Text 

  • Font should be sans serif, like Calibri, Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Roboto

  • Font size should be at least 12 point, rather than 11

  • Choose contrasting text and background colors: black/white, DDCC blue/white

  • Bold the text to call attention to important information. 

  • Avoid underlining text unless the text is a clickable hyperlink.  

  • Avoid italics unless necessary (book titles, scientific names)


Heading Styles

  • Open the Navigation Pane to view your headings in the form of an outline

  • Change heading styles to your preferred font and size by choosing “Update Heading to Match”

  • Heading 1 is used for the title of a document

  • Heading 2 is used for main topics

  • Heading 3, 4, etc. are subsections used in chronological order

  • Normal is for paragraphs and shouldn’t appear in the Navigation Pane


List of Items 

  • Use the Bulleted List or Numbered List feature in the editing toolbar.  


Hyperlinks

  • All links should be descriptive links that tell the user where the link will take them.


Images 

  • Provide alt text for the image (differs depending on the version of Word)

  • When images contain text, write out the text within the document


Tables

  • Use tables to display data

  • Avoid using tables for design or layout - Format the page into columns instead

  • Choose contrasting text and cell colors

  • Avoid blank cells

  • Avoid merging cells

  • Tag the table column and/or row headers by going to the Design tab>Table Styles Option>Header Row


Accessibility Check

  • Run the Accessibility Checker and correct any issues (The Check Accessibility button is located in different places depending on the version of Word)


Accessibility Checklist: Microsoft Word (Google Docs Version)