How to make Word documents accessible

While not a requirement, consider adding bookmarks to give people a quick way to navigate to important information in your document content. 

Bookmarks are a helpful addition to headings, but should not replace them. 

We recommend adding bookmarks to Word documents over 4 pages. Some accessibility checkers will flag documents over 21 pages without bookmarks. 

When exporting a Word document to PDF that has both heading styles and bookmarks, choose headings for your PDF bookmarks. Headings are better for overall PDF navigation compared to bookmarks because they more easily show document structure. 

Read how to export a Word document to a PDF

Adding bookmarks in Word

Learn how to add or delete bookmarks in a Word document (Microsoft Support).

Bookmarks should typically be added in the same place as the major subheadings. These are usually heading level 2s. 

Try to make the bookmark name the same as the text it refers to. Use an underscore to separate words instead of spaces, like 'adding_bookmarks_in_Word'.