Language and Dictate
Microsoft Word has a number of accessible tools to help you create accessible word documents. Dictate is a speech-to-text tool within Microsoft Word instead of typing out your thought. This can be helpful for those who prefer to process and dictate their information on to a page rather than typing.
Writing Accessibility Do's and Dont's
The purpose of accessible writing is to ensure that all readers can access and read what the writer is making available to their audiences. These are some quick accessibility guidelines for general writing practices.
DO use Accessibility Checkers where possible. These do a lot of work for you in checking on various aspects of your document or website (such as colors, fonts, screen-readability, accessibility of any tables in your document, etc.) so that you don't have to remember everything.
DO use clear headings in your writing, and use headings in their logical order. This helps people understand the structure of your content and find what they want more easily.
DO put meaningful words first in headings. For example, ‘Accessibility guidance’ not ‘Guidance on accessibility’, because it is quicker for users to understand the meaning when they scan.
DO use Bullet and Number features when making a list or displaying a lot of information. DON'T just type out a list and number it yourself. Use available features for such things as opposed to manually typing them. Numbered or bulleted lists to display information are easier to scan and comprehend than blocks of text.
DO include a include a simple and accurate ‘call to action’ (and an additional signifier) in your writing if you want readers to do something.
- DO use bold text for emphasis or headings, rather than italics or underlining. This can be easier for dyslexic people to read.
- DO use Headers and text styles. DON'T just bold and resize headers to make them stand out. Correctly styled headings mean that the page is more easily navigable by people and screen readers.
DO include descriptive links when writing for the web and adding hyperlinks. Descriptive links make sure the link text describes what it’s linking to. This is clearer for screen reader users and also helps all readers who are scanning a piece of text. DON'T just paste a URL into the document. DO use unique text for hyperlinks with different destinations.
DO use accessible fonts. Use clear, legible, high contrast fonts and it's recommend to use sans-Serif fonts. If you search for "Accessible fonts" on the web, you will find lists with recommendations. AVOID highly stylized or 'fun' fonts unless it is necessary.
DO use descriptors when referring readers to other resources. For example, use ‘For further guidance on writing accessible web content, check our writing for the web resources’ rather than ‘For further guidance on writing accessible web content, click here’.
- AVOID using tables in your document. If you need to insert a table, AVOID using fixed-width tables. DO use a header row by using a Table Style or Formatting options available to you.