Posted on Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
Don’t kid yourself, we have all done it! Holding down the “Return” key to create a new page in a Word document. This may cause a problem for users of assistive technologies.
Assistive technologies, such as screen readers, pick up every instance of these repeated, hard returns. A user of an assistive technology that cannot see the page may interpret this silence or blank information as the end of the document.
Instead, consider using one of the following options:
Insert a manual page break
- Click where you want to start a new page.
- On the Insert tab, in the Pages group, click Page Break
Insert a manual page break using shortcut keys
- Click where you want to start a new page.
- Hold the Ctrl + Return keys.
Best practice is to try and stay away from repeated characters used for presentation purposes.
Posted on Tuesday, February 4th, 2014
Have you added alternative text to your non-textual elements?
When using images it is important to ensure that the information within that image is also conveyed to others that may have visual impairments (blindness, low vision).
This is done by adding a concise alternative text to each image.
To add alternative text to images and graphical objects in Word 2010
- Right-click the object
- Select Format Picture…
- Select the Alt Text option from the list
- Fill in the Description.
It’s important to not only provide an alternative text, but also provide one that is useful in the context of the document.
Just remember, it’s your responsibility as the author to add the alternative text, the screen reader or other assistive technology will do the rest.
Posted on Monday, February 3rd, 2014
Welcome to the Algonquin College, Accessibility Office Tuesday ToolTip. We will be posting weekly tips every Tuesday to help ensure a more accessible future for all.
