Creating Accessible Google Docs

It is important to adopt these best practices when adding the following elements to your Google Doc.

Grackle Docs for Google Docs

Once you have completed your document, run the Google Docs add-on, Grackle Docs. Grackle Docs is an add-on that helps you create more accessible Google Docs. It can check your document for accessibility issues and advise you how to make things better.

Headings

  1. Choose and select the text that will be marked as a heading.
  2. With the heading text highlighted, style the text from the text menu and select the type of heading you want (e.g. H1, H2, H3, etc.)
  3. Note: Heading 1 is used only once per page. Heading 2, 3, 4, etc. may be used more than once, but make sure that they are always kept in order. Never skip from a lower-level header to a higher unless the section is changing.

Images

  1. Choose your image.
  2. Go to the Format menu and select Alt text.
  3. Provide a description of the image in the Description field and not in the Title field.
  4. Click the OK button when done.

Note: Alt text should be short and concise and not exceed 140 characters. For more in-depth description of an image, also use a caption for the image in addition to Alt text. Read more about writing Alt text.  

Lists

  1. Highlight the text that that is to be made into a list.
  2. In the menu select Format and choose Lists and choose a Numbered or Bulleted list.  
  3. You may also go directly to the toolbar, and select the Numbered or Bulleted list icon.

Additional Accessibility Tips

When linking and writing links, use descriptive text when linking text so someone who is reading the link will know what to expect if they click on it (e.g. “Read more about accessibility.”).

Google Docs cannot make math and science descriptions properly accessible.

A screen reader will read a table from left to right and then top to bottom. Merged or altered cells will change the reading order. To see how a screen reader will go through your table, press the Tab key on a keyboard to make your way through the table to see if it is comprehensible. This is how someone using assistive technologies will experience the table. If it’s not clear to you, then it most likely will not be clear to someone using a screen reader.  

Resources

Make your document or presentation accessible [Google Support]