Test Google Docs

Google Docs used or developed at U-M are required to meet digital accessibility standards and provide equitable access for people with disabilities.

Not sure if your Google Doc is accessible? Use the instructions below to find out.

Learn how to make Google Docs accessible.

To test a Google Doc for accessibility issues:

  1. First conduct manual accessibility testing as described below
  2. For further testing, download your file as a Word document and run Word’s automated accessibility check

Conduct Manual Testing

See the Manual Testing column of the table below for manual tests.

Area Requirement Manual Testing
Tables of Contents Long documents have a table of contents If the document is longer than 4 pages, check to be sure that there is a table of contents present at the beginning of the document.
Headings The document has a logical structure using headings (1 through 6 for Docs)
  • If a table of contents exists, look to see if it seems correct and reflects the visual structure of the document. If so, headings were probably implemented correctly.
  • If there is no table of contents, temporarily insert a table of contents:
    1. Click in a space where you want to insert the table of contents.
    2. In the Insert menu, select Table of contents.
    3. Look to see if the table of contents seems correct and reflects the visual structure of the document. If it is, headings were probably implemented correctly.
    4. Remove the table of contents.
Images Images have alternative text. Right-click on the image. Select Alt Text and add meaningful alt text.
Lists Lists must be properly formatted.
  1. Select the list items.
  2. Look in the Ribbon to see if either the bullet list icon or the number list icon are highlighted. If one of them is, the list is properly formatted.
Tables Tables are very simple in nature and first row has column heading text.
  1. Visually determine that the table is simple in nature - no column or row spans, no nested tables.
  2. Visually determine that the first row cells contain text that would logically be headings for the columns.
Color Contrast Ensure appropriate color contrast so that content can be read by people with visual disabilities.

Use a color contrast checker to ensure elements meet minimum color contrast requirements.

(Note that Regular text size is defined as less than 24 pixels non-bolded or less than 18 pixels bolded. Large text is anything larger.)
Color for Meaning Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning. Do a visual check to ensure that color is not the only indication of meaning.
Video Any videos must have captions. Watch the video and check to see if text appears onscreen narrating the spoken words.

Test With Word’s Automated Accessibility Checker

  1. Download the document as a Microsoft Word document (.docx).
  2. Open the document in Word.
  3. To start the accessibility checker on your device, follow the instructions in the Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker Guide.

For more information, see our page on Testing Word Docs.

To Fix Issues

To fix issues found by any of the above tests, see the guide: Make Google Docs Accessible.