UDL Principles for Designing Accessible Documents

Designing Accessible Documents

Use headings, styles, and lists

• In Word or Google Docs, use built-in styles consistently (ex. Title, Heading 1, Heading 2, Body Text, Lists etc). Don’t skip heading levels.
• To create structured documents that screen readers can navigate, it’s important to use styles, rather than manually adjusting font size to be large like a heading, or typing your own list numbers/bullet points.
• In Google Docs, using Headings automatically generates a navigable outline of the document with bookmarkable anchor links.

Alt text for images

• Alternative text is read aloud by screen readers, so it should be concise (no more than a couple of sentences), focusing on what makes the image relevant to your content.
• Unimportant images can be marked “decorative” so that screen readers skip over them.
• In Word, right-click on the image to bring up the context menu and choose “View Alt Text.”
• In Google Docs, right-click on the image and choose “Alt Text.”

Use only necessary tables

Only use tables to present data; don’t use them to alter the visual layout of the page. The accessibility features of tables are limited, so the simpler the better. Include a heading row rather than starting with data in the first row of the table. (If you do need to change the layout of your document, Word provides accessible templates.

Text readability: fonts, formatting, colors

• Large-point, sans-serif fonts are more readable than tiny serif fonts.
• Left justification is more readable than full justification.
• Lists are easier for readers to comprehend than large chunks of text.
• Use sufficient color contrast (for example: avoid a light grey text on a white background). Word’s Accessibility Checker may help identify insufficiently contrasting colors, or you can use a color contrast analyzer tool (see links below). 

Indicating emphasis

Since your readers may be colorblind or using screen readers, if you want to highlight something or emphasize its significance, avoid using purely visual indicators alone (bolding/italics/underline or color). Add a word or a phrase such as “Note” or “Important.”

Descriptive links

Some screen readers pull out links from a document and present them as a separate list, so whenever links are included, the linked words should be descriptive and meaningful (ex. “Assignment 2 Instructions”). Avoid linking unspecific, non-descriptive words/phrases such as “click here,” or writing out long raw URLs, since screen readers will read them aloud (very brief URLs are okay).

Use Comments/Track Changes when collaborating

Use these features rather than writing notes directly within the text of the shared document. Screen reader users can jump to comments using keyboard shortcuts rather than hunting through the file.

Run the Accessibility Checker

• In Word, you’ll find this under the Review tab or Tools > Check Accessibility.
• In Google Docs, go to Tools > Accessibility and check “Turn On Screen Reader Support”; the Accessibility tab will appear in the menu.
• Accessibility checkers will flag issues for you and walk you through the steps to fix problems. Though these checkers are imperfect and do not guarantee an accessible final product, using them consistently will help you fix many basic issues and, over time, master the software’s accessibility capabilities.

Sharing your file

If you export your document to PDF or HTML, as long as the original document is designed accessibly, these features will transfer to the exported file as well.

This resource was created by Amy Bennett-Zendzian, Lecturer, College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program

Last updated 2/25/24