Accessibility for Microsoft Excel
Dr. Melissa Fortson at UA Technology Accessibility published an informative webinar detailing how to create Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that are accessible to people with disabilities. We have linked the timestamp to each topic so that users may jump directly to that point:
Accessibility Checker
Templates
Navigation
- Ease navigation by using descriptive names for sheet tabs and removing blank sheets — 11:43
- Give your workbooks descriptive filenames — 15:19
- Using simple sheet and table structure and specifying header info — 16:27
Formatting
- Avoid using blank cells for formatting — 16:41
- Add “end of worksheet” as last row of data — 18:16
- Hide unused columns and rows — 19:11
- Identifying column headers and data tables — 20:08
Hyperlinks
- Give links meaningful, descriptive display names — 22:30
Visual Objects
- Describing visual objects with alternative text — 28:08
- Example 1: adding alt text to images — 29:14
- Example 2: adding alt text to a table — 31:44
- Example 3: setting an image as decorative by adding null — 32:47
Color
- Avoid using color as the sole means of representing information — 33:59
- Example 1: using color as an indicator of information — 34:38
- Using color contrast checkers (like WebAIM) — 38:17
Exporting Accessible Spreadsheets to PDF
- Adobe Acrobat Tags and accessibility — 39:56
- Using Adobe Acrobat PDF Maker — 41:54
- Option 1: Using Adobe Acrobat’s Make Accessible action — 44:59
- Option 2: Using Adobe Acrobat’s Accessibility Checker — 46:07