Accessible Excel 2016/365

By Richard Steinberg
Accessibility Implementation Lead
Wells Fargo Digital Solutions for Business (DS4B)

(To view slides and speaker notes, press S key)

Introductions

A silhouette of a person

Accessibility Considerations

Keyboard Only
Screen Magnification
Use of Color
Screen Reader Friendly
Cognitive Load

General Tips

Make sure your language is set in Excel properties/complete Metadata
Make sure sheets have unique names and delete unused sheets
If a sheet has multiple tables, blank row between each. Best practice one table per sheet.
Complex tables can only be made accessible if Excel version converted to PDF or HTML
Remove comments
Don't embed multimedia
If your sheet needs instructions, put them in A1 cell
Set zoom level and focus on starting cell for each sheet (usually A1)
Add alternative text for charts and graphs--more on this later

Can You Spot the Differences?

Links below open files in MS Excel

Before Remediation	After Remediation

Before and After

What did you find?

Unused rows and columns hidden
Shading
Named tabs
Extra worksheet deleted
Merged cells
Wording changed
Spacing changed
Font changed
White text--end of sheet
Zoom level different
Sheet named

JAWS Announcing Before and After

Download video if player doesn't display

ZoomText Displaying Before and After

Download video if player doesn't display

Spacing and Fonts

Optimize for users who use screen magnification.

table before remediation for screen magnification

table after remediation for screen magnification

Another consideration is to optimize for screen magnification. Many people with low vision will use a screen magnifier to read documents. And any anyone accessing a document on a phone or tablet will have a limited viewport, as well.

When using a limited view port, a user can only see a few cells at a time, and will start at the top and pan left to right.

For example, when this table with a limited viewport, right off, they would see an empty column A, read the titles rows 1 and 2, and then empty rows 3 and 4. That's a lot of blank space to wade through to get to the actual information on this sheet. So it's best to eliminate blank rows and columns in excel. And It's also important to check is that the information makes sense when read left to right top to bottom.

Another thing that happens under screen magnification is that fonts begin to pixelate. Therefore it's important to use a sans serif font like Arial or Verdana. Also the font need to be a minimum of size 12.

Lastly, you need to use strong contrast to maximize readability. The headers on this table do not have enough contrast between the background color and the text color.

Overall, the original version of this table is pretty difficult for anyone to read. The same table was then optimized for accessibility.

Empty rows and columns were deleted.
The font was changed to Arial and bumped up to size 12.
The color contrast was fixed on the headers.

You will probably agree that these changes have made the table much more readable for anyone, not just those with visual impairments.

How to Set the Default Font

Excel screen for setting default font

Simplyfying Tables

Use a simple table structure and specify row and column header information.
If your table is not structured like that, you need to rethink it.

How Can This Table Be Simplified?

Link to Before example MS Excel

example of table that needs to be simplified

How Can This Table Be Simplified? Solved.

Link to After example MS Excel

example of table that has been simplified

Importance of Table Headers

When creating a table from scratch, Excel allows you to define table headers.
This information is not communicated to all screen reader users.

Inserting table header from Excel insert table menu

Using Name Manager

Microsoft Excel has a built-in function called Name Manager that can be used to give names to a cell or range of cells.
Using a special naming convention, JAWS and NVDA can recognize table header rows and columns. Microsoft reports that Narrator also recognizes this coding.
Determine if table has column headers, row headers, or both column and row headers
Define regions as long as they begin with the string Title, ColumnTitle, or RowTitle.
Each name in a workbook no matter what sheet it is on must have a unique name.
Download before practice Excel file. In practice file, we'll start Sheet 1, 1. Contact List
Download after practice Excel file to compare.

Column Title Steps

In practice file, this is on Sheet 1, 1. Contact List

Step 1 is to select cell where column titles begin, then select Name Manager from Formulas tab or keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+F3

Step 2 is to select New under Name manager

Step 3 In Name, type ColumnTitle (use camel case); In Scope, select Workbook; and ensure Refers to says, ='1. Contact List'!$A$2

Step 4 Select OK button, then Close button for Name Manager

JAWS and Column Title

Download video if player doesn't display

Rows Title Steps

Step 3 In Name, type RowTitle (use camel case); In Scope, select Workbook; and ensure Refers to says, ='2. Stock Quotes'!$A$2

Row and Column Titles

Step 3 In Name, type Title (use upper case T); In Scope, select Workbook; and ensure Refers to says, ='3. Vocational Rehab Program'!$A$2

Examine table to determine starting cell of where row and column headers begin
Select starting cell (in example it is A2)
Go to Formulas tab, then Name Manager, then New (keyboard shortcut Control+F3)
In Name, type Title with capital T
If your workbook has more than one table like this, one table would use Title1 and the other Title2
Optional: Leave a comment in Comments to not delete
In Scope, select Workbook
Ensure Refers to says, ='3. Vocational Rehab Program'!$A$2
Select OK button, then Close button for Name Manager

Multiple Tables

The original method of writing a name for a region in a Workbook with mulltiple tables was TitleRegion#.TopLeftCell.BottomRightCell.WorksheetNumber
Recent versions of JAWS and NVDA now let you omit the top left cell, bottom right, and the worksheet number.
You may use this technique throughout a workbook containing many worksheets, as long as each name is unique.
Using the third example in Excel file (Vocational Rehabilitation Program), the old naming convention would have been TitleRegion1.A2.C11.3

Multiple Tables Example

Mutiple Tables on Multiple Worksheets Example

Directions on using Name Manager in Excel workbook with multiple tables on multiple sheets. Table 1 can be named Title1, table 2 named Title2, and table 3 named Title3

TOC for Multiple Sheets

creating a blank sheet called table of contents

highlight cell and insert hyperlink with control k

Select Place in This Document, then select place from list you created in Name Manager

TOC for Multiple Sheets-Completed

Completed Example

Intro to Color Blindness

table with colored cells before remediation

table with colored cells after remediation

When color is included in your spreadsheets, you need to make sure that information is not conveyed with color alone. This is because not everyone sees colors the same way, and also not everyone can see. Those who can't see, use screen readers that read the information on the screen aloud. Let's look at an example.

Here is a table with a date column that has past due thresholds, indicated by blue and green backgrounds. Presumably there would be a legend that would explain exactly what the blue and green shading mean. The problem is that some users may not be able to distinguish between the blue and green colors; and people who use screen readers would hear the text in the cells but would not be aware of the background colors at all. So this is an example of how using color to convey information can be inaccessible.

But... with some small tweaks, this table can be made accessible. For example, you could add a column that *says* what is past threshold – in this table it is either a diagnostic, an assessment, or neither. For those who can distinguish the color shading, it is much more obvious now that blue means (diagnostic) and green means (assessment). And for those who can't rely on color, the information is clearly communicated in text. This table is now accessible.

By the way, watch out for color in charts too. For example, in a pie chart, you can add labels and values next to each wedge so that users who are color blind can have an alternate way to get the information.

The default settings of the Chart Wizard in Excel are not color accessible. Use the formatting tools to change line styles and colors.

Pie Chart Examples

Color pie chart with key off to right side

Black and white version of same pie chart with key off to right side

Black and white version of same pie chart with key off to right side and labels and numbers in pie slices

Black and white version of same pie chart with lines pointing to pie slices with labels and numbers

Black and white version of same pie chart with with labels and numbers using white text in pie slidces. Some text fails color contrast.

Black and white version of same pie chart with with labels and numbers using black text in pie slidces. Some text fails color contrast.

Checking Colors

Colour Contrast Analyser: https://developer.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/
WebAIM Color Contrast Checker: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
LevelAccess RGB Color Contrast Checker: https://www.levelaccess.com/color-contrast-checker/
SBF Color Contrast Checker / Analyzer (RGB and Hex): https://www.sbwfc.co.kr/ColorChecker/
Hex to RGB Converter (or similar): https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/color/hex-to-rgb.html

Working with Charts and Alt Text

Links below open files in MS Excel

Before Remediation	After Remediation

Microsoft guide to writing alt text for Excel

All charts need something called Alt Text. This is a text description of what the chart is about.
Type 1-2 sentences in the text box to describe the object and its context to someone who cannot see it.
Do not start your alt text with, "This is an image of ..." Screen readers will identify images so it would be redundant to hear "Graphic: This is an image of..."
Microsoft has recently updated Office 2016 to make writing alt text easier. Right click on the chart and select "Edit Alt Text"
If your organization has not updated Office 2016 yet, right click on the chart, select Format Chart Area or Format Picture, select the Size and Properties icon (far right), then select Alt Text. Leave Title blank
Office 365 has an auto alt text generator that uses artificial intelligence to describe your picture. To turn it off: Select File > Options > Ease of Access. In the Automatic Alt Text section, select or unselect the Automatically generate alt text for me option, and then select OK.
In addition, if your artwork is decorative, in Office 365 and Office 2019 you can mark it as decorative.
If it is decorative in Office 2016, type a pair of quotation marks ("") or a space in the alt text field
Charts and graphs are on a separate layer. This means it is difficult for screen reader users to associate the pictures with data.

Before and After Chart 1

Before and After Chart 2

Before and After Chart 3

Bonus Tip: Form Fields

Add borders for low vision users
Add light shading for all users
Add tooltips for cells where information needs to be entered
- Go to Data Tab and select Data Visualization, then Data Visualization
- Enter a brief message to announce to screen reader users
- All users will see the input message on hover
Example form, MyForm.xlsx

Accessible Excel 2016/365

Introductions

Accessibility Considerations

General Tips

Can You Spot the Differences?

Before and After

What did you find?

JAWS Announcing Before and After

ZoomText Displaying Before and After

Spacing and Fonts

How to Set the Default Font

Simplyfying Tables

How Can This Table Be Simplified?

How Can This Table Be Simplified? Solved.

Importance of Table Headers

Using Name Manager

Column Title Steps

JAWS and Column Title

Rows Title Steps

Row and Column Titles

Multiple Tables

Multiple Tables Example

TOC for Multiple Sheets

TOC for Multiple Sheets-Completed

Intro to Color Blindness

Pie Chart Examples

Checking Colors

Working with Charts and Alt Text

Before and After Chart 1

Before and After Chart 2

Before and After Chart 3

Bonus Tip: Form Fields

References

Accessible Excel 2016/365

Thank you!