Microsoft Excel

• The reading order in Excel is always left to right and top to bottom.
• In the Styles section of the Home tab, use the Cell Styles button to indicate headings.
• Do not merge or split cells.

Users with colorblindness or impaired vision may have a difficult time reading your content if the contrast between the text and background is insufficient. Normal text (regular 12-point font) must have a 4.5:1 contrast ratio and large text (bold 14-point font or regular 18-point font) must have a 3:1 contrast ratio.

To correct color contrast issues:

1. Select the Review tab on the ribbon.
2. In the Accessibility section, expand the Check Accessibility list options.
3. Select the list option labeled "Check Accessibility." The Accessibility Assistant side panel will open.
4. In the Color and Contrast section, select the "Hard-to-read text contrast" button. It will outline the cell that has a color contrast error.
5. You have a few options for this step:
   • Select More Font Colors and select a different font color.
   • Select Fill color to select a background color.
   • Select Format Cell Font to open the Format Cells dialog box to change the background and font color, type, size, etc.

It is best to manually check your content's color contrast ratio with WebAIM's color contrast checker or Paciello Group's Contrast Analyser.

Sheets should labeled with informational titles. "Sheet1" as a sheet label is too ambiguous and does not tell the user anything about its contents.

To change the sheet label:

1. Right-click the sheet tab to open the context menu.
2. Select the menu option labeled "Rename." The sheet tab will become editable.
3. Type an informational title for the sheet.

When a user opens a spreadsheet, they always start on cell A1. To ensure your content is navigable, ensure cell A1 always has content. After all, your digital content is most likely not part of a treasure hunt, so do not make your users try to find it!

Cells, of course, can be blank, spacing between tables on an Excel spreadsheet does not automatically make the content inaccessible. It is important to leave minimal space (1 blank row or column) between content and leave screentips or naming conventions for users so they know where to go next.

Add screen tips to cells to tell users more information about where to go next or more details about what they should input in the cell. ScreenTips are read aloud by screen readers to users! Take advantage and give them hints on what cells they should go to next for more content!

To add screentips to cells:

1. Select a cell or select a range of cells.
2. Select the Data tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Data Tools, select and expand the Data Validation button.
4. Select "Data Validation..." The Data Validation dialog box will open.
5. Select the Input Message tab.
6. Uncheck the checkbox labeled "Show input message when cell is selected" if you do not want the screentip to be visible. Even if this option is unchecked, screentips are read aloud by assistive technology. Input a title in the Title field and input a message in the Input message field.
7. Select OK.

You can name cells or ranges of cells so screen reader users can identify the purpose of a cell or cell range. Users can use Ctrl + G on their keyboard for a shortcut that will list all of the defined names and their referring cells.

To name cells:

1. Select a cell or select a range of cells.
2. Select the Formulas tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Defined Names section, select the Define Name button. The New Name dialog box will open.
4. In the Name textbox, input the cell(s) name/title.

To create a table:

1. Highlight the cells that contain data.
2. Select the Insert tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Tables section, select the Table button. The Create Table dialog box will open.
4. If the highlighted cells contain headers, ensure the "My table has headers" checkbox is checked.
5. Select OK.

The table name is essentially the table title. Screen readers read the table name as a label to refer back to the table or find it later. This helps users know what content is displayed in a table and if they need to review it.

To add a table name:

1. Select the table.
2. Select the Table Design tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Properties section, input a table name in the Table Name textbox.

• The structure of tables should be fairly simple and easy to navigate.
• Do not merge or split cells.
• Do not nest tables within one another.

By indicating column and row headers, screen reader users will be able to convey the meaning of the data. Without column or row headers, the data can be meaningless.

To add column and row headers to a table:

1. Select the table.
2. Select the Table Design tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Table Style Options section, indicate headers by checking the checkboxes to header row, first column, and/or last column.

Images with educational value should have alternative text. Any content that is not expressed in a text, such as images, graphs, etc., should have a text alternative that conveys the purpose. Only the context-relevant information that you want the user to know should be conveyed in the alternative text. Alternative text should never start with “image of” or “graphic of.” A screen reader will do that for the user by default.

To add alt text to an image in Excel:

1. Select the image so that the Graphics Format tab becomes available.
2. Select the Graphics Format tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Accessibility section, select the button labeled "Alt Text." The alt text side panel will open.
4. Use the textbox to input alternative text for the image.
5. In a cell near the rest of your content, type the same alternative text so a screen reader user can find it. Images are not anchored or inline.

Decorative images contain no additional or educational value to the information you are presenting. Decorative images should be marked as decorative using the alt text panel.

To mark an image as decorative:

1. Select the image so that the Graphics Format tab becomes available.
2. Select the Graphics Format tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Accessibility section, select the button labeled "Alt Text." The alt text side panel will open.
4. Check the "Mark as decorative" checkbox so the image is ignored by assistive technology.

• Images of text may include logotypes, wordArt, images of historical documents, etc.
• Images of text should have equivalent alternative text unless the text is decorative.
• Images of text, or page banners, should not be used as headings. Users cannot increase the font size of the text in the image which could impose barriers.
• ESL learners cannot translate images of text as easily as true text if needed.
• There are instances where the alternative text of an image of text does not need to contain every word of the image if it is not relevant to the content. For instance, if providing a screenshot of a webpage, the alt text does not need to cite every word shown in the screenshot. However, if a button design was made in Canva, the alternative text should be equivalent to the text in the image.

Graphs and charts should have a short alternative text description for identification purposes in addition to a long, detailed description in nearby text. The long description is where you would describe the bar height variance, pie chart slice sizes, a line chart's significant points, etc.

• Audio-only files must be accompanied with an accurate transcript on the document.
• Video-only files must be accompanied with a text description of all significant visuals or text shown in the video.
• Audio and Video files must be contain accurate, syncronized captions and appropriate audio descriptions where necessary.