Document Accessibility

All Office documents start with a template, which can range from a simple blank page to a more complex design. Because templates serve as the foundation for documents, it is essential to start with an accessible template.

Setting the language of a document identifies the natural (human) language of the document for assistive technologies. This rule applies to the entire document; however, if you have utilized a different language for a paragraph or selected text, the natural language of that text should be explicitly specified (Digital Education Strategies, The Chang School, 2020).

How to Change a Document’s Language

• In Word, go to the ‘File’ menu
• Select ‘Options’
• Select ‘Language’ within the Options dialog
• Under ‘Choose Editing Languages’, select the language you want to use
• You can add additional languages by selecting the language from the drop down list labeled ‘Add additional editing languages’
• Select ‘Set as Default’
• Close all Office documents and open again

How to Apply a Language Directly to Selected Text

• Select the text
• Go to the ‘Review’ menu
• In ‘Language’, select the ‘Language’ button
• Select ‘Set Proofing Language’
• In the ‘Mark selected text as’ box, select the language from the list
• Click ‘OK’

Headings

Tables

Lists

Columns

Table of Contents

Fonts

Contrast

Write Clearly

Hyperlinks

Alternative text, or alt text, is a brief description of an image, graph, chart, or other non-textual element. Alt text is read by assistive technology, like a screen reader, to convey the meaning of non-textual elements to users who are blind or visually impaired. Alt text also benefits users who use screen magnification to help understand the purpose of the image, users with cognitive issues who may hover over an image to read the alt tag, and even sighted users if an image fails to load.

If there is no alt tag present, a screen reader may read images as a filename of an image. As a rule, alt text “should not just describe what the image contains, but instead should provide context on how the image relates to the page content” (Harvard University, n.d.). 

Best Practices

• Keep alt text to 1-2 sentences by asking yourself: What information is the image conveying?
• Write alt text to briefly explain the key elements of an image, instead of describing each detail
• Do not write ‘image of‘ or ‘picture of’. To illustrate, if a screen reader was reading an image of the Fanshawe College logo with the following alt text ‘Image of the Fanshawe College North Star logo’, the logo would be read as ‘Image, image of the Fanshawe College North Star logo.’
• If the image is purely decorative or does not convey useful information, leave the alt text blank
• If the image contains text that is meaningful, include this text in the alt text
• End alt text with a period
• If you are ever unsure how effective your alt text is, have other review your document with images replaced by the alt text

Sources: Digital Education Strategies, The Chang School, 2020; Harvard University, n.d.

Longer Descriptions

In some instances, 1-2 sentences of alternative text may be insufficient to describe the purpose and meaning of an image, chart, or graph. In this situation, provide a short description in the alt text and more detail in a long description.

How to Add Alt Text to Images & Graphics in Word

• In Word, right-click on the image
• Select ‘Format Picture’
• Select the ‘Layout & Properties’ tab
• Select the ‘Alt Text’ option from the list under the tab
• Write in your short alt text description in the ‘Description’ field

Recommended Reading

Web Accessibility Initiative. (n.d.). An alt decision tree. https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decision-tree/

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Digital Education Strategies, The Chang School. (2020). Microsoft Word 2013, 2016, and 2019. In Understanding Document Accessibility. Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca/docs/chapter/microsoft-word/

Harvard University. (n.d.). Write helpful Alt Text to describe images. https://accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/describe-content-images