Appendix B: Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Other Software-Specific Accessibility Guides
Software-Specific Accessibility
For the most part, following the general principles of accessibility should make the majority of your content accessible. However, because computer programs have unique features, there are always a few accessibility hurdles and opportunities unique to each. For example, did you know that graphs and other floating elements in Excel get read by assistive technology in the order they were added to the spreadsheet unless you purposefully reorder them? Or that you can give a Word document a special document title that assistive technology will read instead of the file name? If you rely heavily on a particular program, such as Excel, PowerPoint, or Zoom, use the links below to explore Langara College’s excellent software-specific guides and suite-specific information from their Accessibility Handbook for Teaching and Learning.
Each software-specific section includes multiple pages of step-by-step instructions and videos to help you take advantage of accessibility opportunities unique to the particular software. Be sure to click through beyond the opening checklist.
Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility
Remote (and hybrid) Meetings in Teams and Zoom
If you are using a document suite other than Office, find information for common platforms below.
iWork
Apple’s default document suite includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. While they can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations they lack the advanced accessibility features and checkers of Microsoft Office.
Apple Support guide to creating accessible documents.
Apple Support Pages User Guide.
Google’s productivity suite includes Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. While these programs can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, and they have some accessibility features for users, they do not have the advanced accessibility features and checkers of Microsoft Office’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Browse the Google guide to document accessibility for details on making Google documents accessible.
LibreOffice and OpenOffice
LibreOffice accessibility support.
OpenOffice accessibility information.
