Microsoft Excel

The Accessibility Basics and Guidelines page outlines some of the basic items to keep in mind when creating an accessible document. Spreadsheets made in Excel require some special considerations and by nature are difficult documents to make fully accessible.  

When possible, avoid sharing spreadsheets with patrons. Export your spreadsheet to a .pdf file, then make the .pdf accessible and share that with anyone who does not require editing permissions. When creating a PDF isn't possible, you can follow the steps below to help create a more accessible spreadsheet.

Applying Accessibility Basics to Excel:

Many accessibility considerations are shared between Excel and the other Office 365 programs. Check the Accessibility Guidelines page for a more complete overview of requirements beyond Excel.

 

Accessibility Checker:

Excel, and all of the Office 365 programs, have a built-in accessibility checker which can automatically check your spreadsheet for each of the considerations listed on this page. When in doubt, finish the spreadsheet and run the accessibility checker, then follow its recommendations.

 

How to:

The Accessibility Checker is available in two places: it can be accessed by clicking on the "Accessibility" tab at the bottom right corner of the sheet, underneath the sheet tabs, or by opening the Review ribbon and clicking the Check Accessibility button under the Accessibility group.

 

Fonts and Colors:

When possible, choose an accessible theme to style the entire spreadsheet. Microsoft provides a range of options for themes that are already following accessibility guidelines, which can be found before starting a new spreadsheet by searching for "accessible templates" in the File menu.

 

How to:

Manage the font type, styles, size, and color using the Font Settings menu, by clicking on the arrow in the bottom right of the Font section on the Home ribbon.

 

Best Practices:

• Use 12-point or higher font, in a sans-serif font style. The default font of Aptos is always acceptable, and the older default Calibri works as well.
• Do not use color alone to differentiate any information. However, using a table format with color countershading can help in making tables and charts easier to discern.
• If your cell formatting includes a number, use the thousands separator option to include a comma after each successive three places.

 

Alt Text in Excel:

When adding a chart, image, or table to a spreadsheet, make sure to also add alternate text.

 

How to:

Click the item, then from the Format ribbon, click on "Alt Text".

 

Best Practices:

• Use the alt text field to explain the entire chart or table - it is not sufficient to write "a pie chart" or "a pie chart showing enrollment FTEs for 2010-2011" - sufficient alt text would read "a pie chart showing enrollment FTEs for 2010-2011, where 85% of the FTEs are undergrad, 10% are continuing ed, and 5% are extended ed".
• Avoid redundancy: say "a pie chart" rather than "an image of a pie chart".
• If you do include decorative elements, mark them as such in the alt text window.

 

Unique Excel Accessibility Issues:

There are some accessibility issues that are only applicable to Microsoft Excel. Excel tends to be the most difficult program to utilize a screen reader with, and fixing these issues can alleviate most of that difficulty.

 

Clear out excess and blank sheets:

A screen reader will stop to parse each individual sheet it encounters in a workbook. Make sure sheets are ordered correctly, named distinctively, and remove blank extra sheets from the workbook.

 

Manage cells:

A screen reader will begin parsing a sheet in cell A1 - do not leave cell A1 blank. If a sheet is designed in such a way that a table or data set does not begin in cell A1, use that space to include a description of the sheet itself.

Do not use the merge or split cells formatting options. While they can be useful for formatting a sheet to print visually, they cannot be parsed correctly by screen readers.

 

Name ranges, columns, and rows:

Each range of data, whether a single cell (like a totals cell) or a full column or row, should carry a unique name. An Excel screen reader will parse out and read the name to explain the data, and adding names also allows users to jump to particular sections of a sheet by using the name box above the right corner of the sheet.

 

How to:

Select the Formulas ribbon, then select the range (single cell or particular row or column) that you wish to name, then select Define Name. In the new name box, apply both a name, and a descriptive comment. The name you choose will appear in the Name Box above the upper right corner of the sheet - you can click the dropdown to select a particular named range and jump to it.

 

Video guides from Microsoft:

Clicking the below images will open a new window to Microsoft's support site.