How to make Word documents accessible

Colour contrast

Good colour contrast helps more people, including those using assistive technologies, read and understand documents.

Colour in documents

Text and images in documents must have enough contrast to be clearly visible for most people. This includes:

normal and large text
non-text content in informative images (charts and diagrams) and interactive components (like form fields)

Decorative images and logos do not need to meet colour contrast requirements.

Do not rely on colour alone to convey information. Always include text labels, patterns, or other visual cues in charts, graphs or interactive components.

Colour contrast ratio

Colour contrast ratio measures the difference in brightness between two colours. Higher ratios mean higher contrast.

Normal and large text

Normal and large text sizes in Word are measured in points, so a size 12 font is equal to 12 points.

Minimum contrast ratios:

4.5:1 for normal text (under 18 point (24px) or 14 point (18.5px) bolded)
3:1 for large text (above 18 point (24px) or 14 point (18.5px) bolded)

The most inclusive and easiest to read colour combinations use 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text.

Setting text colour

When setting text colour, for example in headings:

avoid very low or very high contrast colour combinations
do not use colour alone to show meaning, for example, red text to show importance
check that text over multi-colour backgrounds, such as photos or semi-transparent graphics, is still readable

Many of Word's built-in styles do not meet colour accessibility requirements, so check them before you use them.

To modify or change a heading style colour in Word:

Go to Styles, then select the text style, for example, Heading 1.
Right-click, then select Modify.
Go to the Formatting toolbar to change the colour.

Non-text content

Non-text content must meet a minimum contrast ratio of at least 3:1.

This includes:

informative images such as charts, diagrams, and graphs
images of text
graphical objects and shapes that have meaning
interactive components, like form fields

For example, a line chart must have good contrast between the:

lines and background colours
lines next to each other

Decorative images do not need accessible colour contrast.

How to check colour contrast

Microsoft's Accessibility Checker

Microsoft's Accessibility Checker can help you find contrast issues in text, but does not check images, textboxes or shapes.

Learn more about Microsoft's Accessibility Checker

WebAIM Contrast Checker

WebAIM's Contrast Checker is web-based tool that works for most content. Use the colour picker dropper or input colours by their hex or RGB values.

Colours must meet minimum WCAG AA ratios to be accessible.

Check colours using WebAIM's Contrast Checker

Other colour tools and resources

You can use a colour's hex code (like #FFFFFF) with the following online tools:

Venngage Accessible Color Palette Generator - find colour pallets that are WCAG compliant.
WhoCanUse website - better understand how different colours combinations affect different people.