Overview
In this guide, we provide guidelines for making your Microsoft Word documents accessible for readers using assistive technology.
Adobe Acrobat is required to create accessible PDFs
If you plan to convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF, be aware that you must have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer. There are two options for obtaining Acrobat access:
Adobe Reader is a view-only application and does not have the ability to edit accessibility information.
Using built-in headings to structure your document
Headings are particularly helpful for breaking up long content, and they make navigation easier for people using screen readers. Note that you must use Word's built-in heading styles: simply marking text visually with larger font sizes or bolder text will not indicate to screen readers that the text is a heading.
Apply a heading style to heading text
Quick guide
- Select the text. Then, in the ribbon, select a heading style.
- You can also right-click the text and select a style using the toolbar.
- Repeat this process until you have applied heading styles to all of your headings. Then, save the document.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Select the text. Then, in the ribbon, select a heading style.
- You can also right-click the text and select a style using the toolbar.
- Repeat this process until you have applied heading styles to all of your headings. Then, save the document.
Customize the visual appearance of a heading style
Quick guide
- In the ribbon, right-click the heading style and select Modify.
- Edit the Formatting options, and click OK.
- The heading style updates. Save the document.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- In the ribbon, right-click the heading style and select Modify.
- Edit the Formatting options, and click OK.
- The heading style updates. Save the document.
Adding alternative text to images
It's important to provide image descriptions in the form of alternative text, or alt text. This ensures that images are accessible for readers with low vision or readers using screen readers.
Alt text should describe the appearance or function of the image. It should be a very concise sentence or two, as the most popular screen readers will stop reading alt text aloud after 125 characters. You do not need to include “Image of” or “Photo of” in the alt text as a screen reader will announce an image. Please make sure to start the sentence with a capital first letter and end it with a period.
Add alt text to an image
Quick guide
- Add the image to your document.
- Right-click the image and select View Alt Text.
- Fill in the field with your image description.
- Or, if the image is purely decorative, and should not be ignored by the screenreader (for example, it is a decorative divider or border), you can select the Mark as decorative checkbox.
- Save the document.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Add the image to your document.
- Right-click the image and select View Alt Text.
- Fill in the field with your image description.
- Or, if the image is purely decorative, and should not be ignored by the screenreader (for example, it is a decorative divider or border), you can select the Mark as decorative checkbox.
- Save the document.
Writing descriptive hyperlinks
When inserting links in your content, make sure that the link text describes the destination clearly and concisely.
-
Correct: "For more information about accessibility, visit the Web Accessibility Initiative website."
-
Incorrect: "For more information about accessibility, click here."
- Why is this less accessible? People using a keyboard to navigate your page will skip the contextual information outside the link, and will not know what "click here" is referring to.
-
Incorrect: "For more information about accessibility, visit https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/."
- Why is this less accessible? People using screen readers will hear the entire URL being read to them, one letter at a time. Additionally, URLs are often harder to understand than a simple description of what can be found at the URL.
Edit link text to be more descriptive
Quick guide
- Right-click the hyperlink, and select Edit Hyperlink.
- Fill in the Text to display field with a clear link description, and make sure the Address field has the correct URL.
- Click OK.
- Save the document.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Right-click the hyperlink, and select Edit Hyperlink.
- Fill in the Text to display field with a clear link description, and make sure the Address field has the correct URL.
- Click OK.
- Save the document.
Converting a Word document to PDF
Once you are ready, you can convert the document to a PDF. Adobe Acrobat must be installed on your computer. Make sure that you follow the instructions below to convert the document to PDF rather than using the option to print to PDF: printing to PDF will not apply important features for accessibility.
Convert a Word document to PDF on a Windows PC
Quick guide
- In Microsoft Word, click the Acrobat tab.
- If you don't see this tab, Adobe Acrobat may not be installed on the computer.
- The first time that you create an accessible PDF, you will need to configure your settings:
- Click Preferences.
- Make sure the following checkboxes are selected:
- View Adobe PDF Result
- Prompt for Adobe PDF file name
- Convert Document Information
- Create Bookmarks
- Add Links
- Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF
- Click Advanced Settings.
- In the Compatibility field, select Acrobat 8.0 (PDF 1.7).
- Click OK.
- Click Save.
- Click OK.
- Now, click Create PDF.
- Name the PDF and click Save. Once the PDF is created, it automatically opens in Adobe Acrobat.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- In Microsoft Word, click the Acrobat tab.
- If you don't see this tab, Adobe Acrobat may not be installed on the computer.
- The first time that you create an accessible PDF, you will need to configure your settings:
- Click Preferences.
- Make sure the following checkboxes are selected:
- View Adobe PDF Result
- Prompt for Adobe PDF file name
- Convert Document Information
- Create Bookmarks
- Add Links
- Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF
- Click Advanced Settings.
- In the Compatibility field, select Acrobat 8.0 (PDF 1.7).
- Click OK.
- Click Save.
- Click OK.
- Now, click Create PDF.
- Name the PDF and click Save. Once the PDF is created, it automatically opens in Adobe Acrobat.
Convert a Word document to PDF on a Mac
Quick guide
- In Microsoft Word, click the Acrobat tab.
- If you don't see this tab, Adobe Acrobat may not be installed on the computer.
- Click Create PDF.
- If prompted, click No.
- Name the PDF and make sure Best for electronic distribution and accessibility is selected. Then, click Export. Once the PDF is created, it automatically opens in your default PDF viewing application.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- In Microsoft Word, click the Acrobat tab.
- If you don't see this tab, Adobe Acrobat may not be installed on the computer.
- Click Create PDF.
- If prompted, click No.
- Name the PDF and make sure Best for electronic distribution and accessibility is selected. Then, click Export. Once the PDF is created, it automatically opens in your default PDF viewing application.
References
For this guide, the following resources were consulted: