Accessibility Check

Review common accessibility problems in the document, and support for PDF/UA specifications in the PDF export dialogue box.

To access this command...

Choose Tools - Accessibility Check.

Select File - Export as PDF - General - Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA) and click OK.

The Accessibility Check tool traverses the document structure and gather all possible accessibility issues. The check can be run manually through the menu or it will be triggered after PDF export dialogue box, when the PDF/UA support is enabled.

The Accessibility Check dialogue box

The Accessibility Check dialogue box shows a list of all issues found in the text document.

Go to Issue

Click the button to jump to the page and select the object or issue that requires attention for accessibility.

Common accessibility checks

The checks that are currently implemented are:

• Check that the document title is set.
• Check that the document language is set, or that all styles that are in use, have the language set.
• Check all images, graphics, OLE objects for the alt (or title in some objects) text.
• Check that tables do not include split or merged cells, which could be disorienting for users with visual impairments.
• Check for fake/manual numbering (not using integrated numbering). For example writing "1." "2." "3." at the beginning of the paragraphs.
• Check that hyperlink text is not a hyperlink itself - hyperlink should be described.
• Check for the contrast between text and the background. The algorithm is described in the WCAG specification.
• Check for blinking text, which can be problematic for people with cognitive disabilities or photosensitive epilepsy.
• Check for footnotes and endnotes, which should be avoided.
• Check for heading order. Order of the headings must increase incrementally with no skips (for example Heading 1 to Heading 3, skipping Heading 2).
• Check, if text conveys additional meaning with (direct) formatting.

Related Topics

• Accessibility in Office