Accessible Excel Spreadsheets

Table of Contents

Making Your Excel Spreadsheets Accessible

Fairleigh Dickinson University is committed to making our digital content accessible to people with disabilities (required by Section 508). This document will discuss the best practices for making Excel spreadsheets accessible. Information is based off Microsoft Excel versions 2024.

Table Headers

Use simple table structure with column header information. Header information is used to identify rows and columns for those using assistive technology.

  1. Select the cells you wish to include in the table
  2. Click the Insert tab and click Table
  3. Select My table has headers and click OK
    Microsoft Excel window displaying the Create Table dialog box over an inventory spreadsheet. The dialog box specifies the data range as =$A$3:$G$9 and has the "My table has headers" checkbox selected. The selected range in the background is outlined with a green dashed border and includes columns for SKU, Description, Bin #, Location, Unit, Qty, and Reorder Qty. The Insert tab is active in the ribbon menu.

Add a Title to a Table

Add a table title in the first cell of the first column of the worksheet so those using assistive technologies can find it easily. (If you number your table titles, type a period or colon after the table number, followed by one space and then a description of the table content.)

For example:
Table titled "Sales and Commission per Sales Person and Region" showing sales data for six employees across four regions. The table has five columns: Sales Person, Region, Sales Amount, % Commission, and Commission Amount. Data includes Joe from North region with 260 in sales and 10% commission, Robert from South with 660 in sales and 15% commission, Michelle from East with 940 in sales and 15% commission, Erich from West with 410 in sales and 12% commission, Dafna from North with 800 in sales and 15% commission, and Rob from South with 900 in sales and 15% commission. The Commission Amount column is empty.

Things to Consider When Creating Your Spreadsheet

  • Screen readers start in the first cell (A1) so consider placing important information about the sheet here.
  • Do not merge cells
  • Do not have blank cells within the If you need blank cells, mark them with a minus sign, a zero or N/A for not applicable.
  • Break down complex data sets into logical tables ideally with their own worksheets. New tables should be created on separate worksheets to aid navigation and understanding.
  • Avoid using visual devices such as color, shading, patterns and borders to divide up data regions.
  • Give sheet tabs unique names and remove blank sheets
  • Do not use color alone to convey information
  • Use the same font consistently throughout the spreadsheet, recommended fonts are Times New Roman, Verdana, Ariel, Tahoma, Helvetica, or Calibri.
  • Do not use text boxes
  • Every chart (e.g., bar graph, pie chart) must have a title, a legend, and axis labels (if applicable).

Include Alternate Text to All Visual Content

Visual content in Excel includes pictures, clipart, SmartArt graphics, shapes, charts, videos, etc. In order for content to be accessible, alternate text must be added.

Adding Alternative Text to Visual Content

  1. Right-click on the content and select View Alt Text
  2. Enter the descriptive text about the content under Description. It is best to keep alt text under 150 characters.
    Excel Alt Text dialog box showing guidance for describing objects to users who are blind or have low vision. The panel displays instructions recommending 1-2 detailed sentences covering the subject in detail, setting, actions or interactions, and other relevant information. A text field contains the example "Cute brown bat hanging from branch" with a "Mark as decorative" checkbox option below it.

Making Videos/Audio Accessible

To ensure your Excel spreadsheets are accessible, ensure the following when adding videos to your spreadsheet:

  • Videos that include dialogue should also include closed captions or subtitles in a supported format for users that are deaf or hard of hearing. If captioning is not possible, a text transcript of the video should be provided.
  • Videos include an audio track with video descriptions, if needed, for users that are blind or visually impaired.
  • Embedded audio should have a transcript

Links

When links exist in your spreadsheet, ensure the link text is meaningful. Use the Excel link tool instead of copying and pasting the URL.

  1. Right-click on the specific cell
  2. Select Link option
  3. Type a descriptive title for the link under Text to display
  4. Paste the URL under Address and click okay
    Insert Hyperlink dialog box with two fields highlighted in red boxes. The Text to display field at the top contains FDU and the Address field at the bottom contains https://www.fdu.edu. The left panel shows link type options including Existing File or Web Page selected, Place in This Document, Create New Document, and E-mail Address. The center panel displays a file browser showing the Documents folder with various folders listed including Adobe Captivate Cached Projects, Camtasia Studio, Custom Office Templates, cvcoptdata, CyberLink, EndNote, Fax, Financial Aid Training, and My Adobe Captivate Projects.

Accessibility Checker

The Accessibility Checker tool in Excel finds accessibility issues in your document. The tool generates a report of issues that could make your content difficult for people with disabilities to understand. Accessibility Checker also explains why you should fix these issues and how to fix them.

Start Accessibility Checker

The Check Accessibility tool may be found on the Review tab depending on the version of Excel you are using.

Microsoft Excel ribbon showing the Review tab with the Check Accessibility button highlighted in a red box. The ribbon displays tabs including Home, Insert, Design, Layout, References, Mailings, Review (active), and View. The Review tab shows groups for Proofing with Thesaurus and Word Count, Accessibility with the Check Accessibility button, Language with Translate and Language options, and Comments with New Comment, Delete, Previous, and Next buttons.

If your version does not have the option, click on the File menu. Under Info click on

Check for Issues and select Check Accessibility.

Excel Check for Issues dropdown menu showing three options. The Check Accessibility option is highlighted in gray and displays the description "Check the workbook for content that people with disabilities might find difficult to read." Other visible options include Inspect Document with the description "Check the workbook for hidden properties or personal information" and Check Compatibility with the description "Check for features not supported by earlier versions of Excel."

The Accessibility Assistant pane will appear on the right. To see details of an Error or Warning, click on any issues listed.

Accessibility Assistant pane in Microsoft Excel showing accessibility check results. The top section displays a "Keep going!" message encouraging the user to fix remaining issues. Categories listed include Color and Contrast, Media and Illustrations, Tables, Document Structure, and Document Access. Most items like "Hard-to-read text contrast" and "Missing table header" have green checkmarks indicating they passed. The "Media and Illustrations" section shows one error: "Missing alt text" with a count of 1. Bottom options include Give Feedback, Learn about accessibility, and Settings.

Document Meta Data

Adjusting the spreadsheet’s meta data can assist in making your spreadsheet more accessible for those using assistive technology.

Giving the Spreadsheet a Title

  1. Click on File
  2. Click Info and click in the Title field and enter a title
  3. To edit the existing Author, right-click on the author’s name

Saving as a PDF

If saving your Excel file as a PDF, making your spreadsheet accessible in Excel will reduce the amount of time it will take to make the PDF file accessible.

  1. Click on File and select Save As…
  2. Pick a file location
  3. Select PDF as the Save As Type…

Save As dialog box showing a file being saved to the Desktop as a PDF. The File name field contains "Loan amortization schedule1" and the Save as type is set to PDF. The Standard publishing online and printing option is selected with the Open file after publishing checkbox checked. The file browser displays various folders on the Desktop including Canvas Documentation and CANVAS Training.

Note: It is important to save your spreadsheet via the steps above. Creating a PDF via File / Print does not tag the file in Adobe and therefore it will not be accessible.

Test It

You can listen to your spreadsheet to test if it is readable in the Read Out Load feature of Adobe Acrobat Pro. Read Out Load is a Text-to-Speech tool.

  1. Save the file as a PDF and open in Adobe Acrobat Pro
  2. Click on View and select Read Out Load / Activate Read Out Load
  3. Click on View again and select Read Out Load and click on either Read this Page Only or Read to End of Document
    Adobe Acrobat Pro DC window displaying a loan amortization schedule PDF with the View menu open and the Read Out Loud submenu expanded, showing text-to-speech options including Activate Read Out Loud, Read This Page Only, Read To End of Document, Pause, and Stop with their keyboard shortcuts.

You can listen to your spreadsheet to test if it is readable in the Read feature of Foxit. Read is a Text-to-Speech tool.

  1. Save the file as a PDF and open in Foxit
  2. Click on View and select Read/Activate Read
  3. Click on View again and select Read and click on either Read Current Page or Read From Current Page

Menu interface showing Read options with a dropdown menu expanded from the Read button. The menu displays options including Activate Read with keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Y, Read Current Page, Read from Current Page, and Stop. A tooltip on the right states "Activate Read to enable reading feature." The toolbar also shows Compare, Word Count, and View Settings buttons.