Using the Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Office has a built-in accessibility checker that will identify certain elements that are inaccessible and provide simple steps on how to remediate those issues.

The resources on this page consist of a video tutorial and text directions for using the accessibility checker in Microsoft Word.

Disclaimer:

The Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker does not catch all accessibility issues. For example, headings are a large part of creating accessible documents, but a lack of headings will not appear on the accessibility checker.

1. Open an existing document in Microsoft Word and review the content.
2. Select Review in your toolbar.
3. Select Check Accessibility; an Accessibility Checker menu will appear on the right with ‘Inspection Results’ displayed.
   • This menu displays all accessibility concerns in the presentation and will display the reasoning for correction and recommendations for solutions.
     • The first section, labeled, ‘errors’ in the inspection results, provides a list of images without alternative text as well as videos; they also need titles, labels, and alt-text.
   • ‘Additional Information’ under the ‘Inspection Results’ offers suggestions on how to fix concerns.

To be sure your document is accessible, review the Word accessibility Checklist below.

1. Is the structure perceivable to all users?
   • Are headings styled as headings?
2. Is important content indicated by more than color or underlining?
   • Do you use Strong and Emphasis styles to distinguish important words or content?
   • Note: Bold and italics are inaccessible in Microsoft Word
3. Do all figures have Alternative Descriptive Text?
   • This includes memes, images, charts, graphs and other visual elements. Alternative Descriptive Text does not include describing the figure within the document.
4. Are all tables and charts made using the ‘add a table’ tool?
   • Did you ‘insert’ graphs and charts rather than include ‘snips’ or screenshots?
5. Is the font clear and sized appropriately?
   • Do you use a simple, easy to read font at size 11 or higher?
   • Is there a high contrast between the text and the background color?
6. Are bullets appropriately numbered?
   • Did you use the bullet/numbering settings?

If you answer no to any of these questions, revisit your document. If you answer yes to all, you are ready to save and distribute.

Microsoft Word has a Read Aloud function in the Review tab. You can select a portion of your document and click the Read Aloud button, or use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+Alt+SpaceBar, to have the program read your selection out loud. A bar with buttons will appear in the upper right corner of your document screen. On this bar, there are buttons for previous, play and pause, next, and settings. If you click the settings button, you can control the playback speed and which voice you prefer. You can click the X on the right side of this bar to close Read Aloud.

Warning: Read Aloud will not read the Alt-Text on images.