How to make Word documents accessible

Checklist for accessible Word documents

You must do manual and automatic checks to make sure your document is accessible.

On this page

Before you begin

Most people who read and interact with digital documents will do so online, so they must be digitally accessible. 

Learn which documents need to be made digitally accessible

Before you add a document to our website, make sure it:

  • is not better suited as web page content
  • is written using this guidance
  • has a logical document title and file name
  • has a suitable alternative if you cannot make it accessible

No document will be 100% accessible to all users in all situations.

Be sure to give details on how people can request a version of your content that meets their specific access needs. For example, an easy read document, BSL version or contact details if they would like to speak with a person.  

Manual checks

Before you publish your document, check it has:

Be sure to check your content with real users too, including those with disabilities to make sure it works for them.

You can even ask someone who doesn’t know your topic, like a colleague, if it makes sense to them. 

Automated checks

Microsoft Office has built-in checkers for each of its applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It can help you check and fix things you may have missed.

Passing an automated checker is not be a guarantee of an accessible document since it will not find all issues.

Do a manual check too using the checklist on this page.

Find out more about improving accessibility with the Accessibility Checker (Microsoft Support).

Testing with a screen reader

We recommend you learn how to use a screen reader to test your document. The most popular free ones are:

  • NVDA for Microsoft devices
  • TalkBack (built in to Android phones)
  • VoiceOver (built in to Mac and Iphone devices) 

Microsoft has its own built in screen reader called Narrator, but we recommend you install NVDA screen reader for testing instead.

NVDA is a full screen reader and the most used screen reader for Microsoft devices (WebAIM).  

If you work for the council, you can request NVDA using a new software request form [council staff only]

Word documents designed for print

Documents designed to be printed or folded can be hard to read and use online. They do not usually have an accessible layout and visual reading order.

For example:

  • Leaflets can have some upside-down text and pages are usually out of order.
  • Booklets usually have two pages side by side, causing some people to try to read left to right across both pages instead of top to bottom on one page

If you want to publish an inaccessible document on our websites, you must:

  • be able to evidence that there's demand for a printable version and that publishing it online will benefit people
  • make it available alongside a web-optimised accessible version of the information
  • make it clear that the print version is designed to be printed and is a copy of the accessible version, for example, by providing link text that reads 'Download a printable leaflet of '(this information) [PDF]'

The web-optimised version could be as:

  • web page content (the preferred format)
  • an accessible Word document
  • a tagged PDF converted from an accessibly created Word document

Example: Calendar PDF on the School holiday and term dates information web page

The Education Service requests that a 'School holiday and term dates' web page have a printable calendar on it for parents.

The service has evidenced through parent surveys that they want a printable calendar they can print out and post at home. Schools also want a printable version for their outdoor notice boards.

The link text for the printable version on our website reads "Download a printable version of the school holiday calendar 2024 to 2025 [PDF]'.

This is placed underneath a bulleted list of the holidays dates on the same web page. 

Still need help 

If you have an issue with your document content that's not covered in this checklist, you can contact the Communications team for advice. 

ICT training for Microsoft Word

If you work for the council, ICT offers support for Microsoft applications, including Word. 

To learn more, go to 365 HUB (Microsoft SharePoint) [council staff only].