Web standards guide
2. Document accessibility
We want everyone to be able to read the documents we publish online.
By following a few simple steps you can make your documents easily read regardless of technology or ability. External agencies you commission must make accessible documents too.
Check document accessibility in Word or Office
Click on File> Info>check for accessibility> check accessibility
This opens a column in your document screen that lists errors and warnings. The bottom panel in the column called ‘Additional information’ tells you why you needs to fix it and how to fix it.
Guide to creating accessible documents (MS Word, 1.5MB) - and how to convert them to accessible PDF.
For more help on how to use Office to make documents accessible, see this accessibility guide on Lighthouse.
The accessibility of PDFs
Adobe created the Portable Document Format (PDF) in 1993, initially designed to enable consistent document formatting across devices. Over 30 years later, we're still using PDFs to share information, but for accessibility's sake, they need to go. Six reasons to stop using PDFs on your website.
If you must use PDFs, we use Adobe Acrobat Pro to run an accessibility check on PDF documents. It is available as part of the Adobe Creativity Suite.
Or if you have permissions, you can download a free PDF accessibility checker
You can also learn the basics of how to make a PDF accessible.
Check the readability of your writing
In Word set your options to show readability scores when you run a spell check.
Use http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ Aim for a readability grade of 9 or below.
Legislation
Accessibility regulations for public sector websites and apps became law in September 2018. The next phase of regulations came into force in September 2020. They build on our obligations under the Equality Act of 2010. It means our content must be accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. This includes content within documents, and on our intranet.