Document Structure & Navigation
Manually making text bold and larger to create a section title, instead of using the Styles gallery
What is a "fake heading"?
This text description of an image is read aloud by a screen reader, explaining the image's content.
What is Alt Text?
Hitting the Enter key multiple times creates this problem, which a screen reader announces as "blank, blank, blank."
What are extra blank lines?
Instead of using link text like "Click Here," the text should describe the link's destination.
What is meaningful (or descriptive) hyperlink text?
Found in the "Review" tab, this tool scans your document for issues like missing alt text and low contrast.
What is the Accessibility Checker?
This tool in the "View" tab shows a clickable outline of your document and is the best way to check your heading order.
What is the Navigation Pane?
Using red text as the only way to mark a task as "urgent" violates this accessibility rule.
What is "Don't use color alone to convey meaning"?
This is the recommended minimum font size for accessible documents, though 16-18pt is even better.
What is 12-point font?
Word's built-in tools for creating fillable fields, which are not accessible and should be avoided.
What are Legacy Form Tools?
Using this common function will strip out all your accessibility tags like headings and alt text.
What is "Print to PDF"?
This rule states you must use Heading 1, then Heading 2, then Heading 3, without skipping any levels.
What is a logical (or sequential) hierarchy?
This term describes the necessary difference in brightness between your text and its background for readability.
What is Color Contrast?
Simple fonts like Arial and Calibri fall into this category, which is recommended over decorative or serif fonts.
What is sans-serif?
To ensure a link is easily recognized by all users, it should have this standard, two-part formatting.
What is blue text and an underline?
To save an accessible PDF on a Mac, you must select this option under "Save As."
What is "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility"?
Instead of just typing an asterisk or "1.", you should use these buttons on the Home tab to give a list proper structure.
What are the Bulleted and Numbered List buttons?
A screen reader already announces "image," so you should avoid starting your alt text with these redundant words.
What are "Image of" or "Picture of"?
Instead of using blank lines, you should adjust these settings in the "Paragraph" menu to add space.
What are "Spacing Before" and "Spacing After"?
When creating a simple form in Word, you should only place this many fields on each line.
What is one?
When saving as a PDF on a PC, you should check this box under "PDF options" to create a file format that is archival-friendly and preserves accessibility.
What is "PDF/UA compliant"?
Found in the "Table Design" tab, checking this box is critical for letting screen readers identify column titles.
What is a Header Row?
For a complex chart, the alt text should be a short summary, and this should be provided in the body text immediately after.
What is a long or extended description?
Found in the "Review" tab, setting this ensures a screen reader pronounces words in the document correctly.
What is the document language?
If a document might be printed, you should include this in the link text itself.
What is the URL (e.g., benetech.org)?
On a PC, you must click "Options" when saving as a PDF and check this specific box to preserve your document's structure.
What is "Document structure tags for accessibility"?