Why should I make my Excel documents accessible?
Designing Excel spreadsheets with accessibility in mind helps blind and visually impaired users access the data more easily.
Best practices
- Include alt text with visuals by utilizing the Accessibility Checker.
- Ensure hyperlink text is descriptive by using the full title of the page it links to instead of “Click Here” or the URL link.
- Give Sheet tabs unique names so screen readers can navigate through and make it easier to understand the contents of the workbook.
- Use simple table structure with header information to prevent screen readers from getting lost in a table, with nested, split or merged cells.
Resources
How to make your spreadsheets accessible
How to add alt text
- Right-click an image. Select Edit Alt Text.
- Select an image. Select Picture Format > Alt Text. The Alt Text pane opens.
- Type 1–2 two sentences to describe the image and its context to someone who cannot see it.
Note: Check the Mark as Decorative option if your image is decorative.
Add descriptive text to hyperlinks
- Right-click a cell.
- Select Hyperlink.
- In the Text to Display box, type the hyperlink text.
- In the Address box, type the destination URL.
- Select the ScreenTip button and in the ScreenTip text box type a ScreenTip.
How to run the accessibility checker
- Select Review > Check Accessibility.
- Review your results. You'll see a list of errors, warnings and tips with how-to-fix recommendations for each. See Rules for the Accessibility Checker for more information.
- Select a specific issue to see why you should fix the issue and steps to take to change the content.
