Why MS Styles matter for accessible teaching

Using Microsoft Styles in your teaching materials isn’t just good practice—it’s essential for accessibility. Styles like Heading 1, Heading 2, and Normal text aren’t just formatting tools; they create structure that screen readers rely on to help students navigate content efficiently.

Screen Reader Friendly

When you use built-in styles in Word or PowerPoint:

• Screen readers can detect headings and offer users a quick overview or navigation menu.
• Students with visual impairments can skip to relevant sections without reading line by line.
• Lists, tables, and emphasis (like bold or italics) are announced correctly, improving comprehension.

Benefits for Everyone

Even for students who don’t use assistive tech:

• Styles make documents easier to scan and visually digest.
• They enable automatic table of contents generation.
• They support consistent formatting across materials, reducing cognitive load.

Choose Styles That Work for All

Not all default styles are created equal. To maximise accessibility:

• Choose or modify a style that uses a sans serif font (like Arial or Aptos).
• Ensure a generous font size—at least 12pt for body text, larger for headings.
• Use strong colour contrast between text and background (e.g., dark text on a light background).
• Avoid relying on colour alone to convey meaning.

You can customise styles in Word by right-clicking a style name and selecting “Modify”.

Quick Takeaways

• Use Heading styles instead of manually bolding or enlarging text.
• Apply Normal style for body text to maintain consistency.
• Avoid using text boxes for important content—they’re often skipped by screen readers.
• Check accessibility with Review > Check Accessibility in Word or PowerPoint.

For a quick demo, check out this video on making documents accessible.

He waka eke noa – we’re all in this together. Making small changes to your materials can make a big difference for learners.