DETAILS: VISUAL ELEMENTS
5.1
Tables and lists
Tables pose significant challenges both for screen readers and for people who read with magnification. They must therefore either be formatted very carefully or converted into a list. MS Word offers a few options to help with this.
Formatting tables for screen readers
If a table is absolutely necessary to convey your content, please be aware of the following:
- Create the table with Insert > Table. Never use tabs.
- Once you have created the table, never change the number of columns or merge or split any cells.
- Ensure that the first row contains meaningful column titles and that the first column (left) contains meaningful row titles.
- Then mark the uppermost cell of the first column (furthest to the left) with the bookmark “Title”.
- Highlight the contents of the first cell.
- In the “Insert” menu, under “Links”, click “Bookmark”.
- Type a title into the “Bookmark name” field and click “Add”.
Tables for reading with magnification
Tabs (i. e. horizontal spaces within lines of text) can also be a major obstacle for people who read with screen magnifiers. Please avoid them and create tables instead. For optimal readability, the cells of your table should be divided with thick lines.
- Click in the table.
- In the menu that appears, click Table > Design > Set line weight.
Tables as lists
Smaller tables …
| Name | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Clara Filler | 1, University Street | 061 123 45 67 |
| Peter Sample | 4, Dean’s Square | 078 123 45 67 |
… can be formatted as a list (no bullet points or breaks):
Name: Clara Filler
Address: 1, University Street
Phone: 061 123 34 56
Name: Peter Sample
Address: 4, Dean’s Square
Phone: 073 123 45 67.
Bullet lists
You should use automatic list formatting to create longer and/or more complex lists.
- First write the list as normal text (one paragraph per list element)
- Highlight the entire list
- Under “Start”, select your desired list format with bullets or numbering.
If your list contains sub-levels, you can format them with the “Multilevel list” button in the “Start” menu.