The ability to apply styles to a document is one of the most accessibility friendly aspects of modern word processors. The significant benefits of styling, particularly for screen reader users, include effective navigation using headings and subheadings and easy conversion to other formats such as large print, braille and DAISY.
These benefits only occur if styles are used. Formatting a document by simply changing a font size and emboldening to create a heading may look visually the same as a heading style but will not form part of the overall document navigation and will therefore not be as accessible.
So what are styles?
Styles are a means of applying consistent formatting to your document. When you use a heading style you can effectively apply a whole set of formatting tasks at once. For example, you may have a particular style reserved for your sub headings consisting of the Arial font in 16 point bold and left aligned. Each time you want to create a subheading you only need to select the appropriate named style from the list.
Typically, word processors have styles for various heading levels, body text, bulleted and numbered lists etc. You can modify the existing styles to suit your documents or create new styles as required.
Why are styles such a good idea?
Applying styles enables you to format your documents with a consistent use of headings, paragraphs, lists etc. You will find that styles are a very efficient way of formatting your documents and there are tremendous accessibility benefits.
This greatly helps to ensure that your documents can be:
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Easily produced to RNIB Clear Print standards.
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Correctly navigated using headings and subheadings.
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Effectively accessed by screen reader software.
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Easily converted to other formats such as large print, braille and DAISY.
How can I do this?
If you divide your document into meaningful sections you can use styles to provide the structure. For example, a simple document might use Heading 1 for the main heading or title, Heading 2 for sub headings and Normal or Body text for paragraphs.
By using built in styles for bulleted and numbered lists information can be made easier to read and understand. However, lists created manually by using asterisks or hyphen symbols will not be as accessible.
This will all help to ensure that screen reader users can follow the structure and the document will effectively convert to other formats.
You will also find that many word processors are able to create a table of contents automatically from a properly structured document. This again helps to improve accessibility as a table of contents can provide direct links to the different sections of your document.
Please remember!
The application of styles to word processed documents is one of the biggest contributions you can make towards making information accessible for all.
Further related information can be found on the Design, Layout and Tables pages.