Overview

This lesson will provide an overview of MS Word, with focus on where to find certain tools that you'll need to create accessible documents.

Please note that there are different versions of MS Word, so some screenshots may not look identical to your version and some steps may be slightly different. However, regardless of which version you are using, most tools are located in the same/similar locations.

There are guides for creating accessible Word documents for different versions of Word in the Additional Resources section below. If you are using an older version of Word than what's listed, we strongly recommend that you upgrade in order to access accessibility features that have been added to newer versions.

NOTE: This module was developed based on Microsoft Word versions 2016 and before. Since then, Microsoft has released Office 2019 with some new and enhanced accessibility features, but most of the accessibility functionality is the same or similar to that covered in this module. Office 365 is a cloud-based suite of productivity apps like Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and more. Microsoft 365Links to an external site. is a bundle of services including Office 365, plus several other services including Windows 10 Enterprise.

Core Concepts

"I already know how to use Word"

The majority of inaccessible documents are created because the document authors are unaware of tools in Word that can help them format their documents. Many of us are self-taught on how to use Word. As a result we've "learned" how to get documents to look the way we want while ignoring the functional side of the document. When we go to copy and paste the contents or edit a section we find ourselves wrestling with odd blank sections and auto-formatting that seems at odds with what we're trying to do.

Creating an accessible Word document is essentially creating a Word document as Microsoft intended you to do with the tools they provided. Plus, these tools - once you know how to use them correctly - will make for a more efficient work process and will save you more time than you realize. While you may be questioning if you have enough time to learn how to make accessible documents, the reality is often that you're likely wasting a lot of time manually formatting and overriding Microsoft settings in order to create "pretty" but inaccessible documents that take twice as long to format.

The Ribbon

The Ribbon in Word refers to the collection of tabs that runs across the top of the program, above the document. The tabs on this ribbon can be customized, so if a particular tab is referenced in the training that you do not have, right click on the ribbon and select Customize Ribbon in order to select which tabs display.

MS Word ribbon

Tabs

Most of us remain on the Home tab as we compose a document. The Home tab contains a variety of useful formatting tools - font settings, paragraph settings, and styles (largely overlooked but incredibly important, as we'll discuss in the next lesson).

The other tabs in Word can be just as useful as the Home tab. Under the Insert tab, we find the ability to add images, graphs, tables, etc.

The Design tab allows you to change the look of your document quickly if you've applied headings (more on that in a bit).

The Layout tab is another valuable tab that allows you greater control over the layout of the document. The items in this tab can take the place of using blank lines and tab/spaces to position text where you'd like it.

We encourage you to get comfortable with the various tabs and their associated tools in Word. If you're ever uncertain as to where something is, you can is the 'Tell me what to do...' search to access the tool you're looking for.

Additional Resources

MS Word Guides - A great collection of guides from WebAIM for making accessible Word documents using different versions of MS Word.