Accessible documents are easier to understand and read for all of your users, not just users with disabilities. There are steps you can take, such as tagging your document with headings, being mindful of color, and using formatting techniques that will make your document more accessible to more people.
Creating accessible documents
Key concepts for accessible documents
The Basic Content Accessibility Guidelines outline the key concepts that also apply to documents:
- Accessibility Check: Use available Accessibility Tools to run an accessibility check of the document as you work.
- Document Metadata: Add metadata information, such as Title, Author, Language. These are read first.
- Headings: Use concise headings to delineate sections of your document. Tag and order them like an outline.
- Alt Text: Ensure meaningful images have alternative text and decorative images are marked as 鈥渄ecorative,鈥� if possible.
- Color: Choose colors that provide adequate contrast and don鈥檛 rely on color alone to convey meaning.
Keep reading for guidelines and step-by-step instructions for specific document types below.
Guidance By Document Type
Step-by-step instructions for creating accessible documents.
PDFs
Word Documents
Spreadsheets
Learn more about creating accessible content
Guidelines for Documents, Multimedia, Email, Canvas, Charts & Graphs, and Forms.