10 Tips for Creating Accessible Documents

Regardless of department, most of us regularly create and utilize documents. Still, ensuring accessibility remains a challenge. According to AccessiBe, an estimated 2.3% of the American population, or 7.3 million people, require some form of assistive technology to access the web.

Accessible documents are those that anyone can understand, including people with visual, auditory, cognitive, and physical disabilities. This involves using color mindfully, considering dyslexia and color-blindness, and formatting for compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technology.

As a copywriting/editing intern with Sound Transit’s (ST) Project Management & Resourcing team this summer, I experienced firsthand the importance of accessible documents when tasked with transforming the Service Delivery Guidebook into a document accessible for screen-reader use.

The guidebook contained many visual graphics and interactive links that people who use screen readers have difficulty navigating. After conducting research and talking to folks at ST, I learned that creating accessible documents is a lot easier than one might think.

Here are my top 10 do’s and don’ts when creating accessible documents:

Do’s

1. Helpful headings: Use Microsoft Word heading styles to make your document easy to navigate. Reference the navigation pane in the “view” ribbon to ensure logical sequencing.
2. Handy hyperlinks: Use hyperlinks instead of URLs and label them with descriptive, informative text to provide context to your reader.
3. Awesome alt-text: All images and graphics should have alternative text or be marked as decorative in the accessibility checker. Alternative text is a concise description of what an image conveys (aim for 120 characters). In more complex instances, images and graphics may also need a caption.
4. Lovely lists: When appropriate, group items using numbered or bulleted lists to enhance readability.
5. Check it: After creating your document, run the Microsoft accessibility checker by going to the “review” ribbon and selecting “check accessibility.” It will walk you through any necessary changes.

Don'ts

1. Tricky tables: Avoid using tables as a layout tool. When using tables, reserve them for displaying data and use a simple table structure without merged cells.
2. Bad boxes: Avoid using text boxes. Screen readers do not recognize them in Word, making the content inaccessible to users.
3. Puzzling PDFs: Turning documents into PDFs without using appropriate accessibility settings can render them inaccessible.
4. Color contrast: Do not rely solely on color to denote important information. Avoid using inaccessible color combinations like yellow highlight. A good way to avoid this is to use online color contrast checkers like WebAIM’s.
5. Think twice: Avoid using exclusive language. Terms like "see" and "click" in certain contexts don't apply to everyone, so be mindful.
   

Considering accessibility aligns with ST’s equity and inclusion goals, fostering a more inclusive workplace and user experience. While working on this guidebook, I learned it’s much easier to keep accessibility in mind from the start than to convert an inaccessible document. It is imperative to be intentionally inclusive in the workplace and I encourage everyone to consider this in their work.