Manual Accessibility Checks - Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations

Title

The title describes the topic or purpose of the document or presentation.

• Review the file name: ensure it clearly describes the topic or purpose 

• Add a title in the presentation metadata that describes its topic or purpose.

  • Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel instructions:

    • Windows: File > Info > Properties > Title

    • Mac: File > Properties… > Summary tab

Slide Title

For PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations, verify that each slide has an informative title, which is usually the large text at the top of the slide, and that each slide title is unique.

Language

The default language of each page, slide, passage, or phrase can be programmatically determined.

• Set the default language to match the language in the document.

• Check to see if passages in another language match.

  • Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel instructions:

    • Windows: Review > Language > Set Proofing Language.

    • Mac: Review tab > Language > Set Proofing Language, depending on your version of Office.

Headings

The document should have a logical structure using properly implemented headings.

• Review the structure in the Navigation pane to ensure headings are logically nested

  • Word: Review > Check Accessibility > Navigation Pane

  • When creating or editing a document, use the correct Heading structure:

    • A Heading 1 (H1) should be the title of your document

    • Heading 2 (H2) should be a secondary heading and so on.

    • Never skip heading levels

• .The heading text should describe the topic or purpose of the content beneath it.

Tip: Another way to check heading structure is to insert a table of contents (TOC). If the table of contents appears correct and accurately reflects the document's visual structure, the headings were likely implemented correctly.

Table of Contents (TOC)

Long documents should have a table of contents to help users navigate the document.

• Consider adding a table of contents to enhance navigation if the document is lengthy and complex.

  • TOC instructions for Word

Columns

If columns are used, confirm that the columnar format is enabled.

• PowerPoint for Windows:
  • Place the cursor on the columnar text and navigate to Home > Paragraph > Add or Remove Columns. Confirm that the correct number of columns is highlighted.

Font

To provide the best accessible user experience, ensure fonts are easy to read and are not overly decorative

• Check to see if the font is Serif or Sans-Serif.

• Note: this is not a WCAG AA requirement, but a best practice.

Reading Order

The reading order must match the visual layout.

• PowerPoint instructions:
  • Navigate to Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane.
  • Starting from the top of the selection pane, moving towards the bottom, select each object and confirm that the order matches the visual layout. If it does not, you may reorder objects accordingly.

Object Formatting

If important information is contained in the header, footer, or watermarks, it must be accessible to assistive technologies.

• PowerPoint instructions:
  • To confirm, the information must be listed in the Reading Order Pane.
  • Navigate to Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane.

Slide Animation

Review the animation to ensure it is not flashing or moving too quickly. Ensure that if it plays for longer than 5 seconds, there is a way to pause, stop, or hide it with both the mouse and keyboard.

To provide the best accessible user experience, ensure that when unusual words or abbreviations are used, their meanings or definitions are available.

• Check to see if the document contains words, phrases, or abbreviations that a reader might not understand the meaning of.

• Provide a definition or meaning in the first instance where the word, phrase, or abbreviation is used.

• Note: this is not a WCAG AA requirement, but a best practice.

Color

Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning. Visit the University of Michigan Digital Accessibility website, which provides examples of how to make digital use of color accessible.

Text Contrast

Ensure that there is an appropriate color contrast so that the content can be read by people with visual impairments.

• Review WebAIM’s Contrast and Color Accessibility: Understanding WCAG 2 Contrast and Color Requirements
• Visually inspect the text/background color combinations, including images of text (except for logos, photographs, or where the text is incidental).
• If any look suspiciously low contrast, use the Colour Contrast Analyser or one of the evaluation methods suggested by WebAIM to verify whether the ratio meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
  • 3:1 contrast ratio for text 18-point font (14-point bold) or above
  • 4.5:1 contrast ratio for text below 18-point font (14-point bold)

Graphical Contrast

Ensure that graphical elements have an appropriate color contrast so that their meaning can be understood by people with visual impairments. 

• The portions of graphics used to convey information (such as lines and bars on graphs, slices of a pie chart, and icons) have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 between themselves and the background color.
• Logos, flags, pictures of real-life scenes, and graphics that represent other things (such as screenshots and biological schematic diagrams) are excluded from this requirement.
• Use the Colour Contrast Analyser to verify.
• See the Graphical Objects section of the WAI Understanding Non-Text Contrast page for examples.

Ensure meaningful images have alternative text, and decorative images are hidden from screen readers. 

• Microsoft Word: Select the image, pick Picture in the ribbon, select the Alt Text tab, then ensure that the description describes the meaning of the image.  OR Right click on the image and click “View Alt Text”.
• If the image is used for style or decoration and does not have any meaning, it does not need Alt Text. Instead, check “Mark as decorative” below the description field.
• If the image is too complex to describe in 140 characters or fewer (e.g., graphs, charts, diagrams), the description should be presented in the document, as close to the image as possible. 

Use real text instead of images of text:

• Visually inspect the document for text that cannot be adjusted using the font settings.
• Unless the image is a logo or is otherwise essential, replace the image of text with real text.

Ensure the purpose of each link can be determined from the link text. 

• Review the display text to ensure the hyperlinks have a clear and accurate description of the link destination. Avoid using “click here,” “read more,” or “link".

Lists need to be programmatically defined. Lists should be created using the bullet or numbered list features.

• Microsoft Word/PowerPoint: The list features are located in the Home ribbon > Paragraph section.
   

Tables require a logical structure. Visit WebAim's Creating Accessible Tables page for guidelines.

• For spreadsheets, ensure:
  • There is text in cell A1 of each sheet.
  • Each table, range, worksheet, and workbook has a unique, descriptive name, and blank sheets are avoided.
• Visually inspect the table: it should be as simple as possible - no merged or split cells.
• Check to see if the first row is a header row.  
  • Microsoft Word/PowerPoint/Excel instructions:
    • Select the first row, navigate to Table Design, and confirm “Header Row” is selected.
    • Also in Microsoft Word: Select the first row of the table, right-click, and select Table Properties. On the Row tab, ensure that "Repeat as header row at the top of each page" is selected.
• Check for meaningful alt text:
  • Microsoft Word/Excel instructions:
    • Right-click the table, click Table Properties, and select the Alt Text tab.
    • Check if the Description field provides a concise summary of the table's content.
  • Microsoft PowerPoint instructions:
    • Select the table, right-click, and select “View Alt Text”. Add meaningful alt text if it is missing.

Flashing Content

No content flashes more than three times per second.

• Verify that videos and moving graphics (e.g., GIFs) do not flash or blink more than three times per second. 

Embedded Video or Audio

• Ensure embedded video/audio has appropriate text alternatives and audio descriptions.