Support & Further Reading

Microsoft Resources

Microsoft provides extensive documentation and resources for creating accessible content in Outlook.

Official Microsoft accessibility guides

• Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities
  Microsoft's official guide to accessible email creation in Outlook
• Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
  Complete list of Outlook keyboard shortcuts

Microsoft Accessibility videos and tutorials

• Video: Improve email accessibility
  Video tutorial on making emails more accessible
• Microsoft Accessibility
  Main Microsoft accessibility hub with resources and tools

WCAG Guidelines

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide the international standard for digital accessibility. While primarily focused on web content, many principles apply to email.

Relevant WCAG success criteria for emails

• 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)
  Ensures information, structure, and relationships can be programmatically determined
• 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A)
  Content presented in a meaningful sequence
• 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A)
  Color not used as the only visual means of conveying information
• 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)
  Text has sufficient contrast ratio (covered in Module 2)
• 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)
  Headings and labels describe topic or purpose
• 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)
  Purpose of each link can be determined from link text

WCAG resources

• How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference)
  Customizable quick reference to WCAG requirements
• Understanding WCAG 2.1
  Detailed explanations of each WCAG success criterion

Additional Tools and Resources

Accessibility checking tools

• Microsoft Accessibility Checker (built-in): Available in Outlook via Review > Check Accessibility (covered in Module 2)
• Screen readers for testing:
  • NVDA (free, Windows): https://www.nvaccess.org/
  • JAWS (commercial, Windows): Freedom Scientific
  • VoiceOver (built-in on Mac/iOS)

Color contrast checkers

• WebAIM Contrast Checker
  Online tool for checking color contrast ratios
• TPGi Color Contrast Analyzer
  Downloadable desktop application for contrast checking

Plain language resources

• PlainLanguage.gov
  U.S. government plain language guidelines and resources
• Canada.ca Content Style Guide
  Canadian government plain language and content guidelines

Professional organizations

• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
  International standards organization for web accessibility
• International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)
  Professional organization for accessibility practitioners