How to make Word documents accessible

Written content

Make content easy to read so users can quickly find and understand your information.  

On this page

Write document content people can read

The simpler your content is to read and use, the fewer questions and complaints you'll receive.

Make content easy to read by:

  • structuring content so information is quick and easy to find
  • writing in plain English
  • using headings, lists and links correctly
  • providing text alternatives to non-text content, like alt text for informative images or a short website address (URL) alongside a QR code

We've put this guidance together in How to write accessible web content.

Show text as written content, not images

It’s usually unnecessary to use an image to show text. Give the information as written content instead.

Examples of unnecessary ‘images of text’ include images that show:

  • the contents of a post from social media
  • an excerpt from a document
  • a quote
  • key facts from a slide presentation

If you do choose to use the image anyway, include real text nearby that conveys the same meaning.

It's okay if an image just happens to have text if the text is not meant to be the focus of the image.

Bulleted and numbered lists

Lists make text easier to read and scan because they break up long sentences and group important information. 

We use two main types of lists on our website: 

  • Bulleted (or unordered) lists
  • Numbered (or ordered) lists

Depending on how they're used, lists can be written and structured in different ways.

Learn how to write and structure different lists in content.

Making lists accessible in Word

Make sure any bulleted or ordered lists in your Word document are formatted using the built-in list tool. 

This structures lists consistently and tags them so assistive technologies correctly read them as a list. For example, a screen reader will announce a list, how many items are in it, what's each point is and when the list ends. 

AI tools look for properly formatted lists when scanning documents to understand your information better.

How to add and format lists in Word

Microsoft Support explains how to create accessible lists in:  

Add list spacing using the Paragraph tool

Do not create spacing between list items by using the Enter key to insert empty line spaces. This makes the list difficult to understand for screen readers because each bullet will read out as a new list. 

Instead, create consistent spacing between list items using these steps: 

  1. Highlight your list. 
  2. In the 'Home' menu, go to the ''Paragraph' section and open the 'Line and paragraph spacing' tool
  3. Go to 'Line Spacing Options' 
  4. In the 'Indents and Spacing' tab, go to the 'Spacing' section.
  5. Make sure the 'Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style' checkbox is unticked.
  6. Use the 'Before' and 'After' fields to adjust the bullet spacing in your list. 

Check written content

Manual checks

The best way to check that your document content is easy to read is by testing it yourself with real users.

It can help to find someone who does not know your topic well and ask them if it makes sense to them. 

Automated checks

You can also use Word's automated checker. Go to the 'Review' tab and use the:

  • 'Check Accessibility' tool to check text colour and contrast, image alt text, accessible tables, document structure  
  • 'Editor' tool to check grammar, spelling, style, clarity and reading level (under 'Insights' and 'Document stats')

We explain how Word's reading level checker works in our page Write using plain English.

Do not rely solely on automated checkers or 'no issues found' to know if your document is accessible. They will not find all issues. For example, Word's accessibility checker cannot check colour contrast in images.  

You must do manual and automatic checks of your content to make sure it is accessible.

Related resources

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines