Microsoft Publisher

The order in which you add elements to the document is the order in which the document will be read. To change the reading order of elements, you will have to adjust the layers of the elements by:

1. Selecting an element (textbox or image).
2. Select the Home tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Arrange section, use the Bring Forward or Send Backward button to move the element in the reading order. The reading order will be read back to front, so element that are Sent to Back will be read first and elements Sent to Front will be read last.

To test the reading order of your document, use your tab key to tab through the elements.

A heading structure is important for users with assistive technology to easily navigate the document. To create a heading structure:

1. Select the text you wish to make a heading.
2. Select the Home tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Styles section, select and expand the Styles button and select a heading level from the list (Heading 1, Heading 2, et cetera).

If you already formatted the heading a certain way:

1. Select the text you wish to make a heading.
2. Select the Home tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Styles section, select and expand the Styles button.
4. Hover over a heading level option and right-click to open your context menu.
5. Select Update to Match Selection.

Semantic lists are important for users with assistive technology to easily navigate lists and list items. To create a semantic list:

1. Select the Home tab on the ribbon.
2. In the Paragraph section, select and expand the Bullets or Numbering list tool.
3. Select a list Style from the menu.

For images to be conveyed to users with assistive technology, visual content must have alternative text. To add alternative text to information images:

1. Right-click the object, or image, to open the context menu.
2. Select Format Picture from the context menu. The Format Picture dialog box will open.
3. In the Alt Text tab, insert equivalent alternative text that conveys the purpose of the image.
4. Select the OK button.

To make decorative images accessible, they must be exported to PDF and marked as Artifacts. For more information about tagging images as artifacts, please visit the PDF Guide - Alternative Text.

Simple tabular tables can be created in Publisher, however, for them to be accessible, they must be exported to PDF with properly identified row and/or column headers. For more information, please visit the PDF Guide - Tables.

To create a table:

1. Select the Home tab on the ribbon.
2. In the Objects section, select and expand the Table button.
3. Use the grid to create your desired columns and rows for the table.

Note: do not merge or split cells.