Word

Awareness: A clear description of an image helps better understand the purpose of its presence

Solution: Right click on the picture to access Format Picture… and choose Layout & Properties. Click the triangle next to Alt Text to make Title and Description visible. Enter a meaningful title and description for the image. The text is automatically saved.

Awareness: The top row of a table typically helps identify the content of the columns

Solution: If the top row is not the labels, insert a row and enter identifiers. Highlight the cells in the top row of the table. Right click on the table to access Table Properties … and choose the Row tab. Check the box for Repeat as header row at the top of each page. Then click OK to accept the change.

Awareness: The main idea is the most important piece of information to be conveyed

Solution: Click Styles – Heading 1 and insert the main point as the first line of the document.

Awareness: Screen reader may rely on language settings to determine how to process or pronounce the text in the document

Solution: Highlight the whole document or use Ctrl-A. Under Review tab, click on the Language icon and select Set Proofing Language... On the pop-up window, choose the language for the text. Make sure to uncheck Do not check spelling or grammar and check Detect language automatically. Click OK to accept the settings.

Awareness: Levels of headings signal the importance of concepts or ideas in the document

Solution: Assign the most important text (typically the chapter) as Level 1. Highlight the text and click Styles – Heading 1. The next heading should have the importance of Level 2. Highlight the text and click Styles – Heading 2. If necessary, use Style – Heading 3 for Level 3 and so on. A document rarely needs to assign Level 4 or beyond. Normal text would work just fine. This structure is linked to the automatic function for Table of Contents.

Compounded effect: If a document starts with Heading 2 and is followed by Heading 3, reassigning Heading 2 the Heading 1 Style will affect the heading structure because Level 2 would be missing. The overall accessibility will still improve because the document now begin with Level 1. However, the structure itself is slightly less accessible due to missing of Heading 2. Sequential changes of the next level to Heading 2 and so on are required to complete the process. Sometimes missing levels of headings could happen in a document. It typically comes from Copy and Paste of an unknown structure. When the file is large, this issue could be very difficult to adjust.

Awareness: Some font colors may not meet the minimum text:background contrast ratio of 4.5:1 stated in the Success Criterion 1.4.6 in Web Content Accessibility Guide (WCAG) 2.0

Solution: Use a dark font color when the background is white.