Excel accessibility checklist

2 min readAug 23, 2022

Content

Use accessible sans-serif fonts like Arial at minimum 12 point size
Limit the number of fonts and font colours that you use — this can make text harder to read
Avoid using ALL CAPS, italics and underlines for text that isn’t a link
Add text to cell A1 (screen readers will start reading from cell A1)
Use clear, descriptive language for chart elements, such as chart, axis and data titles
Avoid splitting or merging cells (screen readers keep track of their location in a table by counting table cells)
Delete any blank worksheets, cells, columns or rows
Give your tables descriptive names. To to do this, place your cursor anywhere in the table. On the Table Design tab, under Table Name, replace the default name, such as ‘Table1,’ with a more descriptive one.
Use table headers. To to do this, place your cursor anywhere in the table. On the Table Design tab, in the Table Style Options group, select the Header Row checkbox.

Check the colour contrast between the text and background
Avoid using shape or colour alone to show meaning. For example, if you are creating a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) chart, don’t just use colours to indicate status — people who are colour blind will miss the meaning.
Add alt text to any images — this is text that describes the image for blind or visually impaired users. You can do this by control clicking the image and choosing ‘Alt text’. Find out how to write good alt text.

Run the document through the Excel accessibility checker. You do this by going to ‘Review’ and ‘Check Accessibility’ in the toolbar.