Accessibility Best Practices: Microsoft Word/Outlook

How to Add Headings

Use the Headings menu to create different levels of headings in your document. Using the headings will automatically apply heading tags to your documents. To pull up the Headings menu in Outlook right click in the text of email and select Styles.

How to Change Heading Styles

You can modify the heading styles to look like you want. You don't have to use the default style.

1. Right click on the heading style you wish to change and select Modify from the menu
2. Update the formatting including font, size, color, bolding, italics, and underlining
3. Select whether you want changes to apply only to this document or to New documents based on this template. 
4. Select OK to save your choices

Use the bullets and numbering menu to create lists in your document with the appropriate formatting.

You can add additional images as bullets by using the Define New Bullet Menu.

1. Click on the drop down arrow next to the bullets menu to open the bullet library.
2. Select Define New Bullet from the menu

1. Create a hyperlink in your document by right clicking on the text you want to link and selecting Link from the menu 
2. Enter the text you want to display
3. Enter the link address
4. Select OK

You can also add a link using the Link button located on the Insert Menu.

• To check your color contrast you will need to use a color contrast checker outside of Microsoft Word such as the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker.
• To check your color contrast use the color menu and select More colors from the drop down menu. 
• Under the custom tab locate the RGB numbers. Plug these numbers into the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker to see if your colors have a high enough contrast.

Locate the Accessibility Checker under the Review menu. The Accessibility Checker can help you identify some but not all accessibility issues that exist in your document.