Improve Accessibility of Content while Creating Documents
How To Author Accessible Word Documents
1. Use built-in headings and styles
Headers enable all students to navigate and comprehend content more easily but
they are essential for students who use screen readers or Braille.
To apply a built-in heading style, do the following:
1. Select the heading text.
2. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, select a heading style, for example, Heading 1 or Heading 2.
2. Add alt text to all visuals
Alt text helps people who can’t see the screen to understand what’s important in images and other visuals.
Add alt text to pictures, screenshots, videos, charts, shapes and graphics so that screen readers can read the text to describe the image to users who cannot see it.
To add alt text to an image, do the following:
1. Right-click an image and select Edit Alt Text.
The Alt Text pane opens on the right side of the document body.
2. Type 1 to 2 sentences to describe the image content and add the University of Westminster site link.
3. Use table headers
Screen readers keep track of their location in a table by counting table cells, so cells should not be split or merged.
To create a table header within a table, do the following:
1. Position the cursor anywhere in a table.
2. On the Table Tools Design tab, in the Table Style Options group, select the Header Row check box.
3. Type the column headings.
4. Use the Accessibility Checker before uploading a document to Blackboard
1. Once you have opened the desired document created in Word or PowerPoint, on the ribbon, select the Review tab.
2. Select Check Accessibility.
3. You’ll see a list of errors, warnings, and tips with how-to-fix recommendations.
4. Select one of the items from the Inspection Results box and check the Steps to Fix text.
How To Create Accessible PowerPoint Presentations
1.Use unique slide titles
People who are blind, have low vision, or a reading disability rely on slide titles to navigate. For example, by skimming or using a screen reader, they can quickly scan through a list of slide titles and go right to the slide they want.
To use slide titles, do the following:
1. To restore all placeholders for the selected slide, on the Home tab, in the Slides group, select Reset.
2. On the slide, type a unique and descriptive title.
2. Set the reading order of the slide contents
A screen reader reads the elements of a slide in the order they were added to the slide, not in the order in which they appear. To make sure everyone reads the content in the order you intend, it’s important to check the reading order.
To set the reading order of slide contents, do the following:
1. On the Home tab, in the Drawing group, select Arrange.
2. In the Arrange menu, select Selection Pane.
3. In the Selection pane, to change the reading order, do one of the following:
a. Drag and drop items to the new location.
b. Select the item and then select the Up-arrow button (Bring Forward) or Down-arrow button (Send Backward).
3. Use accessible font size and colour
People with dyslexia often see text merge or distort. For people who have dyslexia or impaired vision, reduce the reading load.
– Use dark text on a white or off-white background.
– Use familiar sans serif fonts, such as Arial, Calibri or Verdana.
– Avoid using all capital letters and excessive italics or underlines.
– Include ample white space between sentences and paragraphs.
– Use a larger font size (18pt or larger) where possible.
4. Add alt text to visuals
Add alt text to all pictures, screenshots, videos, charts, shapes and graphics so that screen readers can read the text to describe the image to users who cannot see it.
To add alt text to an image, do the following:
1. Right-click an image and select Edit Alt Text.
The Alt Text pane opens on the right side of the document body.
2. Type 1 to 2 sentences to describe the image content and add the University of Westminster site link.
5. Review or edit automatically generated alt texts in photos
PowerPoint in Office 365 automatically generates alt texts for photos. It’s good practice to review the generated alt texts and edit if the description is not helpful.
1. Right-click an image, and then select Edit Alt Text (opens the Alt Text pane).
2. In the Alt Text pane, review the description in the text box and choose from one of the actions below:
a. To accept the suggested text, close the Alt Text pane and return to the PowerPoint slide.
b. To change the suggested alt text, type your preferred text in the box. Once you’re done, close the Alt Text pane.
6. Use table headers
Screen readers keep track of their location in a table by counting table cells, so cells should not be split or merged.
To create a table header within a table, do the following:
1. Position the cursor anywhere in a table.
2. On the Table Tools Design tab, in the Table Style Options group, select the Header Row check box.
3. Type the column headings.
7. Add accessible hyperlinks
Links should convey clear information about the destination. Include the full title of the destination page or use the URL of the page if it’s short and descriptive.
To add hyperlinks, do the following:
1. Select the text to which you want to add the hyperlink, and then right-click.
2. Select Link. The text you selected displays in the Text to display box. This is the hyperlink text. If necessary, change the hyperlink text.
3. In the Address box, enter the URL address for the hyperlink.
4. To apply the changes, select ‘insert’
8. Use the Accessibility Checker before adding your presentation to Blackboard
1. Once you have opened the desired document created in Word or PowerPoint, on the ribbon, select the Review tab.
2. Select Check Accessibility.
3. You’ll see a list of errors, warnings, and tips with how-to-fix recommendations.
4. Select one of the items from the Inspection Results box and check the Steps to Fix text.
👉🏻 Learn more about making accessible PowerPoint presentations
How To Create Accessible Videos For PowerPoint Presentations
Use captions and subtitles in videos
Adding closed captions and subtitles makes your presentation accessible to a larger audience.
Closed captions and subtitles are used by people that are deaf or hard of hearing, people that do not understand the language used in the video or are learning the language, and in situations where the volume on the audio must be turned down.
You can create closed-caption files yourself in a text editor like Windows Notepad.
Note: Currently, only PowerPoint for Windows supports closed captions or subtitles that are stored in files separate from the video. For all other versions of PowerPoint closed captions or subtitles must be encoded into the video before the video is inserted into PowerPoint.
Create Closed captions by following the steps below:
1. Prepare a text-based caption file with a .vtt filename extension before adding captions. For instructions on how to create the caption file, see Create closed captions for a video.
2. In PowerPoint, in the Normal view, open the slide that has the video that you want to add captions to.
3. Select the video on the slide.
4. On the Playback tab, click the Insert Captions button, and then select Insert Captions.
5. In the Insert Captions dialog, browse to your caption file. Select the file and then click Insert.
6. If you need to add another caption file, just repeat the process.
7. Play the video and check that the captions appear correctly.
Remove closed captions from a video
If you need to edit a closed caption file that is inserted in a video in PowerPoint, first remove the file, modify it, and then add it back to the video. Before removing the file make sure you have the original copy of the closed caption file stored on your PC.
1. In PowerPoint, in the Normal view, open the slide that has the video containing the captions.
2. Select the video on the slide.
3. On the Playback tab, click the Insert Captions button, and then select Remove All Captions.
👉🏻 Learn more about accessibility features in video playback on PowerPoint
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