Before you begin
- Microsoft Word via Microsoft 365 — available to all CMC faculty and staff. Sign in at office.com with your CMC account.
- The built-in Accessibility Checker is available in all current versions of Word on Windows and Mac.
Use Heading Styles
Heading styles are the single most impactful accessibility improvement you can make in Word. Screen reader users navigate documents by heading — they can pull up a list of all headings and jump directly to any section. Without heading styles, they must read the entire document linearly from start to finish.
To apply a heading style:
Select the text
Select the text you want to make a heading.
Apply the style
In the Home tab, click the appropriate style in the Styles pane — Heading 1 for top-level sections, Heading 2 for subsections, Heading 3 for sub-subsections.
Use levels hierarchically
Use heading levels in order — do not skip from Heading 1 to Heading 3.
Never simulate headings by selecting body text and making it bold, larger, or a different color. This looks like a heading visually but has no heading structure — assistive technology cannot identify it as a heading and will not include it in navigation.
If the default heading style does not match your design needs, modify the style itself: right-click the style in the Styles pane → Modify. Do not override styled headings with manual formatting on top of them.
Alt Text on Images
Every image, chart, SmartArt graphic, or embedded object in your document needs an alternative text description so screen reader users understand what it conveys.
To add alt text:
Right-click the image
Right-click the image in your document.
Open Edit Alt Text
Select Edit Alt Text from the context menu.
Write a concise description
Describe what the image shows and why it is relevant in context — not just "photo" or "chart." For images that are purely decorative and add no informational value, check Mark as decorative. Screen readers will skip these entirely.
Alt text example
"Bar chart showing CMC ITS ticket volume by month from January through June 2026, with the highest volume in February at 412 tickets."
Real Lists
Lists created with the proper Word tools carry semantic list structure that screen readers can identify and announce. A screen reader will say "list of five items" and allow users to navigate item by item. Manually typed dashes, asterisks, or numbers do not have this structure.
Always use the Bullets and Numbering tools in the Home tab ribbon to create lists. Never type:
- Dashes or hyphens followed by a space as manual bullet substitutes
- Asterisks followed by text
- Numbers followed by periods or parentheses typed manually
If you paste content from another source that uses manual symbols, remove them and reformat as a proper list using the Word tools.
Descriptive Hyperlinks
Screen reader users can navigate documents by links, pulling up a list of all hyperlinks to find what they need. If every link in your document reads "click here" or "read more," this list is useless. Link text must describe the destination or purpose of the link.
To insert a descriptive hyperlink:
Select descriptive text
Select the descriptive text in your document (e.g., "Read the Digital Accessibility Policy").
Open the Insert Hyperlink dialog
Press Ctrl+K (Windows) or Cmd+K (Mac).
Paste the URL and confirm
Paste the destination URL in the Address field and click OK.
Do not paste bare URLs into the document body — a URL like "https://www.cmc.edu/digital-accessibility/policy.html" is not readable when announced by a screen reader. Use descriptive linked text instead.
Tables
Use tables for data only — never for layout purposes. Layout tables (used to position text or images visually) create confusing reading order for screen readers.
When using data tables:
- Designate a header row. Select the first row → Table Design tab → check Header Row. This tells assistive technology to treat the first row as column headers, not data.
- Add a table caption by right-clicking the table → Insert Caption. This gives the table a title screen readers announce before reading the content.
- Avoid merged cells. Merged and split cells break the column/row relationship that screen readers use to associate data with its header. Restructure the table to avoid merging where possible.
- Keep tables simple. Nested tables (tables inside tables) are very difficult to navigate with assistive technology.
Color and Contrast
Two distinct accessibility requirements apply to color in Word documents:
- Do not use color as the only indicator of meaning. If you mark errors in red and successes in green, users with color blindness cannot distinguish them. Always pair color with a text label, icon, or pattern. For example, instead of red text for "Incomplete," write "Incomplete ()" or add a text indicator alongside the color.
- Text contrast must be sufficient. Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background. Light gray text on a white background typically fails. Word's Accessibility Checker flags low-contrast text — review those warnings carefully.
Language Setting
Word uses the document's language setting to apply correct spelling, grammar, and — most importantly — the correct pronunciation rules for screen readers. If your document contains passages in another language, you must mark those passages explicitly so the screen reader switches to the correct voice and pronunciation.
To set the language for a passage of foreign-language text:
Select the foreign-language text
Highlight the passage written in another language.
Open Set Proofing Language
Go to Review → Language → Set Proofing Language.
Select the correct language
Choose the correct language from the list and click OK.
For the overall document language, go to File → Options → Language and confirm that the editing language matches the document's primary language.
Run the Accessibility Checker
Word includes a built-in Accessibility Checker that identifies common accessibility issues before you share or publish a document. Run it as a final step — not as a substitute for building accessibility in from the start.
To run the Accessibility Checker:
Open the Accessibility panel
Go to Review → Check Accessibility. The Accessibility panel opens on the right side.
Review the issue list
The panel lists issues grouped as Errors, Warnings, and Tips. Click any issue to jump directly to the problematic element.
Fix Errors first
Fix all Errors — these are definite failures that make the document inaccessible.
Review Warnings
Review all Warnings — these may require judgment (e.g., a table that does have a meaningful caption may not need one of the default types).
The Accessibility Checker catches common issues but is not exhaustive. Heading hierarchy, logical reading order, and the quality of alt text descriptions require human review. Always read through the document with the Accessibility Checker's guidance in mind.
Checklist
Before sharing or publishing any Word document, confirm the following:
- Heading styles applied throughout — Heading 1/2/3 from the Styles pane, not manual formatting
- All images, charts, and graphics have alt text (or are marked as decorative)
- Lists use Word's Bullets/Numbering tools — no manual dashes or typed numbers
- Hyperlinks use descriptive link text — no "click here" or bare URLs
- Data tables have a designated header row and no merged cells
- Color is not used as the only indicator of meaning
- Accessibility Checker (Review → Check Accessibility) shows no Errors
Need Help with Word Accessibility?
Our Help Desk team can walk you through any accessibility task — one-on-one, remotely or in person. You can also explore the full Accessibility Resource Library for guides on PDFs, Canvas, email, video, and more.
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