As part of the The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 all digital documents shared must be digitally accessible. This section will contain tips and information on how to ensure that your documents are digitally accessible, and guidance on how to check and fix some common issues.
Within Office there is an existing Accessibility checker which can check your existing documents and suggest fixes to make them more accessible.
This tool is built into Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word, and the process to run is the same on all of them. This can be found in the Ribbon, under Review -> Check Accessibility.
Using the Accessibility Checker
Once you've run the accessibility checker, it will review your document and flag up any issues. This opens in a panel on the right hand side of your document. This will give instances of errors and warnings and suggestions on how to fix them. For example, if you have an image which doesn't have alt text - it will tell you, and clicking the error will take you to the specific picture which is missing the text.
The accessibility checker is not a be all and end all. If your document passes that does not necessarily mean that it's compliant. For example, it cannot check intended read order, or that your headings are descriptive and helpful, only that you have content there. You should read through and check your document before uploading.
View Microsoft’s guide to the accessibility checker
Documents published in pdf (published document format) are not automatically accessible. It is best to avoid using pdf files where possible, but where you must use a pdf file, it is best to also publish an office version along side it. There is no free, automated checker for these documents, and so you will need to do this manually. If you have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, this does have an automated checker. Adobe has published their instructions for use of this checker.
If you still have the original Office document, and you've confirmed that it is accessible, then you can export it into an accessible pdf format.
- Go to File > Export > Create a PDF/XPS Document.
- Once the Save box has opened, you must then click Options... and select the below options.
- Create bookmarks using headings
- Document structure tags for accessibility
- PDF/A compliant
- Click OK and then Publish
If you do not have the original office file, you'll need to manually run all of the below checks.
- Reading - using a screen reader, ensure that all parts of the PDF are distinguishable. Text should read as written; links should be clear in purpose and images should read their alt text and this should be appropriate.
- Title - ensure that the PDF has an appropriate title
- Bookmarks - if the document is longer than a page, ensure that bookmarks are present, working and that they parallel the document structure
- Contrast – minimum contrast requirements are met for text (min. 4.5:1) and non-text/large text (3:1)
- Sensory Characteristics - instructions should not rely on sensory characteristics such as colours
- Images - images should have alternatives and should not have text in them
- Tables - tables should have descriptions and header
- Logical Order - tab through to ensure that the content reads in a meaningful order via the tags given to elements
If your document fails any of these, you must create a new version, which is accessible, before publishing it online or for consumption.
Headings and Styles within Office give documents structure and help screen readers understand the content. Correctly using headings can also assist with creating a table of documents and navigation within your document.
In the Home tab, you will find a "Styles" gallery which has multiple types of text, such as Paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3. These are the default headings which exist in the Office suite. The headings range from Heading 1 - Heading 6, and these should be used for headings, subheadings and subsections.
- There should be one Heading 1
- Any subheadings below that must be Heading 2
- Any subsections of the Heading 2 headings must be a Heading 3, and so on
You should make sure that your document complies to the three key rules below.
- Correct heading styles are used for content sections
- The document has a descriptive and informative file name
- Headings are clear, informative and unique (i.e. avoid having multiple headings with the same name)
Tutorials for using Headings and other style features from available from Microsoft.
Any pictures, charts, tables, and non-text objects should have alternative (alt) text which describes what is being shown.
This alternative text should be concise and describe what is shown. The alt text should be specific enough so that using only the alt text, someone viewing the document should be able to know what the purpose of the picture is.
When adding alt text, avoid starting with "Picture of..." or "Table showing...", as screen readers will already flag that this is a picture. Instead just go right into describing what the object is showing.
- Example of good alt text: "St Mary's University crest in blue."
- Example of bad alt text: "Picture of St Mary's crest on the left hand side and then the St Mary's University Twickenham on the right hand side."
The first example describes quickly what the object is showing. The second example is overly descriptive, and the extra description doesn't provide any relevant information that someone who cannot see the image needs.
Instructions on how to add alt text to objects for all versions of Microsoft Office is available from Microsoft.
You should embed links within your text rather than having the link in its full form. Any links should make sense out of context to the rest of the sentence that there is. Link text must always be unique within a document or page and descriptive to its content or purpose for being linked.
Creating an accessible PowerPoint document does require some more work. This section will be linking to Microsoft guides for the different sections. You can also check out the full Microsoft guide to accessible PowerPoint presentations.
Reading Orders
A common issue for PowerPoint slides is the Reading order. This is the order that a screen reader program will read the content on a slide. Normally a PowerPoint slide will be read in a conventional top down, left to right format.
Some screen readers will read content in the order which it was added into the slide. The content of a Powerpoint slide can be re-ordered within PowerPoint to ensure it gets read in the correct order.
This is not something that can be picked up on by an Accessibility Checker.You must check all of your slides manually prior to submitting or uploading them by following the instructions on setting the reading order.
Slide Titles
All slides should have a unique title. This allows for someone to navigate through the PowerPoint document and find the sections quickly through text alone. All slide titles should be unique to assist with navigation. If you have multiple slides which are on the same topic, you must still have unique titles. Where possible, subtitle the slide so that you can see the topic of the slide.
For Example, if you had three slides as an introduction to a course.
A bad naming scheme could be:
- Introduction 1
- Introduction 2
- Introduction 3
A much better naming scheme could be:
- Introduction - Welcome, and introduction to me
- Introduction - Course overview and recommended reading
- Introduction - Submission overview and dates
The second scheme clearly shows what's on the page and allows for much better navigation.
View instructions for setting titles for slides from Microsoft.
Colour blindness is estimated to affect around 1 in 12 men, and 1 in 200 women worldwide. When adding colour to your documents, tt is a good idea to avoid using both colours which impact colour blindness. It is OK to use one colour of the other, but not both. More information on colour blindness is available from the NHS.
Colour blindness can come in many forms, where possible, try to avoid using both colours from the below list to convey information in a document.
- Green & Red
- Green & Brown
- Blue & Purple
- Green & Blue
- Light Green & Yellow
- Blue & Grey
- Green & Grey
- Green & Black
A good test for your graphs and charts is to change the sections into the same colour, and see if it is still readable.
It is highly recommended that you include the data reference table where possible. Where colour is needed, including this reference table will assist anyone who could have issues reading the graph otherwise.
- This can be done in Excel by clicking on the graph, and opening the Chart Tools -> Design ribbon
- Click on Add Chart Element -> Data Table -> With Legend Keys or Without Legend Keys. When hovering over these, your graph will show a preview so that you can decide which you prefer.
Background and text colours which are too similar can be very difficult to read. The guidelines state that all documents and content published should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for all text. This is so that text can be readable and other elements distinguishable from the background.
Where possible it is recommended that you avoid having a picture behind text. This is as pictures can
By default, the preset themes in Microsoft Office have this level of colour contrast. If you are changing these themes, then it is highly recommended that you check the contrast using the colour's hex code in a web based contrast checking tool.
Colours can be checked either by the inbuilt accessibility checker within the Office suite, or web tools such as WebAIM's contrast checker.
Examples and further reading are available from the UK Government's accessibility blog.