Using Word styles and formatting

Overview

Using Microsoft Word's built-in styles and formatting features is essential for creating accessible documents. Styles provide semantic meaning and consistent formatting, while proper text formatting ensures content is readable and navigable for all users, including those using assistive technologies.

This approach separates content from presentation, making documents more flexible, maintainable, and accessible across different devices and assistive technologies.

Using built-in styles

Microsoft Word includes many built-in styles that provide both visual formatting and semantic structure:

Essential built-in styles

Heading 1-6

Create hierarchical document structure for navigation

Normal

Default paragraph style for body text

Title

Document title or main heading

Subtitle

Secondary title or tagline

Quote

Block quotations or highlighted text passages

Caption

Descriptive text for images, tables, and figures

How to apply styles

1. Select the text you want to format
2. Go to the Home tab
3. Click on a style in the Styles gallery
4. Or right-click and choose Styles from the context menu

Accessible text formatting

Proper text formatting improves readability for all users:

Font and typography guidelines

• Font size: Use at least 12-point font for body text
• Font choice: Use clear, readable fonts like Calibri, Arial, or Verdana
• Line spacing: Use at least 1.15 line spacing for better readability
• Paragraph spacing: Add space after paragraphs instead of using multiple line breaks

Color and contrast

• Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background
• Don't rely on color alone to convey information
• Use the built-in accessibility checker to verify contrast
• Consider users with color blindness

Creating accessible lists

Lists help organize information and make content scannable:

Types of lists

Bulleted lists

Use for unordered items of equal importance

Numbered lists

Use for sequential steps or ranked items

Multi-level lists

Use to show hierarchical relationships

Creating lists properly

1. Select the text you want to format as a list
2. Go to the Home tab
3. Click the Bullets or Numbering button
4. Use the Increase Indent or Decrease Indent buttons to create levels

Emphasis and highlighting

Use proper formatting to add emphasis without compromising accessibility:

Accessible emphasis methods

• Bold text for strong emphasis
• Italic text for mild emphasis or emphasis
• Built-in emphasis styles from the Styles gallery
• Underlining for hyperlinks only

Highlighting important information

• Use Word's highlight feature sparingly
• Choose highlight colors with sufficient contrast
• Don't rely solely on highlighting to convey importance
• Consider using callout boxes or styles instead

Document themes and consistency

Document themes ensure visual consistency and professional appearance:

Using built-in themes

1. Go to the Design tab
2. Choose a theme from the Themes gallery
3. Customize colors, fonts, and effects if needed
4. Save custom themes for future use

Theme benefits for accessibility

• Consistent color schemes with tested contrast ratios
• Coordinated font combinations
• Professional appearance
• Easy global formatting changes

Customizing styles within themes

1. Right-click on a style in the Styles gallery
2. Choose Modify
3. Make your changes
4. Check Update automatically for consistent formatting

Best practices

• Always use built-in styles instead of manual formatting
• Maintain consistent styling throughout the document
• Test your document with different zoom levels
• Use sufficient contrast for text and backgrounds
• Don't use color as the only way to convey information
• Keep formatting simple and clean
• Use the accessibility checker to verify formatting
• Create a style guide for multi-author documents

Related WCAG resources