Microsoft Word's built-in heading styles to format a document is one of the key ways to make those documents accessible.
Accessible documents benefit everyone - not just those with disabilities! For example, accessible documents help cell phone and tablet users and students with low bandwidth access. Accessible documents also make it easier for browsers to display them and are much easier to convert to various platforms or formats.
- From the Home tab, go to the "Styles" Pane
- Select the appropriate Heading in the Style Pane
Applying Heading Styles
- Select the text to be styled with a heading.
- Select the Home tab - see the heading styles listed in the Styles pane.
- Select the heading style you want to apply to the selected text.
- To remove or change the heading style applied, highlight the text and select the Normal or a different heading style.
Additional Resources
- Improve accessibility with heading styles - Microsoft Support
- Add a heading - Microsoft Support
- Semantic Structure: Regions, Headings, and Lists - WebAIM
- Microsoft Word - Creating Accessible Documents - WebAIM
- Microsoft offers the following video on how to make accessible headings in Word (00:01:25).
- Make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities - Microsoft Support
- SNHU Accessibility and Assistive Technology Support