Creating Accessible Microsoft Excel for Windows Documents to use as a PDF

The best way to guarantee that a PDF will be accessible is to make sure that the source document is accessible. There are features built into Office and techniques we can use to make sure that the documents we create are accessible. Here we are covering Excel for Windows, but you can also do this with Excel on macOS.

General Guidance

When you are making Excel documents, follow these general guidelines:

  1. Make sure that all charts, graphs, and other objects have a description (alt text) for screen reader users

  2. Ensure proper color contrast between cell text and the cell background

  3. Make sure that color is not being used to convey meaning alone

  4. Use tables for data only

  5. Start content at cell A1

  6. Links, if any, need to have meaningful text instead of one- or two-word generic titles

  7. All Worksheets must have a unique name

  8. Remove any empty worksheets

Creating Accessible Tables

Tables in Microsoft Excel allow you to identify a collection of data by name, and format them in a way that makes the data stand out. To make your tabular data understandable by screen reader users, be sure to use a basic table structure and header rows.

Naming Tables

Naming your tables of data in a worksheet does a few useful things. First, it helps a screen reader user obtain context about what kind of data the table contains. Second, it helps everyone else easily navigate to each table. This makes using the “Go to” command and the name manager dialog box easier to use. This also makes it easier to use the table in formulas. Names such as “BudgetLineItems” is much better than something like the default name of “Table1” and so on. Table names must start with an underscore, letters or a back slash. Names also cannot contain spaces.

To rename a table, do the following:

  1. Place your editing cursor inside the table
  2. Go to the “Table Design” tab in the ribbon
  3. Find “Table Name” and enter the new name

Accessible Table Styles

When you are applying a style to your table, make sure that the foreground and background colors have sufficient color contrast. If you’re not sure if the colors have good enough color contrast, use the accessibility checker in the review tab in the ribbon.

Table Headers

Table headers allow a screen reader user to more easily orient themselves within the table. To tell Excel that the first row of your table is a header row, do the following:

  1. Put your editing cursor anywhere within the table
  2. Select the “Table Design” tab
  3. Tick the checkbox that says “Header Row.”

Blank Cells, Rows and Columns

Other recommendations say that blank cells, rows and columns are to be avoided, but that’s not entirely true. There are legitimate reasons for having blank cells, such as if a person doesn’t have a middle name. This is more of a judgement call than a hard and fast rule. Ask yourself if it makes sense to leave cells empty, or if it would make more sense to have it populated. Also ask yourself if leaving cells blank negatively impacts the user’s understanding of the data or makes it harder to follow the table’s structure.

What About Splitting and Merging Cells and Nesting Tables?

Avoid splitting cells, merging cells and nesting tables. Screen readers generally keep track of where they are in a table by counting cells and communicating that data back to the user. When you split and merge cells or nest tables, screen readers will lose count and won’t communicate useful information to the user. If you’re unsure if you are doing any of these things, use the accessibility checker in the “Review” tab in the ribbon.

Putting Content Inside Cell A1

A screen reader always starts at cell A1, so if you have a table in your worksheet, preferably A1 could contain the title of the table. If the table is long, consider inserting an overview of the data or instructions into A1, too. You can make this instructional text the same color as the background, so only screen reader users can read it if you believe that is appropriate.

Accessible Charts and Graphs

When you insert a chart or graph into your worksheet, make sure the chart has a name, title and all axes are labeled. Then, make sure that you apply a description (alt text) to the chart with a brief description of the chart, and its purpose.

Accessible Link Text

Screen reader users often scan a document by links, and people who use voice control software speak the text of a link aloud to activate it. For those reasons, it is important to give link text that properly describes the destination. Text that is one or two words, like “here”, “click here”, and “learn more” are not helpful because it doesn’t have a specific meaning related to the destination. Additionally, style links with an underscore font style to indicate that it is a link to those who may not be able to see the color of the link.

Font and Text Styling

To reduce the reading load of the document, prefer using sans serif fonts like Arial and Calibri, and avoid using excessive uppercasing, underlining, and italics. Additionally, make sure your document can be read in high contrast themes. To make sure that background and foreground colors of text have proper color contrast, you can use the Accessibility Checker in the “Review” tab in the ribbon.

To improve the legibility of your document for people with dyslexia, and related issues processing written information, consider increasing the spacing between sentences, lines and paragraphs. This prevents text from appearing to swim and merge together.

How to Export to an Accessible PDF Document

To export a Microsoft Excel document to a PDF, follow the instructions below:

  1. Go to the file tab
  2. Go to Save OR Save As
  3. Select PDF as the File Type
  4. Click "More Options"
  5. Click "Options"
  6. Check "Document Structure Tags for Accessibility."