While more accessible by default than PDFs, documents in a Google Doc or Microsoft Word format still have a need for accessibility improvements. Many of the accessibility issues that students encounter are similar to those found in web pages, but the techniques vary across document authoring tools. This section looks at how to make these documents, and the critical areas within them, more accessible for students.
This section includes:
- Helpful strategies for creating accessible documents.
- How to accomplish key tasks in both Google Docs and Microsoft Word.
- Why we make these changes and who it benefits.
Tips
- When possible, use Word documents instead of PDFs. It’s faster to make a Word Document accessible due to some of its built-in features. Google Docs are sufficient as well, but they require external tools and/or methods to make them fully accessible.
- A document you download to share with students may not be accessible and would require remediation. Instead, articles published in academic journals behind the paywall may be shared with students in the course through the CU Library Reserves. The library could share a direct link to the publication where students have document view options with accessible versions.”
This is an evolving resource. So far, we’ve only addressed a small number of document types and areas in which these documents may be made more accessible. Other types of documents will be included in future updates.
Ready to dive in? Choose one of the sidebar topics to start creating more accessible documents.