The focus of this portion of the presentation is to use the Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word 2010 to find potential accessibility issues and provide instructions on how those issues can be resolved. Even without previous knowledge of what constitutes an accessible document, the Accessibility Checker can be used to explain issues in existing documents and why users who utilize screen reading software need certain accessibility attributes to be able to access all of the information contained in Word documents.
If you wish to check accessibility while you are creating a document, with a new file open, click the File tab, click Info, click Check for Issues, and select Check Accessibility. The shortcut key sequence for this is Alt - F - I - I - A. This will show the Accessibility Checker task pane on the right side of the window. Similar to the Spell Check and Grammar Checker, the Accessibility Checker will display accessibility issues in real time as the document is created.
In order for the Accessibility Checker to work, documents created with earlier versions of Word must first be converted. To do so, click the File tab. Click Info, and then click Convert to convert the document to the Word 2010 file format. The shortcut key sequence for this is Alt - F - I - K.
The Accessibility Checker checks the document against a set of possible issues that users who have disabilities might experience when using assistive software. Each issue is classified as an Error, a Warning or a Tip. The issues will be displayed in groups in the task pane, with the most severe group, the Errors, displayed at the top. Even though none are visible in this document, any Tips would also be displayed below the Warnings. If you would like to view the document shown, it can be downloaded from:
An accessibility error is given for content that makes a file very difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to understand.
An accessibility warning is given for content that in most, but not all, cases makes a file difficult for people with disabilities to understand.
An accessibility tip is given for content that people with disabilities can understand, but that might be better organized or presented in a way that would maximize their experience. There are no tips listed in this document.
Whenever the Accessibility Checker finds an issue, the task pane on the right side of the Word window shows information about why the content might be inaccessible. Selecting the issue then shows instructions on how to repair or revise it, and double clicking the issue will take the user to the location of the issue in the document.
Again, the Errors listed are more crucial than Warnings or Tips. The top error states "Missing Alt Text". Alt is short for Alternate and is an attribute that should be used to adequately describe the purpose of any image used to convey meaning, and describe the purpose of any table that is used to present data.
To fix the first error, double click Picture 1 under the Missing Alt Text error. This should take you to the image. Right click on the image and select Format Picture... Click the Alt Text option on the bottom of the options in the left column. Specify a title of the image and include a description if necessary, especially when the image itself contains text. Click Close when finished.
Use a similar process to add Alt Text to the table. Double click the error in the task pane, right click on the table, and select Table Properties... Click the Alt Text tab at the top if necessary, and enter a description of the table's purpose. Click OK to close the dialog.
The next error states that no header row is specified for the table. To fix this, click in the top row of the table. Click the Design Tab under Table Tools. Click the checkbox to indicate that the table contains a Header Row. Notice how the table spans across two pages. To include the header row on the second page as well, click the Layout tab under Table Tools. Click the option to Repeat Header Row. The header row should now also appear at the top of the table on the second page.
The remaining error is more complicated and will take longer to fix. It states that the document is unstructured. Although it appears to have headings, a bold font does not qualify as an actual heading. Using styles to create headings will give the document a hierarchal structure and make it easier for all users to find information in the document. Although this error will only show up in the Accessibility Checker if a document contains more than 2000 words, all documents should use headings to create structure.
To help understand document structure, display the Navigation Pane byf clicking the View tab and clicking the checkbox next to Navigation Pane. It will initially appear empty. Go to the very top of the document and select the text that says "Course Syllabus". Click the Home tab if necessary and click "Title" in the Styles group. That will be the title of the document, but it will not appear in the Navigation Pane. Since a heading is a block level element that should be on its own line, press enter where necessary to separate the bold text from the normal text. With the cursor on the same line as the bold text, apply the Heading 1 style where appropriate. The headings should display in the Navigation Pane. Delete any spacing as needed.
By default, Word may show only 1 heading level. To change this, click the dialog launcher in the lower right corner of the Style group. Click the Manage Styles button at the bottom of the Styles pane. Click the Recommend tab at the top. Select heading levels you would like displayed, and click Show. Click OK when finished and close the Styles task pane if necessary to see more of the screen.
Use the Heading 1 style where appropriate. Specify that any of the bold text that is indented is a level 2 heading by using the Heading 2 style. Notice how the Heading 2 elements are nested inside the Heading 1 elements. Repeat throughout the document to give it a hierarchal structure. If you don't find the look of the headings appealing, right click on the style in the ribbon and select "Modify Style". Using that method, all instances of that style will be automatically modified to the format you choose.
The "Unstructured Document" error has disappeared, but an "Infrequent Headings" warning is present. As you go through the document and apply the different heading levels, that warning should be fixed and the document structure should appear in the navigation pane.
The document has all of the headings applied, and the warning has disappeared. The next warning states that there is an instance of Unclear Hyperlink Text. Click the error to be taken to its location. With the text of the hyperlink selected, hit Ctrl k to open the hyperlink dialog. Click the Screen Tip button in the upper right corner and enter descriptive text to inform the user to where the hyperlink will take them. Click OK twice to close the dialogs.
The last remaining warning is for Repeated Blank Characters, which should be removed so screen reading software does not believe it has reached the end of the document. Click the error and remove the repeated spaces. With all Errors and Warnings removed, the document is now accessible.
Dakota State University provides an accessible syllabus template for faculty to use. It contains first and second level headings for all of the required components of a course syllabus, plus placeholders that are automatically styled to give the document structure. The placeholders disappear as text is typed over them. A uniformly constructed syllabus template provides all users with the same important course information.