Accessibility guidelines for Word

Use the built-in heading styles to help screen reader users navigate to the content they want to read.

A heading should be clear and meaningful, defining what the section of the document is about. If using more than one heading, use Heading 1 as the main heading, then Heading 2 or Heading 3 for subsequent subheadings. This will ensure your content is structured in a logical way.

How to add a heading style

1. Highlight the text.
2. Go to Home in the ribbon.
3. Select Styles.
4. Choose your heading style.

Tagging will tell a screen reader what kind of element it’s looking at – a headline, text or a picture.

In Word, all styles can be linked to a certain tag, so the only manual step is to define ‘figures’ (pictures) by adding alt text and ‘artefacts’ (elements that don’t need to be read out) by marking them as decorative.

Read more about adding alt text in the Images section on this page.

Dense paragraphs with no spaces between them can make a document appear text heavy.

However, adding multiple spaces or extra line breaks by pressing the Enter key (known as a ‘hard return’) can cause problems for screen readers. The extra breaks will be read out as ‘space’ or ‘return’, which can be annoying for listeners.

How to create space between paragraphs

1. Highlight the text.
2. Select Line and Paragraph Spacing.
3. Select Add Space Before Paragraph and Add Space After Paragraph.

Large blocks of text can be tricky to read.

They can be particularly difficult for people with dyslexia, who can experience visual distortion, where words appear to be jumbled up.

It’s best to use bite-sized chunks of information where possible. Images are a great way to illustrate a point and help break up text.

Tables organise information visually and help to show relationships between items.

Setting up tables correctly enables screen readers to read them aloud and in the right order.

Screen readers keep track of their location in a table by counting table cells. If a table is nested within another table, or if a cell is merged or split, a screen reader loses count and can’t provide helpful information about the table after that point. Blank cells in a table could also mislead someone using a screen reader into thinking that there is nothing more in the table.

You can use the tab key to check whether a table is set up correctly: it should highlight each cell, row by row.

Give your document a descriptive, meaningful filename that describes the content it contains.

This will look more professional, make it easier to find the document and help people to quickly understand the subject matter.

• Instead of:
  Doc3_Final_3342v02
• Try:
  Company Annual Report 2023

A dark font against a light background is usually easier to read.

Black on white is usually the first choice for maximum legibility.

Words that are italic and underlined are difficult to read.

Use a regular font for your main text, and bold for titles and to highlight key words if necessary.

Large passages of bold text are hard to read, and some screen readers will shout out words in bold, so use them sparingly.

Aligning all text to the left (in languages that are read from left to right) makes it easier for people to see where each line begins. This includes text in tables, headings and diagrams.

Avoid justified text, where both the left and right edges of each line are aligned with both margins. This creates uneven gaps between words, making it harder to read.

Avoid centred text: this makes it difficult to see where each line begins.

How to align text to the left

1. Highlight the text.
2. Click on the Home tab.
3. Select Paragraph and click the Alight Left icon.

Hyperlinks should convey clear and accurate information, describing where people will go if they click the link.

People who use screen readers may scan through a document looking for links, so avoid using link text such as ‘click here’, ‘learn more’ or ‘link’. These are meaningless when read out independently, because users won’t know what they link to.

• Instead of: Read more
• Try: Read our general accessibility guidelines

Use a different colour to highlight the hyperlink text and underline it, so people who are colour blind can recognise that the text contains a link.

How to add a hyperlink

1. Highlight the text.
2. Select Insert on the ribbon.
3. Select Links > Link > Insert Link.
4. Type an existing URL in the address field and then type the text you want to use for the link in the Text to display field.
5. Select OK.

Complicated writing can be confusing and hard to understand. It can be particularly difficult for people with dyslexia, autism or other cognitive conditions, or for people whose first language isn’t English.

When writing, think about the words you use when having a conversation. Remember that our brains take in information more easily when it’s broken into small chunks.

It’s good practice to read your writing aloud, line by line, removing unnecessary words and rewriting sentences if they seem too long. If you come across large blocks of text, break them up into shorter paragraphs.

• Instead of: We are a leading NGO with a presence in more than 30 countries, building synergies to facilitate the avoidance of blindness and increasing capacity to promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities.
• Try: We are an organisation working in more than 30 countries. We prevent avoidable blindness and fight for disability rights.

Bullet points can help your audience to read and digest information quickly. Use the bullets tool by selecting Paragraph in the Home tab. Screen readers may read them out in an illogical way if you enter them manually as dashes.

Instead of:
The most common signs that a person is suffering from trachoma include discharge from the eyes, irritated eyes and redness.

Try:
Common signs of trachoma:

• Discharge from the eyes
• Irritated eyes
• Redness

Jargon and acronyms may only make sense to people who live in a particular region or work in a specific industry.

Make your language as clear as possible by avoiding acronyms where you can. The exception is if the acronyms are more commonly recognised than when spelled out in full: for example URL, DVD or USB.

• Instead of: We are an NGO that works with the WHO to treat and prevent NTDs.
• Try: We are an international organisation that works with the World Health Organization to treat and prevent neglected tropical diseases.

If you need to use acronyms, it’s best practice to write the full wording first, followed by the acronym in brackets. After this, use the acronym.

• For example: We work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight disease.

If you’re mentioning a lot of organisations, phrases and words that need to be abbreviated, include them in a glossary so readers can refer to the glossary for more information.

Crisp, clear, high-resolution images will be easily seen by your audience and will also make your document look more professional.

Avoid low-resolution or blurry images. Also check that the photo has been cropped appropriately and is telling the whole story.

Alt text is a short description of the image that is read aloud by screen-reading software.

It is essential for users with visual impairments to help them understand the document, and should be included on images, including photographs, charts, icons, logos and diagrams.

Sometimes it isn’t necessary for a graphic to be read. For example, you might not want logos in the footer to be read on every page. In this case, don’t add the alt text to the box. Instead, tick the box ‘Mark as decorative’. This will instruct a screen reader to skip this graphic without altering the reader’s experience.

How to add alt text

1. Right click on the image.
2. Select Edit Alt Text.
3. An Alt Text panel will appear on the right-hand side.
4. Type a detailed description into the alt text box. Make sure to finish with a full stop at the end. You don’t need to write “An image of…” or “Picture showing…” – screen-reading software will automatically introduce each image.

Read our full alt text guidelines

When displaying charts and graphs, make them as simple as possible and don’t forget to add alt text.

They must be clearly labelled and should not solely rely on contrasting colours.

Use additional patterns or data labels to make it easier for readers to differentiate each piece of data. Do not use similar tones and shades in different segments of a chart or graph, as they will be difficult to tell apart, especially for people with low vision or colour blindness.

If the graphs contain axis labels or any other text, make sure the text is large enough to read.

When placing text over a picture, ensure the background offers sufficient contrast so the text can be read easily.

The caption itself should add context to the image.

To ensure your documents are accessible, you can use Word’s accessibility checker tool.

1. Go to the ‘Review’ tab and click on ‘Check accessibility’.
2. This will open a dialog panel that will highlight any accessibility issues in your presentation and give tips on how to correct them.
3. Go to the ‘Review’ tab and click on the arrow below ‘Check accessibility’, then select ‘Options: Accessibility’. A new window will open. If you tick the box ‘Keep accessibility checker running while I work’, it will notify you of any issues by displaying a notification on the bottom ribbon of your screen.
4. Accessibility Checker should only be used as a supportive tool as there are some things it can’t help with. For instance, it won’t raise issues about the reading order because it cannot tell whether it is correct or not.