How to Check Accessibility and Share a Word Document

The Tutoring Handbook goes to volunteers, families and the community center office. Some of them will read it on a phone on the bus, some will zoom to 200 percent, and some will listen to it with a screen reader. A document that only looks right is not finished. It also needs a structure that people and their tools can follow.

In this tutorial you will fix the Volunteer guide chapter so it passes Word's Accessibility Checker, remove hidden information you don't want to send, and share the handbook with the right people in the right way.

Why accessibility matters

An accessible document is one that more people can use, in more ways. Think about who reads the handbook:

The good news is that most fixes are the same habits that make a long document easier to manage: styles instead of hand formatting, real lists and tables, and spacing set in the paragraph settings. You learned many of them in Tutorial 1 of this level. Accessibility is mostly about using Word's features the way they were designed, and then checking.

Run the Accessibility Checker

Go to Review› then Accessibility› then Check Accessibility. A pane opens on the right and lists what it found. The pane and the button have changed names between versions: you may see Accessibility, Accessibility Checker or, in newer Microsoft 365 builds, the Accessibility Assistant. They do the same job. You can also click the Accessibility item on the status bar, or find it with File› then Info› then Check for Issues› then Check Accessibility.

Click an issue to jump to it in the document. Many issues have a Recommended Actions menu (or a fix button in the Assistant) that applies the fix for you, such as Add a description or Mark as decorative. Read the explanation at the bottom of the pane the first few times; it says why the problem matters.

The checker is a start, not a stamp of approval. It can't tell that a bold, 16 pt line was meant to be a heading, or that alt text saying picture is useless. That's why the next sections show what to fix by hand. To keep it watching while you write, tick Keep accessibility checker running while I work in the pane or in File› then Options› then Accessibility, and the status bar will show Accessibility: Investigate whenever something needs attention.

Use real headings and real spacing

A screen reader user moves around a long document by jumping between headings, the same way you use the Navigation pane. Text that only looks like a heading (bold, bigger, maybe a different color) is invisible to that. Apply real heading styles instead: Home› then Styles› then Heading 1, or Ctrl+Alt+1, Ctrl+Alt+2 and Ctrl+Alt+3.

• Keep the order. One Heading 1 per chapter, Heading 2 for its parts, Heading 3 inside those. Don't jump from Heading 1 to Heading 3 because you like how Heading 3 looks; change the style instead.
• Check it in the Navigation pane. View› then Show› then Navigation Pane shows the outline that a screen reader user hears. If a heading is missing there, it isn't a real heading.
• Use real lists. Typed 1. or - at the start of a line is read as plain text. Use Home› then Paragraph› then Bullets or Numbering, so readers hear "list of 4 items".
• No empty paragraphs for spacing. Each empty ¶ is announced as blank, and it breaks the layout on small screens. Set Spacing Before and After in Home› then Paragraph or in the style, and use Ctrl+Enter for a new page.

Alt text, meaningful links and table headers

Alt text (alternative text) is a short description that a screen reader reads instead of the picture. Right-click a picture and choose View Alt Text (in some versions Edit Alt Text), or use Picture Format› then Accessibility› then Alt Text. Write one or two sentences about what the picture shows and why it is there, such as Two tutors helping a student with a math worksheet at a round table. Don't start with "Picture of"; the screen reader already says it is a picture. Word may offer generated alt text: always read it and correct it.

If a picture is only decoration, such as a border or a background shape, tick Mark as decorative. The screen reader then skips it instead of reading a file name.

Links should say where they go. Screen reader users often pull up a list of all links in the document, and a list of five click here links is useless. Select descriptive words, press Ctrl+K (or Insert› then Links› then Link), and paste the web address in Address. The Text to display box shows the words people will see. A pasted bare address like www.example.org/volunteer-policy works, but it's read out letter by letter.

Tables need a header row, so a screen reader can say "Day: Thursday, Time: 3:30 to 5:00" instead of reading a stream of cells. Click in the first row and turn on Repeat Header Rows in Layout› then Data› then Repeat Header Rows (the table Layout tab). This marks the row as a header for assistive technology and repeats it on every page. Also tick Table Design› then Table Style Options› then Header Row so it looks like a header. Keep tables simple: avoid merged or split cells where you can, and don't use tables only to place text side by side. You'll find more in Tutorial 4 of this level.

Color, contrast, title and language

Contrast. Light gray text on white looks elegant and is hard to read for many people, on any screen in sunlight, and on a cheap printer. Keep body text dark, such as Automatic or black in Home› then Font› then Font Color. The checker warns about hard-to-read text contrast, but check headings in theme colors and text on shaded table cells yourself too.

Don't rely on color alone. "Sessions in red are canceled" means nothing to someone who can't tell red from black, or who hears the text. Add a word or a symbol as well: Canceled: Thursday, November 26. Color can still help, as long as it is not the only signal.

Document title. Go to File› then Info and fill in Title under Properties on the right, such as Tutoring Handbook 2026-27. Screen readers and PDF readers can show this title instead of a file name like handbook_v7_FINAL.docx.

Language. A screen reader uses the document's language to choose how to pronounce words. If the handbook has a paragraph in Spanish or Korean, select it and set its language with Review› then Language› then Language› then Set Proofing Language, as you did in Word Basics Tutorial 7. It helps both proofing and pronunciation.

Inspect the document before sharing

A document can carry more than you see: old comments, tracked changes you forgot to accept, the author names of everyone who edited it, hidden text, and notes in headers. Before the handbook leaves the club, run the Document Inspector.

1. Save a copy first with File› then Save a Copy or File› then Save As. Some removals can't be undone.
2. Go to File› then Info› then Check for Issues› then Inspect Document.
3. Leave the boxes ticked and click Inspect.
4. For each category that found something, read the result and click Remove All if you want it gone.

Share, send a PDF and protect

Click Share at the top right of the Word window. If the file isn't on OneDrive or SharePoint yet, Word asks you to upload it first, because people can only open a link to a file that is online.

• Who can use the link: click the link settings to choose, for example, Anyone with the link, people in your organization, or Specific people. For a handbook with volunteers' phone numbers, choose specific people.
• What they can do: Can edit for the handbook team, Can view for families and the office.
• Type names or email addresses and click Send, or use Copy link to paste it into a message.

For the PDF, use File› then Save As or File› then Export› then Create PDF/XPS Document, and in Options… keep Document structure tags for accessibility ticked, as in Word Basics Tutorial 7. Tick Create bookmarks using Headings too, so readers can jump between chapters.

Restrict Editing. Review› then Protect› then Restrict Editing opens a pane where you can allow only certain kinds of editing, such as Tracked changes, Comments or No changes (Read only), and then click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection, with an optional password. It's good for keeping helpers from changing the layout by accident. It isn't strong security.

Mark as Final (File› then Info› then Protect Document› then Mark as Final) shows a bar saying the document is final and turns off typing. Anyone can click Edit Anyway, so treat it as a polite note, not a lock.

Common mistakes

Practice