Documents

Headings help organize your document. They make digital content accessible by breaking up longer sections and giving meaningful structure to documents. Headings are not just styled bigger and bolder, but are marked up in the code and can be navigated with assistive technology tools.

How Heading Structure Works

A document’s heading structure acts like an outline, organizing content into different levels of importance. The main title (Heading 1) introduces the overall topic, while subheadings (Heading 2 and below) break the content into sections and details. This hierarchy helps readers scan and understand the relationships between sections. 

Why Heading Order Matters

Heading structures must follow a logical sequence to guide the reader smoothly. Skipping heading levels (like jumping from Heading 1 to Heading 4) disrupts this flow and makes it difficult for readers, especially those using screen readers, to understand the document’s organization. Heading 2 should follow Heading 1, and Heading 3 should only be used within sections introduced by Heading 2.

Headings

Watch this short video to learn how to apply headings in Microsoft Word, or follow the instructions below.

1. Select the text you want to use as a heading.

2. On the Home tab, move the pointer over different headings in the Styles gallery. Notice as you pause over each style, your text will change so you can see how it will look in your document. Select the heading style you want to use.

3. If you don't see the style you want, click the More button to expand the gallery.

TIP: Open the Navigation Panel (shown in the left panel above) in Microsoft Word to monitor your headings and hierarchy as you type. Click View > tick the Navigation Panel box.

Titles

Your title is added in the metadata of your document and is separate from your save title. 

On Mac: 

1. In the top menu, select File. 
2. Select Properties. 
3. Select Summary. 
4. Add your title. 

On Windows: 

1. In the top menu, select File. 
2. Select Info. 
3. Add your title. 

Resources:

Titles and Headings in Microsoft Word

Google Docs

To apply headings in Google Docs, highlight the text you want to apply a heading to. Then select from the headings dropdown on the menu bar. If you need additional help, visit the Google Docs Help page.

Tips: 

• Start your document with a Heading 1 tag (not "Title"). This helps folks more easily navigate through your Google Doc. 
• Use heading levels to easily build a table of contents. This table of contents can be customized and easily updated as you make edits to your Google Doc. 
• Change the style of your heading levels throughout your document by selecting "Update 'Heading' to match". This makes it easier to keep your document looking uniform without having to edit each heading tag individually. 

Resources:

Titles and Headings in Google Docs

Typographical choices such as the size, shape and formatting can have a big impact on all users’ ability to read and understand information, as well as on users with dyslexia or other reading impairments. Additionally, assistive technology may not be able to convey when certain text formatting or symbols are used.

• Fonts should be easy to read, with sans serif fonts (e.g. Tahoma, Arial, Calibri) used for the body text
• Font size should be at least 12pt
• Avoid using ALL CAPS
• Avoid making text full-justified; align text to the left or center instead
• Avoid using underlined text for emphasis, as it may be confused with hyperlinks and can reduce accessibility.
• Information conveyed by text formatting (bold or italics, highlighted or strike-through) or symbols should be available through other accessible means.
  • Bad Example: This example highlights and bolds an important update, which may not be read by assistive technology and doesn’t clarify its significance.
  • Good Example: Important Update: This example adds text to supplement the visual indications of importance which can be read by assistive technology and conveys the significance in a useful way for all users. 

Color

Color makes content accessible by emphasizing visual elements (icons, text, labels) to communicate meaning. Color cannot be used as the only way to communicate meaning or an important change, because not everyone can see color differences.

Contrast

Contrast is the difference between the lightness and darkness of two colors. Good color contrast makes content accessible by making text and controls easier to see and read. Accessible contrast benefits people who have various types of colorblindness, have low vision, are neurodivergent, or are viewing content in different lighting conditions.

Contrast Checker Resources:

When reviewing existing content, visually scan text and controls for low contrast. Any combinations that look low contrast should probably be improved.

To check the contrast value between two colors, use the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker. The checker will calculate the value and tell you if itpasses or fails.

Plain language is writing that is easy to read and understand. Plain language makes content more accessible to everyone, and it can be used in different contexts. 

Make your writing more understandable by being concise, organized, clear, using common words, defining acronyms and avoiding jargon. For additional help use the Hemingway Editor and get a reading level score and other suggestions or Digital.gov’s Plain Language Guide.

Setting the Document Language in Microsoft Word

1. Open a desktop Office program, such as Word.

2. Select File > Options > Language.

3. Under Office display language, select Add a Language....

4. Choose the desired language in the Add an authoring language dialog and then select Add.

5. The added language appears in the list of Office display languages.

Setting Document Language in Google Docs

In Google Docs or Google Slides, go to the top menu and click File > Language > the language you need.

Alternative text, or alt text, is a short description of an image. Alt text makes images (photos, diagrams, logos) accessible by providing a meaningful text alternative for people who can’t see, access, or process the original image. Alt text is not the same as an image caption, but is added in the document’s code and usually not displayed.

Good alt text is accurate, short, contextual, and not repetitive.

• Accurate
  • Correctly describes the content or purpose of the image
• Short
  • Not longer than it needs to be
  • A few words to a few sentences, usually limited to 150 characters
• Contextual
  • Communicates the purpose of the image in context
  • When writing alt text ask yourself, Why is this here? Not just, What does this show?
• Not repetitive
  • Does not begin with “image of,” because assistive technology already identifies the image as an image
    • Can describe format or genre, such as “photograph of students lounging near Diag,” “pencil drawing of students at a table studying”
  • Does not repeat description provided in the caption or surrounding text

Alt Text Example:

Bad Alt Text: George Washington
Good Alt Text: A painting by artist Emanuel Leutze of George Washington crossing the Delaware River

Alt Text:

1. Right-click on the image and select View Alt Text.
2. Then enter the alt text into the box that pops up. 
3. If you are using AI to generate alt text be sure to read it over for accuracy before saving.

Decorative Images:

If your visuals are purely decorative and add visual interest but aren't informative, you can mark them as such without needing to write any alt text. 

Examples of objects that should be marked as decorative are stylistic borders. People who use screen readers will hear that these objects are decorative so they know they aren't missing any important information.

Resource:

Alt Text in Microsoft Word

1. Select (click on) the image.
2. Then click on the three dots (•••) and choose ‘All image options.’
3. The image options side bar will pop up.
4. Click the arrow next to Alt Text.
5. Add your alt text into the box that appears.

Resource:

Alt Text in Google Docs

Links let users go to a new page or place on the web or in a digital document. Links make content accessible by making it clear where each link goes, with good link text.

Accessible link text is short, descriptive, understandable, and unique:

• Short — Just a few words, no more than 5 if possible
• Descriptive — Describes where it goes or what it does, so a user knows what will happen in advance
• Understandable — Text that is readable for humans, not a long URL string
• Unique — Not the same as other link text on the same page or document, unless it goes to the same place

Avoid phrases that are meaningless out of context such as “more,” “click here,” or “this article.” These links are confusing to people who are visually scanning content, or browsing content by links only with assistive technologies including screen readers.

Lists make content accessible by breaking up sections, letting readers know that items are related, and making content easier to navigate. Lists are not just visually styled, but are marked up in the code and can be navigated with assistive technology tools.

When creating lists, use built-in tools to format your text as a list. Don’t just start new lines, or input special characters in place of bullets or numbers.

There are two types of lists:

• Unordered lists (with bullets) for items that have no particular order
  • Use in general, unless order is required
• Ordered lists (with numbers) for items that have a sequence or order
  • Use for steps in a process, instructions, or ranked items
  • Do not use when order is not important

Lists, when properly formatted, can have nested items. Use nested items to create hierarchy and relationships among items in a list.

1. Select the text you want to change into a list.

2. Go to Home >  Bullets or Home > Numbering.

Resource:

bulleted or numbered lists in Microsoft Word

• From the toolbar, choose a list type (check marks, bullets or numbers). If you can't find the option, click the three dots (•••)

• If you want to add an extra line or space within a single item in a list without creating a new list item, just press Shift + Enter.

• To create a list within a list (a "nested list"), select Format > Bullets & numbering > List options. 

Resource:

lists in Google Docs

Tables are used to display tabular data, in rows and columns.Tables make content accessible by simply showing the relationships between many data points. Accessible tables are not just visually styled, but are marked up in the code and can be navigated with assistive technology tools.

Tables should be simple with one clear heading column and/or row and no merged cells.

Complex Table Example:

In this example, there is a compound header with merged cells, as well as a merged cell in the data cells. A screen-reader would not be able to correctly associate the headers with the information included. Part of the merged cells would read as ‘blank.’

Simple Table Example:

Adding a column for the subject eliminates the need for the compound heading and separating all the merged cells makes it possible for a screen-reader to associate headers with data and allow users to follow the information through audio. (Note: the header row would need to be set as a header for it to associate down to the cells below).

The two main components of a simple, accessible table are a header how and alt text. 

To add a header row: 

1. Select your data table and then select the Table Design ribbon. 
2. Make sure that the Header Row box is checked. 

To add alt text: 

1. Select your data table and then select the Layout ribbon in the Table Design tab.
2. Select Properties.
3. Select Alt Text.
4. Add information about your table in Title and Description.

Resource:

accessible headers in Microsoft Word

Google Docs does not have the ability to make tables fully accessible. Instead use Google Sheets for data tables.

The Accessibility Checker is a tool that reviews your content and flags accessibility issues it comes across. It explains why each issue might be a potential problem for someone with a disability. The Accessibility Checker also suggests how you can resolve the issues that appear.

In Word, the Accessibility Checker runs automatically in the background when you're creating a document. If the Accessibility Checker detects accessibility issues, you will get a reminder in the status bar.

To manually launch the Accessibility Checker, select Review > Check Accessibility.

The Accessibility pane opens, and you can now review and fix accessibility issues.

Resource:

• Using Microsoft Word's Accessibility Checker

Google Docs does not have built in accessibility checkers. The only option is to use an Add-on such as Grackle Docs.

Do not save to print. This removes all of the hard work you have done to improve the accessibility of your document. 

On Windows:

1. In the top menu, select File. 
2. Select Save As. 
3. Select PDF. 
4. Select Save. 

On Mac:

1. In the top menu, select Save As. 
2. Select PDF. 
3. Select Best for electronic distribution and accessibility. 
4. Select Export. 

Sharing A Google Doc:

1. Select File. 
2. Select Share.
3. Under General Access select either Restricted, Richland School District #400 or Anyone with Link.
4. Copy the link and click done.

Tip: You can update the permissions to ‘Anyone with the link’ is a ‘Viewer’ if you want to make sure everyone can see your document without making any edits.

Publish as a Web Page:

1. Select File. 
2. Select Share.
3. Adjust the settings under Published content and &settings.
4. Select Publish to the web. 

This will make your document publicly available as a web page that will update whenever you update your original document. To share it, provide the web page URL.

Download as a Word Document:

1. Select File. 
2. Select Download.
3. Select Microsoft Word (.docx). 

Resource:

Share files from Google drive