Guides: Instructor Toolkit: Accessible Course Materials : Creating Accessible Microsoft Word Documents

Designing accessible Microsoft Word documents

We highly recommend using Microsoft Word to create accessible course materials for a number of reasons:

Microsoft has an easy-to-use Accessibility Assistant built into the application as well as a number of support materials to help you create accessible content.
Word is a highly accessible format for students to use as it is highly adaptable. Students can easily adjust the font size and colour, have the content read out to them, and it works well with assistive technology (e.g., screen magnifiers and screen readers).

The Accessibility Assistant alone doesn't guarantee full accessibility. Conduct the following manual checks as a final step:

Ensure alt text for all images is clear, concise, and meaningful.
Check that links are unique and descriptive.
Verify logical heading structure and hierarchy.
Manually proofread for spelling and grammar errors, even after using Word's spelling and grammar checker.
- Tip: Word’s grammar checker provides readability scores that can help improve clarity.
Check charts and visuals (including charts, graphs, tables, images) for adequate colour contrast using a tool like the Colour Contrast Analyser.

Create an Accessible Word Document
In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the essentials of creating accessible Microsoft Word documents. Whether you choose to explore the entire module or focus on specific sections, you’ll gain foundational digital accessibility skills that apply to much more than accessible Word documents.
Make your Word Documents Accessible
McLaughlin Library guide walks you through how to create accessible Word documents in ten steps.
Accessible Document Resources
U of G's Digital Accessibility Resource Centre provides helpful resources to help you create accessible Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents. Sign-in required.
Create Accessible Word Documents (Microsoft)
Video tutorials that walk you through some of the essential steps to ensuring your Word document is accessible.