Born Digital,�Born Accessible

Creating Accessible Documents in the Microsoft and Google Suites

Introduction

Michael Cantino

• NWRESD, BVIS Technology Professional Development Specialist
• Braille Transcriber
• Accessibility Specialist
• Loves tactile graphics!
• Living in Portland, OR

Why Document Accessibility?

• So close, yet so far
• Tons of teacher-generated content
• Improved access
• Improved functionality

Microsoft and Google

Microsoft and Google provide the most commonly used document authoring tools, and they have very similar sets of features.

Today we’ll cover:

• Microsoft Word and Google Docs
• PowerPoint and Google Slides
• Excel and Google Sheets

Accessibility Considerations for All Documents

Common Accessibility Issues

Different tools will require different accessibility considerations, but some concepts will apply across apps. In all of your documents, you will need to carefully consider your use of:

• Color
• Images
• Link Text
• Tables

Color, images, and links are treated similarly across apps,�so we’ll look at those first.

Color Contrast

It’s important to use high-contrast colors in your documents. This improves readability for all users, but it is especially important for users with visual impairments.

Color contrast needs to be manually checked, but there are helpful tools available to assist with this process.

• WebAIM Color Contrast Checker
• Colour Contrast Analyser �(my personal favorite)

Color Coding

Avoid using color as the only means of conveying information. This may not be visually accessible for all users.

• Consider using different text styles, like italics or underlined text to provide an additional method of identifying information.
• Consider using descriptive language to convey�the information.
• For graphic content, use different patterns to help �users distinguish between important elements.

Images

Images can add a lot to a document, but they can also be a major accessibility concern. Use these tips to make your images accessible.

• ~99% of your images will require a description. This is commonly referred to as “alternative text” or “alt text”.
• Avoid images of text (keep to ~100 characters or less, if necessary).
• Images that are just for decoration can be marked as “decorative”.
• Complex images may require long descriptions, and it may be better to provide those descriptions next to the image or in a related document.

Adding Alt Text to Images

In all of the applications we’ll be discussing, you can add alt text to an image by right-clicking (Ctrl-Click on Mac) on the image and selecting “Alt Text” from the context menu.

• Enter your description into the “Description” field.
• Your description should focus on the purpose of the image.
• Try to keep things short, while using language that is appropriate for the reading level of your audience.

You can find resources for alt text best practices at the end of this presentation.

Links

Understanding Links

Label your links to make them easier to utilize. Among other benefits, labeling your links will help screen-reader users quickly pick out relevant links from a list and will allow voice-control users to quickly navigate to a desired link.

1. Decide what the label for your link will be, and enter that text into your document.
2. Select that text, right-click on the text to open the context menu, and select “Link”. You can also select the text and use the keystroke Ctrl + K.
3. In the window that appears, enter your web address and then hit “OK” or “Accept”.

Rules for Links

• Links should have a different style than the surrounding text so they can be easily identified.
• Links should have unique and meaningful text assigned to the link. This helps users understand the purpose and aides in navigation.
• “Click here” is generally not descriptive enough, particularly if you have more than one link labeled “Click here”.
• “Click here to complete the form” or “Please complete our form” would be better examples of descriptive link text.

A Quick Note About Videos

Video content is great and beyond the scope of this training! When selecting video content, make sure that some basic accessibility features are available.

• High-quality captions
• Adequate descriptions of visual content
• If users will be accessing the video on their own, the video player will need to be accessible.
• You should be able to reach the play button with the tab key on your keyboard.
• You should be able to start the video by pressing spacebar.

Also Quick: Titles

Understanding Titles

If you’re going to be exporting your file to PDF or publishing to the web, then you’ll want to add a Title to your document. This option is only available in Microsoft apps.

To set a title in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel:

1. From the file menu, choose Info.
2. On the right side of the screen, there is a Properties area. Click on the textbox next to the word “Title”.
3. Enter your title and your finished!

File Names as Informal Titles

File names will also serve as an informal title while working in the Microsoft or Google suites.

Using a clear, descriptive file name will help users quickly identify documents when switching between programs or tabs.

Without any further ado …

Microsoft Word & �Google Docs

Headings

Understanding Headings

Headings create structure, make documents easier to navigate, and make sections and themes easier to identify.

They can also be used to automatically make document outlines or create an interactive table of contents.

Headings are applied from the Styles menu in Word or Google Docs. In Word, the Styles panel is in the Home tab. In Google Docs, it’s to the left of the Font setting.

Rules for Headings

• Documents usually have one Heading 1. This is typically reserved for the document title.
• Headings should follow a logical order.
• Heading 2 should be used as a subsection for Heading 1. Heading 3 should be a subsection for Heading 2, and so on.
• Don’t skip heading levels. You should not have a Heading 3 that immediately follows a Heading 1.
• Check that there aren’t any blank lines that are tagged as headings.
• 3 heading levels are typically sufficient for a document. I wouldn’t go beyond 4. The technical limit is 6 heading levels.

Headings and Special Functions

As an added bonus, headings support some special functions.

• Document Outlines: Headings automatically create a document outline, and that outline can be used to quickly jump between sections.
• Table of Contents: Headings can be used to generate a table of contents with page numbers and skip links to move to each section.
• Update Styles: You can customize the look of your headings, and then update that heading style to have the changes applied to any similar headings in your document.

Tables

Properly formatted tables can help users easily access and interpret information.

Tables should be used to show relation between the table entries. Tables should not be used for visually formatting your text. If you’re considering using a table for formatting, try using columns or presenting your information in a list format instead.

Rules for Tables

• Use a header row (and/or a header column, where appropriate).
• Avoid merging or splitting cells. This can make table navigation difficult.
• For large of complex tables, add alt text to the table to give the user a brief summary of the table’s contents.
• If there are blank cells in an otherwise full data table, consider adding text like “no data” to prevent screen reader users from thinking they have left the table.

Formatting Tables

• In Google Docs, right-click on a table and select “Table Properties”. Under “Row” select “Pin Header Row”
• In Word, navigate to a table, then choose “Table Design” from the ribbon.
• Check the “Header Row” box. Check “First Column” if the first column also serves as a header.
• To add alt text, right-click on the table and select “Table Properties”. In the Alt Text tab, enter your description into the “Description” field. Description titles are optional and not always recognized by all screen readers.

Lists

Properly formatted lists provide clarity, assist in navigation, and make document editing easier.

Lists come in 2 basic varieties: ordered and unordered lists. Use a numbered list format for ordered lists, and use a bulleted list format for unordered lists. You can adjust the list’s style from the list menu.

As you add or remove items in a numbered list, the list will automatically adjust the numbering, making life much easier!

Creating Lists

• In Word, list styles can be found in the Home tab, in the Paragraph section.
• In Google Docs, list styles are found near the right end of the toolbar.
• You can apply the list style before or after you’ve written out your list contents.
• A new list item is created with each full line break. If you want to break a line without creating a new list item, use Shift + Enter to create a manual line break.

Line Spacing

Line spacing can impact the look, feel, and readability of your document, but if done improperly, it can be a huge annoyance for screen reader users.

Blank lines should not be used for formatting. Each blank line is announced as “blank” by a screen reader. This is fairly obnoxious and can create confusion over whether a user has reached the end of a document.

Instead of using blank lines, use the line spacing tool to adjust your spacing as needed.

Using the Line Spacing Tool

• In Word, the line spacing tool is found in the Paragraph section of the Home tab. In Google Docs, the line spacing tool is between the text-alignment and the list tools.
• Use the line spacing tool to apply a general line spacing style throughout your document (e.g. Double, 1.5, 1.15, etc.).
• Add or remove spaces before or after a line for minor adjustments.
• To really fine tune your line spacing, use Custom Spacing (Line Spacing Options in Word) to make exact adjustments to spacing before and after lines.
• If you need to move text to a new page, use Ctrl + Enter to create a page break.

Word’s Accessibility Checker

Accessibility Checkers can be helpful tools for catching accessibility errors. These tools won’t catch everything, but they’re a good starting point, especially as you’re becoming familiar with accessibility guidelines.

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t have a its own accessibility checker. As an alternative, you can download your Google Doc as a Word file and use the Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker.

Using the Accessibility Checker

In Microsoft apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), you can find an accessibility checker in the File menu. Once the file menu is open, select “Info” from the sidebar, then choose the button “Check for Issues” and select “Check Accessibility”.

The Accessibility Checker will appear on the right side of your document with a list of errors. You can click through the errors to begin addressing the accessibility issues.

PowerPoint & �Google Slides

What’s the Same?

In addition to the few topics that we discussed at the start of the session, there are some additional similarities between Word and PowerPoint (or Docs and Slides) that don’t apply to Excel or Sheets.

In PowerPoint and Google Slides, lists and line spacing are addressed in the same way that they are in Word or Google Docs. For a refresher, refer back to the Word/Docs slides on lists and line spacing.

Using Slide Templates

It is a good idea to utilize the provided slide templates in PowerPoint and Google Slides, particularly if you’re using an older version of PowerPoint.

• It is important that every slide has a true “Title” text box.
• In older versions of PowerPoint, text boxes that are added to slide templates won’t be recognized or read by screen readers.

Slide Titles

Slide titles are one of the most important elements in a PowerPoint or Google Slides file. Slide titles help users quickly understand the purpose of a slide, and they help users quickly distinguish between slides.

• Each slide must have a title.
• Slide titles must be unique so that users can easily distinguish between slides.
• Slight variations in longer titles might not be sufficient. For example, “Understanding PowerPoint Accessibility Features” and “Understanding PowerPoint Accessibility Features (continued)” may not be readily distinguishable while browsing slide titles.

Creating Slide Titles

The Easy Way

The easiest option is just to use the title box in the slide template as intended; then there’s nothing more to worry about. BUT, if you’re fixing up a file where the author has been a little creative and removed the title box, you’ll need to use another method.

Fixing Missing Slide Titles

• The Sloppy Fix: Add a new slide template to your file. Copy the slide content over to the template, or copy the Title box from the template and add it to the existing slide.
• The Pro Fix (only in PowerPoint): In the View tab, select “Outline View”. A panel will appear on the left that shows the slide titles in bold next to the slide number. If you don’t see bold text for a slide, then it is missing a title. Click next to the slide number, type your title, and you’re done!

Reading Order

Authors carefully consider how to present content in meaningful, approachable way, but what if all that content were to be read in a random order? This frequently happens with presentation slides, so it’s important to always check your reading order.

While reviewing a document’s reading order, you’ll be �able to review all of the elements in a slide and make �sure that they are presented in the intended order.

Google Slides Reading Order

Unfortunately, Google Slides doesn’t have a tool to help you check your reading order, so you’ll have to manually test each slide.

Use the Tab key to jump between elements on your slide. If an item is not being read in the correct order, you can adjust the order by right-clicking on the element, selecting Order, and �then moving the element forward or backward.

Slide elements are always read from the back to the �front.

PPT Selection Pane

If you’re using an older version of PowerPoint, then you’ll use the Selection Pane to adjust your reading order.

From the Home tab, click on the Arrange icon, then select Selection Pane. The Selection Pane will appear on the right, and it will show a list of all the elements in your slide.

Slide elements will be read starting from the bottom of �the list, going up to the top. Click and drag the slide �elements into the desired reading order.

PPT Reading Order Tool

If you’re using a newer version of PowerPoint, then you can use the Reading Order tool. This tool is in the Review tab, under “Check Accessibility”.

Unlike the Selection Pane, elements in the Reading Order panel are read from top to bottom. Click and drag the slide �elements into the desired reading order. You can also �uncheck boxes to mark items as decorative, or �double-click on images to quickly add alt text.

Tables in PPT and Slides

Creating accessible tables in PowerPoint is very similar to creating tables in Word. Google Slides cannot create fully accessible tables.

• Alt Text: Older versions of PPT will allow you to add alt text to a table, but the latest version of PPT does not provide this option. To add alt text to a table, right-click on the table and choose Format Shape. From there, select the “Size & Properties” icon to add alt text.

Stacking Images

It is common to find multiple images stacked on one another in a presentation file. This is often used to call attention to particular parts of an image by adding arrows or by circling a desired feature.

These images will all be read out separately by a screen reader. To reduce clutter, consider taking a screenshot of the layered images and using that single image in place of the stacked images.

Nearly done!

Excel &

Google Sheets

A1: Begin at the Beginning

A1 is the very first cell in any Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet. If this cell is left empty, it can be difficult for users to know where the content begins.

By entering some content into A1, you’ll provide users with quick access to your content, and you’ll spare them from hunting around in blank cells before they can begin their work.

Name Your Sheets

Excel and Google Sheets workbooks are divided into sheets, which can be navigated via tabs along the bottom of the screen. Your sheets should have meaningful names to help users quickly identify a sheet’s contents. Without these names, users will have to open each sheet and explore the contents before they can determine if the sheet contains the information they need.

To rename a sheet, just double-click on its tab and enter in a new name.

Charts

Excel can create charts from your data tables. To make your charts more accessible, right click on the chart elements to make the following adjustments.

• Add a chart title
• Adjust your font sizes
• Choose high contrast colors
• Add alt text to the chart
• In Google Sheets, you can add alt text by clicking on the 3 dots in the top-right corner of the chart.

In Excel and Google Sheets, charts are not very accessible for screen reader users; they can access the original data table and the chart’s alt text.

Visual Spacing

To improve the readability of your spreadsheets, consider adjusting your Row Height and Column Width. This will provide more white space around your column entries.

To adjust Row Height and Column Width:

1. Select an entire row or column.
2. Right-click on the selection, and choose Row Height or Column Width accordingly. These are called “Resize Row” and “Resize Column” in Google Sheets.
3. Type in a new value. In PPT, these numbers are font sizes. In Google Sheets, these numbers are pixels.

You can adjust the vertical and horizontal alignment of the cell-contents from the Home tab.

Freezing Columns and Rows

One of my personal favorites, freezing columns and rows makes it easier to see headers while working with a large spreadsheet.

In Excel:

• Under the View tab, choose the “Freeze Top Row” and/or “Freeze First Column” options from the Freeze Panes tool menu.

In Google Sheets:

• In the View menu, go to “Freeze” and select the number of rows or columns that you’d like to freeze.

Hiding Unused Cells

Digital spreadsheets seem to go on forever! To simplify your spreadsheets, you can hide unused cells.

To hide unused cells:

1. Select the first unused row or column.
2. Use the keystroke Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow for columns or �Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow for rows.
3. Right-click on the selection and choose “Hide” from the context menu.

Excel and Tables

Screen readers can navigate spreadsheets without converting a table’s contents in a formal table, but creating tables can make interpreting table contents easier. This option is not available in Google Sheets.

To create a table:

1. Select the cells with your data.
2. In the Insert menu, choose the Tables option and select “Table”.
3. With the table content in focus, select the Table Design menu from the ribbon. From here, add a Table Name, define your row and column headers, and adjust your table style as needed.

We did it!

Resources

Google and Microsoft Resources

Google Accessibility Resources

• Make your document or presentation more accessible

Microsoft Accessibility Resources

• Make Word accessible
• Make Excel Accessible
• Make PowerPoint Accessible
• Saving PowerPoint in another format
• Creating accessible tables
• Rules for the Accessibility Checker

Oregon Department of Education�Resources

ODE has some great resources, and these materials were referenced frequently while putting this session together.

• Making Content Accessible: This page has training content for creating accessible Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF documents
• Providing Structure in Web Pages and Documents: Review of accessibility principles for web sites and documents

WebAIM Resources

These pages from WebAIM are short and to the point. They provide a great, quick overview of accessibility concepts to include in your documents.

• WebAIM Word Accessibility
• WebAIM PowerPoint Accessibility
• WebAIM Excel Accessibility
• WebAIM Color Contrast Checker

Alt Text Resources

• Perkins - How to Alt Text and Image Description: A quick overview of alt text and image description
• Diagram Center Image Description Guidelines: A very thorough review of all things image description
• Alt Text as Poetry: An exploration of the similarities between alt text and poetry. Training materials available.
• Alt text vs Image Description vs Caption: A helpful overview to distinguish between alt text and other forms of descriptions.

US Government Resources

Department of Human Services

• Trusted Tester Training Materials: DHS’s Trusted Tester certification is a free program that covers web and document accessibility

General Services Administration

• Create a Document (Word)
• Create a Presentation (PowerPoint)
• Create a Spreadsheet (Excel)

Contact

Michael Cantino

mcantino@nwresd.k12.or.us

(503)614-1339

Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD)

BVIS Tech Website

Questions and Discussion