Word

Microsoft has incorporated numerous accessibility features into Word, making it easy to create accessible Word documents. There are three primary things to keep in mind when working in Word: Alt Text, Headings, and Tables. 

Accessibility

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Best Practices

Text

Word has many ways to customize your text, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Font size, which should never be smaller than 12pt across your document. Any smaller than that, and you risk it being difficult to read.
  • Spacing is critical to your audience’s understanding of the materials you are presenting. Too much text clumped together can be difficult for students to pick apart, and this is especially true for those with disabilities.
  • Font choice, which you can read more about on the Accessible Content Guide page is an easy way to make your text more readable. Simply avoid serif fonts for paragraph text, and you can greatly improve readability.

Links

Links in Microsoft Word are a good way to add context to and improve navigation, but the type of links you use matters. Instead of copying and pasting web links directly into your document, transform your text into links by highlighting it, right clicking, and selecting link from the context menu. You can also link to your headings.

Avoid text links like “click here.” Your links should be descriptive and give your students an idea of where the link will take them.