#31 - Accessibility tips for apps you use

Rosemary O'Shaughnessy your comments on my last post inspired me to go and see what practical tips I might come up with on general accessibility tips relating to using common applications such as Word and PowerPoint.

I fired up Bing Chat and asked it to: "Give me 10 ideas for tips on accessibility using normally used computer applications, give as much practical detail as possible and identify the app if the tips are specific to that particular app."

Here's what came back (other stuff that I've added in is in italics):

Use Accessibility Checker

(Word, PowerPoint, Excel): The accessibility checker is a feature that scans your document or presentation for any issues that might make it difficult for people with disabilities to access the content. It also provides suggestions on how to fix them. You can access the accessibility checker by clicking on the Review tab and then selecting Check Accessibility. You should run the accessibility checker before you share your document or presentation with others.

Use subtitles in PowerPoint

Here's a very easy to turn on option in PowerPoint - in the Slide Show tab check the "Always use Subtitles" box. The subtitles then appear as you are talking in whatever part of the screen you specify. This really helps those who are hard of hearing as well as making it easier for everyone to follow...

Implement Styles and Headings

(Word, OneNote): Styles and headings are formatting options that help you organise your document and make it easier for screen readers to navigate. Styles are predefined sets of font, size, colour, and alignment that you can apply to your text. Headings are styles that indicate the level of importance of a section or subsection of your document. You can use the Home tab to apply styles and headings to your text. You should use headings in a hierarchical order, starting from Heading 1 for the main title, Heading 2 for subheadings, and so on.

Add Descriptive Text to Images

(Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote): Alternative text (alt text) is a brief description of an image, graph, or chart that conveys its content or purpose to visually impaired users who use screen readers or braille devices. You can add alt text to your images by right-clicking on them and selecting Edit Alt Text. You should write alt text that is clear, concise, and relevant to the context of your document or presentation.

There's a good article from Microsoft on best practices around alt text HERE. I'd love to know how they add the options in the browser URL box to create a QR code straight to the article - the 4 boxes icon below

And another one from the World Wide Web Consortium links to some more resources:

Pro bonus tip! given ChatGPT's new capabilities to process images, you can get it to generate good Alt text by pasting the image in and asking it to "Generate me comprehensive alt-text for this image".

Create Accessible Tables

(Word, PowerPoint, Excel): Tables are useful for displaying data or information in a structured way, but they can be challenging for screen readers to interpret. To make your tables more accessible, you should do the following:Use the Insert tab to create tables, rather than drawing them manually or using tabs or spaces. Specify row and column headers that describe the content of each cell. Provide a summary that explains the purpose and main points of the table. Avoid merging or splitting cells, as this can confuse screen readers.

Ensure Color Contrast

(Word, PowerPoint, Excel): Color contrast is the difference in brightness between the text and the background. If the color contrast is too low, it can be hard for users with visual impairments or color blindness to read the text. You can use [WebAIM Color Contrast Checker or Color Contrast Analyzer to check the color contrast of your text and background. You should aim for a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.

Avoid Color-Only Information (Word, PowerPoint, Excel): Color can be a helpful way to highlight or emphasize information, but it should not be the only way to convey it. Some users may not be able to perceive color differences due to visual impairments or color blindness. Therefore, you should always use additional indicators like text labels or patterns to supplement color information. For example, if you use a red-green color scheme to show positive and negative values in a chart, you should also use plus and minus signs or different shapes to distinguish them.

About 12% of men and 3% of women are colour-blind - that's about 300 million people (that's roughly equivalent to the entire population of the USA!). I'm one of them, and I can personally confirm that this is a pain - Red Amber Green colour signalling on dashboards for instance mean little to me because I can't see red or differentiate between green and yellow. More on this at an article here:

Structure Slides Properly (PowerPoint): Slides are the basic units of a presentation, and they should be structured properly to ensure accessibility and readability. To structure your slides properly, you should do the following:Use the Title placeholder to provide a title for each slide that summarises its main idea.Use the Content placeholder to add text, images, graphs, charts, or other elements that support your title.Arrange the elements in a logical order that can be read by screen readers from left to right and top to bottom.Avoid using too much text or too many elements on one slide; keep it simple and clear.

Keyboard Navigation (All applications): Keyboard navigation is the ability to perform all functions and navigation in an application using only a keyboard, without a mouse. This is important for users who cannot use a mouse due to physical disabilities or preferences. You can use keyboard shortcuts to access commands, menus, tabs, dialog boxes, and other features in an application. You can also use the Tab key to move between different elements on a screen, and the Enter key to activate them. You should test your document or presentation using keyboard navigation only, and make sure it works smoothly and intuitively.

Resizable Text (All applications): Resizable text is text that can be enlarged or reduced without loss of content or functionality. This is beneficial for users with low vision who may need to adjust the text size according to their preferences or needs. You can enable resizable text by using relative units like percentages or ems instead of absolute units like pixels or points when formatting your text. You can also use zoom features in applications like Word or PowerPoint to change the text size on the screen. You should avoid using images or screenshots of text, as they cannot be resized without losing quality or clarity.

Provide Captions and Transcripts (PowerPoint, OneNote): Captions and transcripts are textual representations of audio and video content that assist users with hearing impairments or language barriers. Captions are synchronised with the audio and video, and display the spoken words, sound effects, and speaker identification on the screen. Transcripts are separate documents that contain the full text of the audio and video, along with additional information like timestamps, speaker names, and descriptions of visual elements. You can use tools like [Microsoft Stream] or [YouTube] to generate captions and transcripts for your multimedia content. You should also provide a link or an attachment of the transcript for your audience.

For most of my recorded presentations, I run the video through Otter.AI and this generates a transcript - you can even tag who is speaking so everyone is correctly identified. Once the transcript has been created, you can also download it as a .SRT file - if this file is put in the same folder as the video it enables listeners to turn on subtitles in their video app.

Did this post give you any ideas? There must be many more easy to implement options for accessibility - perhaps using AI or not. Please share any you know in the chat!

See you next time!

Joe Houghton?is an Assistant Professor at UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business where he directs the MSc programmes in Project Management. After a career in IT in multinationals, Joe switched into a portfolio career of University teaching, management coaching and training.

He has authored 6 books to date including "Innovative teaching with AI: Creative approaches to enhancing learning in education", and "Project Management made easy...: the ECCSR approach". His latest book "Applying Artificial Intelligence to Close the Accessibility Gap: A practical handbook for educators & students!" is now available on Amazon! More on this in a future edition...

Contact Joe on email at?[email protected]?for any requests for training, seminars, workshops or keynote speaking.