Word 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 Word Doc is accessible? Use the instructions below to find out.
Learn how to make Word Docs accessible.
Installing Microsoft Word
Skip this if you already have Word installed on your computer.
- Visit office.com and sign into your account.
- Follow the instructions to install Word.
Starting
- Open the document you are checking in Word.
- To start the accessibility checker on your device, follow the instructions in the Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker Guide.
- Select Keep accessibility checker open while I work to receive suggestions and have the button remain in the sidebar.
Detecting Issues
When the checker is open, it displays a list of accessibility issues organized by Errors and Warnings. Common issues are explained below.
Headings
To view headings, refer to the instructions for using the Word navigation pane. This shows an outline of the document heading structure.
Check this outline for:
- Only one h1
- No skipped heading levels
- Correct nesting of levels
Learn more about heading structure. To add a heading, refer to the instructions for adding a Word heading.
Note: In Word documents, it is recommended to use the heading 1 as the title rather than the title paragraph style, as this is more compatible with assistive technologies.
Graphics
If an image is missing alternative text, add alt text by following Microsoft’s instructions for adding alt text.
Learn more about writing good alt text.
If the image is not meaningful, mark the image as decorative. This applies to background images for layout or visual interest without any important content.
Links
Make sure links have accessible link text. The automatic checker cannot determine if the text for each link is descriptive, understandable, and unique. Manually review the text in each link.
Tables Missing a Header Row
All tables should have a header row.
To mark the first row as header, right click on the first row, then select Table Properties. On the Row tab, select repeat as header row at the top of each page. This marks the row as a header for assistive technologies, marks it visually as the header, and allows it to repeat at the top of a table that runs across pages. More instructions on creating table header (Microsoft).
More Information
For more information on using the built-in accessibility checker, see Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker. For helpful keyboard shortcuts, see Accessibility Checker Keyboard Shortcuts.