Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker

Before you send an Outlook email message or share a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, or OneNote notebook, run the Accessibility Checker to make your content easier for people with disabilities to read and edit.

There is a new version of Accessibility Checker available for Word desktop app and will be soon available for other Office desktop apps including Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Notes: 

In this topic

Use the Accessibility Checker

  1. Select the Review tab. In Outlook, you'll only see the Review tab when writing or replying to messages.

  2. Select Check accessibility button Check Accessibility to open the Accessibility pane on the right. 

    Accessibility checker button on ribbon

    Tip: For Word, Excel, and PowerPoint desktop, select the lower half of the Check Accessibility button for more options. 

  3. In the Accessibility pane, review and address the findings under Inspection Results

Apply recommended actions

In the Accessibility pane, you'll see a list of errors and warnings, with how-to-fix recommendations for each.

To quickly correct the issues, apply one of the recommended actions. For more information on how the findings are categorized, see Rules for the Accessibility Checker

  1. In the Accessibility pane, select an issue under Warnings or Errors. The list expands and shows the items and objects affected by the issue.

    Tip: Select the item or object to view the exact location of the affected item or object.

  2. To address the issue, select the down arrow button next to it and open Recommended Actions list.

    Recommended action dialog

  3. To apply a fix, select an action from the Recommended Actions list. To view more options, select the right arrow button next to an action (if available).

  4. Go through and resolve each issue under Warnings and Errors

Don't see the Accessibility Checker?

If you don't see Check accessibility button Check Accessibility on the Review tab, you might have an older version of the app. Follow these steps to open the Accessibility Checker:

  1. Select File and choose Info.

  2. Select Check for Issues.

    Check for issues screen

  3. In the Check for Issues drop-down menu, select Check accessibility button Check Accessibility.

    Check for issues & check accessibility menu item

  4. The Accessibility Checker task pane appears next to your content and shows the inspection results.

    Inspection results

  5. Select an issue under Inspection Results to see why and how to fix an issue. This info appears under Additional Information.

    Accessibility pane with Inspection results

See also

Check accessibility while you work in Office apps

Everything you need to know to write effective alt text

Use a screen reader with the Accessibility Checker

Make your content accessible to everyone

Make your content accessible to everyone with the Accessibility Checker

Use the Accessibility Checker

  1. To launch the Accessibility Checker, do one of the following depending on the app you are using:

    • In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, select Review and choose Check Accessibility.

    • In OneNote, select View and choose Check Accessibility.

    • In Outlook, while writing or replying to an email message, select Edit on the toolbar and choose Check Accessibility. If you don't see the button on the toolbar, you need to add it there manually. Select (See more items) and choose Customize toolbar. Then drag and drop the Check Accessibility button to the toolbar.

  2. The Accessibility pane opens and issues are organized into Warnings, Errors, and Tips under Inspection Results.

    Inspection results pane

    For more information on the categorization, go to Rules for the Accessibility Checker.

  3. Review and select an issue to see all affected items and objects. 

  4. Select an item or object to see why you should fix the issue and steps to take to correct it.

See also

Everything you need to know to write effective alt text

Use a screen reader with the Accessibility Checker

Make your content accessible to everyone

Make your content accessible to everyone with the Accessibility Checker

Use the Accessibility Checker

To check your content for accessibility issues, do one of the following depending on the app you're using:

Microsoft 365 for the web apps except Outlook on the web

  1. Select the Review tab and choose Check Accessibility

    Check availability button

  2. The Accessibility pane opens to the right of the screen. Choose an option to view  Error icon Errors, Warning icon Warnings, Tips icon Tips, or Intelligent services icon Intelligent services near the top of the pane.

      Accessibility pane

    For more information on how the findings are categorized, see Rules for the Accessibility Checker.

  3. In the chosen category, select the chevron > to expand an accessibility issue to see all items and objects affected by the issue. 

  4. Select an item or object in the list to highlight the corresponding element, and then fix the issue. Address all issues in the errors and warnings categories.

    Selecting an error item

  5. When you're done, select Recheck to make sure you didn't miss anything.

Outlook on the web

  1. When writing or replying to a message, select Options on the toolbar and choose Check accessibility. The Accessibility Checker pane opens.

  2. Select Fix this to address an issue. For example, if the Accessibility Checker reported missing alt text, select Fix this to open the Add alternative text dialog box where you can type the alt text.

    Outlook Accessibility pane

  3. Address all issues and when you're done, select Check again to make sure you didn't miss anything.

    Outlook check again button

See also

Everything you need to know to write effective alt text

Use a screen reader with the Accessibility Checker

Make your content accessible to everyone

Make your content accessible to everyone with the Accessibility Checker

Make your content accessible in the Microsoft 365 apps

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

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