clear design here. Go ahead and select that. Then just get out of the table.

Now it's very easy if I need these well-defined borders to be able to follow where the table row begins and where the table row ends. And just a reminder to also avoid merging cells and splitting cells. Right now I have a table where it is just the default cells, so they are accessible. And if I were to navigate this with a screen reader, I would be able to navigate it and know where I am within the table.

Another aspect of providing accessible Word structure is to use the built-in page break functionality within Word. Do not use the Enter key to create page breaks in a Word document, as this will create an inaccessible experience for screen reader users. Instead, use the built in page break functionality, which will provide a clean and accessible experience for screen reader users.

Now let's go over how to add a page break in Word. I'm going to select where I want the page break to happen. In this example, I'm selecting right before Example of an Accessible Table, because I want that section to fall on the next page. I'm then going to go to the Insert tab in Microsoft Word, and I'm going to select Page Break under Pages. That moves that section to the next page, and that's how you add a page break in Word.

The last aspect of creating an accessible structure within your Word document is to generate an interactive table of contents for long documents. Creating a manual table of contents is time consuming and prevents keyboard-only users from being able to use the table of contents to quickly get to a section of the document. Instead, when developing a document over five pages long, you should always use the built-in table of contents functionality to create an interactive table of contents. You can confirm how the table of contents structure will look by reviewing your heading structure through the Navigation view.

Now let's go over how to add an interactive table of contents in Word. First, you want to check your overall structure of your document and confirm your headings. You want to go to the View tab in Microsoft Word, and then you want to show Navigation pane. So I'm just going to select the checkbox for Navigation Pane. And now a navigation pane appears on the left of my Word document and I can check the overall heading structure. So I have a Heading 1, Create an Accessible Word Document, and then I have four heading 2s that are indented under the Heading 1. Use Built-in Bullet and Numbered Lists is a heading 2, Example of an Accessible Table is a Heading 2, Example Alt text for Basic Image is a Heading 2, and Example Alt text in a Description for a Chart is a Heading 2. And then I do have a Heading 3 that's indented under Example of an Accessible Table, which is Third Party Product Testing Status. This looks like the right structure to me, so I am good with this. I am going to close the navigation pane.

And then what I want to do is, on my cover page of my Word document, I want to select below the page title or the Heading 1. And I'm going to go ahead to the Insert tab. I'm going to create a page break. And then what you want to do is go to the References tab and go to Table of Contents. Select the Table of Contents drop down. And you can select an Automatic Table of Contents. I prefer Automatic Table 2. I'm going to select that.

And now I have my table of contents. And it shows me those headings, that heading structure. And it also shows me the page number for each section of the document. And if I was to click on this, it would bring me to that section of the document. If I do need to make updates to my table of contents, let's say I've added a whole new section to the document, all you need to do is click on the table of contents and select Update Table. When you select that, an Update Table of Contents pop-up appears, and there's the ability to Update Page Numbers Only or Update Entire Table. If you've added sections, you want to select Update Entire Table and click OK, and it would automatically update with more information to that table of contents.

Now that we've gone over hierarchy and structure, let's talk about content best practices. The first content best practice to keep in mind is to ensure content is designed for readability. You should use a readable and familiar font such as Ariel, Verdana, or Times New Roman. Your font size should be no smaller than 12 points. Always left align your text. Left aligned text maintains consistent character and word spacing, while centered, justified, and right aligned text are all harder to read.

Do not underline text. Reserve underlining for links so that the color blind and low vision community can easily identify links. And finally, use bold to emphasize content. Avoid using all caps or italics, as both reduce the overall readability of content. A note that bold cannot be picked up by a screen reader users, so if you do need the content to be read in a section to really stand out, you should consider making a heading above a section that emphasizes the importance of that content.

The second content best practice is to follow plain language guidelines. Plain language guidelines benefit the neurodivergent community and also anyone that uses a screen reader. They are as follows. You should address your reader directly. You should write in an active voice. You should write brief and clear sentences. You should use built-in lists to convey three or more ideas that tie into a broader theme. Lists are more scannable and easier to understand.

And finally, you should avoid using abbreviations, jargon, and complex language. If you do need to use any of these, define what they mean the first time you use them. For example, if you use an abbreviation such as SME, spell it out and put the abbreviation abbreviation in parentheses, such as "Subject Matter Expert (SME)."

The third and final content best practice is to use descriptive links. You should always write unique and meaningful link text for any links in your document. Usually the best option is to have the link name match the web page or document the person is going to be sent to. For example, if you are sending the person to the 2023 financial statement, rather than embedding a long URL into the document, you would add the descriptive name 2023 Financial Statement, then highlight that text and embed a link within the text. This is important for screen reader users, as a long URL is usually not descriptive enough and is very inefficient to navigate. If you do plan on having the document printed, you can include a shortened link in parentheses right next to the descriptive link.

Now I'll provide a quick demo of how to add a descriptive link in your Word document. In my Word document I currently have a page open, and I have Image Source, Uncovering Hidden Consequences of Catch and Release Sport Fishing. And then I have a long URL that follows. That long URL I'm going to copy, because we do not want to have a long URL in here. And I'm going to cut it, so I'm going to do Control-X. And now I've removed that. And I'm just going to delete a dash I had in there and then put a period at the end of the image source sentence.

Now "Uncovering Hidden Consequences of Catch and Release Sport Fishing" is actually the article title that I'm pointing to. And that's really as descriptive as you can get, because if I have this as my descriptive link, it's clear that I'm being sent off to an article called "Uncovering Hidden Consequences of Catch and Release Sport Fishing." So I've selected that, and now I'm going to go to the Insert tab in Microsoft Word. Once I get to the Insert tab, we are going to look for Links, and we want to embed a link. So I'm going to select the Link menu option.

And now I have the option to Add from an Existing File or Web Page, Place in This Document, Create New Document, or Email Address. I want to do this as an existing file or web page. There is the Address field. I'm going to go into the Address field, and I'm going to click Control-V on my keyboard to paste in that URL I originally cut from the Word document. Then I'm going to click OK. And now the actual descriptive link is Uncovering Hidden Consequences of Catch and Release Sport Fishing. And if I were to click on it, it would go to that URL that I removed from the document and embedded within that link. And that's how to add a descriptive link in Microsoft Word.

Now let's talk about how to make images and charts inclusive in your Microsoft Word document. The first best practice to keep in mind is to provide alt text for all images and charts. A screen reader cannot discern the contents of an image. Alternative text provides the blind, deafblind, and low vision community with a description of the image that should convey the overall meaning and intent of the image.

When it comes to charts and graphs, as you cannot provide semantics via alt text such as headings and bullets, you should provide a brief description of the chart in the alt text, and then provide a chart description below that provides the overall details included in the chart. This chart description also benefits anyone that is sighted and finds the chart's visual design hard to follow.

Here is an example of alt text for a basic image. I have the alt text on the left side of my slide, and I have the image on the right. Keep in mind that you always want to describe the image in as much detail as possible, but if you don't know certain facts within the image, then you can leave those facts general. For example, I don't know the type of fish that is in this image, and I don't have the contact information for the photographer to be able to ask what that fish is. So I'm going to leave the description of the fish general.

Here's the alt text. "A light-skinned man stands waist-deep in a calm turquoise sea under a cloudy sky. He is wearing a dark long-sleeve shirt, a blue neck gaiter, and a navy cap with a white mesh back. The individual is gently holding a large silver fish with a prominent dorsal fin and slightly open mouth."

Now I'm going to walk through how to add alt text to an image in Microsoft Word. I'm going to select the image. In this example, I have Example Alt Text for Basic Image as my section title. And underneath that, I have the image that I already described previously in the training. I'm going to select that image. And then what you want to do is you want to navigate to the Picture Format tab in Microsoft Word. And once you're there, you want to look for Accessibility. And for accessibility, there is Alt Text. You are going to select the Alt Text menu item.

When you select that, a panel is going to open on the right for alt text. And what you want to do is, it's always going to default in with some automated alt text. That alt text is never sufficient. This one says "a person holding a fish in the water." What we're going to do is we're going to select that, delete it, and then I'm going to paste in the alt text that I've already written for this image. And so the alt text that I covered previously in the training I've now pasted in. And that is how you add alt text. You don't need to save it. You can just close the Alt Text panel, and that alt text is applied to the image within Microsoft Word.

Here is an example of alt text in the chart description for a chart. The alt text is, "a pie chart with product testing by status. Details provided in chart description." The chart description, which would appear for everyone below the chart, is, "current product testing progress is as follows-- 38% of products completed testing, 10% are in active testing, 12% need updated testing, and 40% have not yet been tested."

Now let's go over how to add alt text to a chart along with a chart description. The alt text is the same process that you do when you're adding it to an image. So I'm going to go ahead and select my chart. And when I select my chart, I have the Chart Design and I have the Format options. You want to go to the Format option. And when you go to the Format tab in Microsoft Word, you're going to look for Accessibility and select the Alt Text menu item.

Once I select that, the Alt Text pane opens and I'm going to add my alt text for the pie chart. And in this case, because the pie chart is going to have a chart description, I am going to keep this as minimal as possible. And it says, "a pie chart with product testing by status. Details provided in a chart description." So I've pasted that into my Alt Text field, and I'm just going to go ahead and close that Alt Text panel. And now the alt text is applied to the chart.

Now the second part is to add the chart description. I'm going to go back to my slide deck, and my chart description is, "current product testing progress is as follows," and then it goes through the bulleted items. I'm going to go ahead and copy that, Control-C. And I'm going to go back to Microsoft Word. And underneath the chart is where you want to add the chart description. I'm going to Control-V.

And I copy-pasted my chart description in. The formatting is a little off because I've copied it in from PowerPoint. So the first thing I'm going to do is select all of the text. And I'm just going to go ahead and, on the Home tab of Microsoft Word, remove all of the bullet formatting at the moment. And then I'm also going to just decrease the indent, just so I have this as clean as possible. I'm going to have to go ahead and select just the three that are indented. That's the 38%, 10%, 12%. So now I have clean formatting. And I'm going to go ahead and select my lines that are 38%, 10%, 12%, and 40%, just to bullet those, all four of those items underneath "Current product testing progresses as follows." Now those are indented, and they are now list items. So they would be list item one, list item two, list item three, and list item four for screen reader users. So now the chart description is right below the chart, and that's how to add the chart description in Microsoft Word.

An important thing to keep in mind when adding images and charts to a Word document is that the images and charts should always be provided in line with the text. When images and graphs are not added in line, they can either be missed by a screen reader, or the order of the image will not align with the reading order of the content.

Let's go over how to check if your image or graph is in line with the text in Microsoft Word. I'm going to select the chart I have in my Microsoft document, and when I select it, what's going to happen is I'm going to have two tabs appear within Microsoft Word, Chart Design and Format. You want to go to the Format tab.

When I'm on the Format tab, what you want to look for is the Wrap Text menu item. Go ahead and select that, and a drop down will appear. And what you want to confirm is that In Line with Text is selected. In this example, In Line with Text is selected, so this is going to be accessible to screen reader users. If for some reason Square, Tight, Through, or Top and Bottom were selected, you'd want to go ahead and select In Line with Text.

Here are some additional chart accessibility practices to incorporate into your charts and graphs. You should provide a chart title. Select the generic chart title and replace it with a meaningful title. If your chart has axes, provide axis titles. 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.

You should provide data labels for both your category and either the percentage or number. This ensures that your chart does not rely on color alone to convey meaning. And finally, you should ensure chart colors are accessible. You can generate a colorblind safe color palette by using Chroma.js Color Palette. A link to the Chroma.js Color Palette will be provided in the learning path.

Now we'll go over how to ensure your chart is accessible. So I have a chart open in Microsoft Word. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to select it. The chart I have open already has the chart title. It has the data labels, and it also has a legend within the chart. I'm going to show you how I added those. So when you select the chart, a Chart Design tab will open in Microsoft Word. You want to go ahead and select the Chart Design tab. And then you want to look for Add Chart Element. Go ahead and select that Add Chart Element dropdown, and under it you'll have the ability to add the chart title. I have that already, and I have it above the chart. And so what you would do is you would select Above Chart, and that would put it to the top.

And then there's the data labels. And what you want to do here is with the data labels, you always want to select Outside End so that the data labels are outside of the chart and easy to read. What happens is if you do put them inside the chart, you can run into color contrast issues. I will note that usually the outside end only defaults to showing the number or the percentage. You also want to show the category information when you're dealing with a pie chart. And so what you're going to do is you're going to go to More Data Label options, and that's going to expand a panel on the right called Format Data Labels. And you want to ensure you select the Category Name and you select the Percentage as your labels. And that will ensure that you have those both visible within the pie chart.

And so that is how you go ahead and actually add the labels and the chart title. If you want to add a legend if it provides additional information, you can go ahead back to the Add Chart Element dropdown, go to Legend, and then add the legend to either the top or the bottom of the chart. Adding it to the left or right usually decreases the size of the chart, and you want to avoid doing that for the low vision community.

The other thing you'll want to keep in mind is changing the chart colors if the chart is not following color contrast guidelines. That's where you want to really go to the Chroma.js Palette and run your default color through that to get a color palette that is accessible to the colorblind community. And what you want to do to change each of the pie chart colors is, if you go to the Format tab in Microsoft Word and you select each pie piece, and you look for shape styles, and under that you're going to select Shape Fill. And that is where you'll go in and also change the color of that pie chart piece to meet color contrast guidelines. And that is how you make a chart accessible in Microsoft Word.

Before we wrap up this training, I wanted to go over the Accessibility Checker and saving your Word document. You should always run the Accessibility Checker. While the Accessibility Checker won't catch everything and should not be relied on solely to establish a document's accessibility, it can catch several accessibility issues you may have missed, including any images that are missing alt text, use of merged and split cells and tables, in poor color contrast within your document.

Now let's go over how to run the Accessibility Checker in Word. You want to go to the Review tab in Microsoft Word. And when you're on the Review tab, you want to look for Check Accessibility. Go ahead and select that menu item. The Accessibility Assistant is going to open in a panel, and it will tell you if there are any issues. In this case, because I've been working on ensuring my document is accessible, it says "Looks good. No issues found." But there are categories that you can look at beneath that on color contrast, media and illustrations, tables, document structure, and document access that will provide issues around those categories. And again, these categories aren't going to cover everything. It's really what Microsoft Word can automatically detect as issues.

At the beginning of this training, we went over how to save your document with an accessible file name and how to update the document properties. I wanted to go over one other aspect of saving your document, and that is to avoid saving your Word document as a PDF. Unless the content is proprietary, there is no reason to save it as a PDF. Saving it as a PDF will come with additional remediation on the Adobe Acrobat side.

In addition, PDFs are not as secure as they appear. Unless a PDF is completely locked down lockdown is read only, then it can easily be converted back to Word. And if you completely lock it down, you block screen reader users from accessing the content in your document, thus defeating the purpose of making the Word document accessible.

As we wrap up this training, I wanted to mention that you can leverage the Word Accessibility Checklist going forward. You should save the Word Accessibility Checklist as a favorite. There is a lot to learn about Word accessibility, and it can be easy to forget a step. We've created an interactive checklist you can reference when creating a Word document. You can access the checklist through the LinkedIn Learning course now that you have completed the video portion of this training.

Thank you so much for attending the Word Accessibility Training. Don't forget to mark this training as complete within your learning path. Also, feel free to reach out to the digital experience team with any questions.