LibGuides: Creating Accessible Documents in Word Processing and Presentation Software: Introduction to Accessibility

A Note on Language

This guide uses both person first and disability first language because we recognize that people with disabilities have different preferences in self-describing and we want to include that diversity in our discussion of disability.

Overview

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the practice of making your content usable by as many people as possible. This means designing with users with disabilities in mind from the outset and thinking about how different people will interact with the content you create.

We'll focus both on screen reader accessibility – meaning formatting that enables blind users or people with low vision to navigate your content with assistive technology – and general accessibility that will help make your content approachable for functionally diverse learners and participants.
You never know who is going to be reading your content, attending your presentation, or engaging with your scholarship, so you have to create content that is built for everyone.

Accessible design is the right thing to do and, while it will take a little practice at first, we think you’ll find that the design considerations we discuss in this guide are easy to put into practice.

You should also remember that accessibility benefits many groups beyond users with disabilities. Ensuring that your documents are well laid out with clear headings and accessible, plain language makes it easier for everyone to engage with your ideas – you’ll reach a wider audience and you’ll ensure that you are including a diverse readership in the scholarly conversation.

POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust)

The acronym POUR comes from the second update to The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a set of standards used for creating web content. These principles, however, can help inform your accessibility practice in other settings and you should keep in mind no matter what content you’re creating or what format you’re using.

As the name suggests, this means information needs to be presented to users in ways they can perceive. For example, a video with a voiceover but no captions is not letting all the information be perceivable to all users.

User interface and navigation must be operable for users with diverse abilities. Keyboard accessibility can make a huge different on this front. Making sure documents have proper headings can allow users with disabilities to quickly click through content sections.

Content should be clear and extras like images and decorative elements should be relevant to the material being presented. This aspect of the POUR acronym can benefit all users, not only those with disabilities.

Your content has to allow users to engage with it in a variety of ways, including with assistive technology. Accessibility should not be an afterthought. Considering accessibility principles throughout the creation process of a document or presentation, and considering the needs of many different users, will allow more people to interact with and benefit from your content.

General Accessibility Considerations

Font:

Choose a simple, readable font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Garamond are all fine – avoid anything overly stylized to imitate script or handwriting).
Never go below 12-point font; if you’re making a short document like a handout or agenda for a meeting, go bigger and stick to 16-point font at least.

Color:

Choose high-contrast (don’t use a light grey font on white, for instance). Avoid background colors where possible.
As with font choice, keep it simple.

Justification:

Use left justification. Full justification (stretching and compressing your text to fit it cleanly on one line) creates uneven spacing between words which can make it difficult for users with reading disabilities to identify the boundaries of different words.

Spacing:

Stick to using 1.5 spacing or more. When possible, consider increasing the line spacing of your document to improve readability.

Most word processing software enables you to mark or tag your text with things like headings which give structure to your document and make it easier for sighted and non-sighted users alike to navigate your content.

Craft descriptive links that make sense out of context (no “click here”).
Be consistent with your link names (i.e., don’t reference the same link target multiple times with different descriptive link text).
Consider how you are distributing this material – if it will also be printed/distributed, you should include both the descriptive link text and a short URL.
Do not include “link” in your link text as a screen reader automatically announces the presence of a link.

Alt-text refers to a textual description you can assign a particular image, ensuring that someone who cannot see your image can still interact fully with your content. Including alt-text is not an optional practice.

Before you put any content out into the world, whether it’s a lesson plan you’re teaching, a PowerPoint you’re delivering at a conference, or something you’re posting on social media, be sure to check your accessibility.
Many products and software have built-in accessibility checkers that can make reviewing your content easy! They don’t catch absolutely everything, but running an accessibility check before publishing or sending anything is an easy practice that you can start implementing right away.