Microsoft Office has a tool to check for accessibility in Word and PowerPoint called Accessibility Checker, and LibreOffice has a tool to check for accessibility in Writer called Accessibility Check.
There are slight differences in what the tools check for, but they need to be used when producing accessible documents, especially if the documents are to be the basis for creating PDFs from Word, PowerPoint, or Writer.
| What needs fixing | Word Accessibility Checker | PowerPoint Accessibility Checker | Writer Accessibility Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document title is set | No | No | Yes |
| Document Language is set | No | No | Yes |
| Missing alt-text on images, graphics, and OLE objects | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Low contrast colours between text and background | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Split cells, merged cells, nested tables (simple structure for tables) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Blank table rows or columns | Visually | Visually | Yes |
| Tables have column header information | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fake or manual numbering | No | No | Yes |
| All sections have meaningful names | No | Yes | No |
| All slides have titles | No | Yes | No |
| Section names are unique | No | Yes | No |
| Slide titles are unique | No | Yes | No |
| Use of styles and built-in headings | This is confusing because the Rules say that “Content is organized with headings and/or a Table of Contents (TOC)” and will display a Tip but the make your Word documents accessible says this has to be done visually | No | Yes |
| Heading order incrementally increases with no skipping | No | No | Yes |
| Meaningful hyperlink text | Visually | Visually | Yes – when URLs are used rather than text |
| Meaningful ScreenTips | Visually | Visually | Writer does not do ScreenTips |
| Does text Blink | No | No | Yes |
| Text conveys additional meaning because of direct formatting | No | No | Yes |
| Important information in Header or Footer | Visually | Visually | Visually |
| Footnotes and Endnotes | No | No | Yes |
| Image or object is inline with text | Yes | No | No |
| Document access is restricted | Yes (could not replicate) | Yes (could not replicate) | No |
| All content control fields have title | Yes | No | No |
| Layout tables are structured for easy navigation | Yes (could not replicate) | No | No |
| Closed captions are included for inserted audio and video | No | Yes | No |
| Reading order of the objects on a slide presentation is logical | No | Yes | No |
| Suggested alternative text | Manually check – Intelligent Services | Manually check – Intelligent Services | Writer does not have “Intelligent Services” |
- Rules for the Accessibility Checker (external website)
- LibreOffice Accessibility Check (external website)