Accessible Word Documents for Improved UX

User experience is one of the most important requisites for any business when it comes to digital interventions. Millions of people are heavily dependent on the concept of assistive technology. Accessible word documents are at the crux of enhancing user experience which can aid those with disabilities. This could range from visual disabilities to cognitive and even audio disabilities. 

But how does one ensure the best of accessible word documents? There are some free tools available in the market as well that can aid you in formulating an accessible word document for improved user experience. 

Best Ways to Formulate Accessible Word Documents With To Improve User Experience 

Accessible word documents are important and some key strategies can help you to improve the same:

Correct Headings and Style

The first step to maximizing user experience with the help of accessible word documents is making use of appropriate headings and styles. Usually, there are plenty of built-in heading styles available. It can help one to improve readability and at the same time help screen readers to navigate through easily. 

It also ensures that the users can get clarity of the entire document without having to read the entire document. The most common heading styles are Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and similar others.  This will help the screen reader to make complete sense of what the document hierarchy looks like. 

Descriptive Alternative Text For Images

To add to accessible word documents, including descriptive alternative text for images is crucial. Some individuals with visual disabilities are not able to make sense of images. This can be a serious challenge and act as a deterrent. Adding alternative text for the images can help one to understand both the purpose and content of the image. It helps users make complete sense of the image even if they can witness the image. 

While you formulate the alternative text for images, you must make the same descriptive and yet precise. This will aid the purpose and at the same time ensure that you add relevance to the document. In that case, you can simply choose the option of “decorative” in the alt text settings. 

Color Contrast 

If you want to improve user experience with the help of accessible word documents then working on the color contrast is crucial. Color contrast ensures that you can make the document more readable and that each of the words is clear to understand. Try to always choose those options that have very high color contrast. 

There are built-in tools with Microsoft Word that are equipped to help you understand the color contrast extent. Based on the suggestions available, you will be able to make changes as required. The built-in tools work by the norm of WCAG or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and are highly effective. 

Don’t Complicate the Structure

A very important rule that a lot of people forget while working with accessible documents is complicating the structure unnecessarily. To make it easier for people to understand, one of the best things that you can do is add tables as and where required. You can also choose to add header rows as required. 

How does the header row help? The header row can help individuals to understand the context of each row and hence one can navigate through the table with ease. Simple structures often function as the backbone for accessible word documents. 

Captions and Transcriptions 

And finally, the essence of accessible word documents comes from ensuring there are enough captions and transcriptions for any kind of multimedia content. This can help those users who have any kind of hearing disabilities. Captions help one to make sense of the content that has been spoken. 

However, transcripts can act as a steady option if you want to go through the content at your own pace. This could be effective for those who have cognitive or linguistic disabilities. 

Conclusion

Accessible word documents are extremely important and they can take the user experience to the next level. However, for the most effective documents, you must depend on someone who knows how to work on documents and aid accessibility. You will also be able to get simple tools available in the market that can help you work on basic accessibility measures. Always make sure that document accessibility receives optimum attention for maximum efficiency. 

Key Takeaways:

• Document accessibility can improve your user experience and ensure maximum user engagement and retention. 
• Making use of the right heading and appropriate heading styles can help you to improve document accessibility. 
• Using descriptive texts for images can help users to make sense of the content of the image.
• Work on the color contrast so that the readability of the content does not get compromised. 
• The structure of the content has to be simple and easy to learn so that there is not much use of unnecessary tables. 

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