Excel Accessibility Guide

The unique features of Excel can pose additional challenges to accessibility. Since spreadsheet users need to navigate to specific columns, rows, and cells, accessible spreadsheets must preserve this functionality. Because Excel documents are used for a myriad of applications across many disciplines, accessible spreadsheet design needs to carefully consider the Excel workbook’s function and audience.

Excel spreadsheets also need to follow the universal guidelines for accessible documents: effective alt text for images, descriptive hyperlink text, and accessible color choices.

Some formatting options can cause serious accessibility issues for screen reader users and should be avoided.

Merged Cells

Merged cells should be avoided because they can cause screen readers to repeat or skip cells while navigating through the table. The only appropriate place for a merged cell is to format the title. Merged cells should not appear in any other part of the sheet.

To unmerge cells in a table:

1. Highlight the cells you want to unmerge.
2. Select the dropdown arrow next to Merge & Center.
3. Select Unmerge Cells from the dropdown menu. 

Split Cells

Split cells often create problems for the reading order and they make it hard to associate split cell content with the appropriate column/row heading. 

Nested Tables

Nested tables occur when one table is embedded inside another table. This creates navigation problems for screen readers, as well as problems associating a cell with the appropriate column and row headings because there are now multiple sets of headings.  

Workbooks need a title that is descriptive and unique so it is easy to distinguish between workbooks with similar names.

How to Add a Workbook Title

1. Select File from the ribbon.
2. Click on Info.
3. Locate the Properties section of the page.
4. Add your descriptive title to the Title box.

Freezing the top row and first column allows users to see the column and row labels as they scroll through large sheets that have boundaries that extend beyond the screen edges. This allows users to easily connect the cell data with its associated row and column categories.

To Freeze Rows/Columns

1. Select the row/column adjacent to the area you want to freeze.
2. Click on the View tab on the ribbon.
3. Select the drop-down arrow next to the Freeze Panes command.
4. Select the appropriate option on the menu depending on what you’d like to freeze.

Adding white space around text make it easier for users to locate information. The default spacing is Excel minimal and difficult to read, making it hard for users to focus on individual cells in a table. Increasing the Column Width and Row Height to add white space around cell content greatly improves readability. 

To Increase Column Width:

1. Select the column labels (Shift + Click to select multiple labels at once).
2. Right-click on any selected column to bring up the drop-down menu.
3. Select Column Width.
4. Increase the numerical value until there is a comfortable amount of space on either side of cell values. 
5. Click Ok to confirm the width. 

To Increase Row Height:

1. Select the row labels (Shift + Click to select multiple labels at once). 
2. Right-click on any selected row to bring up the drop-down menu.
3. Select Row Height.
4. Increase the numerical value until there is a comfortable amount of space above and below cells values. 
5. Click Ok to confirm the height.

If there are multiple sheets within a workbook, each sheet should be given a unique and descriptive name. Excel, by default names these sheets, Sheet1, Sheet2, etc., but these names do not provide enough information about the content of each sheet.  

There are some characters and names that are not allowed for worksheets in Excel, see Microsoft's Rename a Worksheet for more information. 

To Update Sheet Names:

1. Locate the sheet tabs in the bottom left corner of the screen.
2. Double-click or Right-click the sheet tab.
3. Type the new name.

Be sure to remove any blank sheets in a workbook before sharing the file.  

Alternative text (alt text) is a written description that allows the content and purpose of informational graphics to be understood by users who are visually impaired.

When writing the description, remember that the learner you’re writing it for will need to understand the element without being able to see it. What does the learner need to know about the element in order to understand its meaning in the context of the lesson?

If a graphic element is there simply for decorative purposes, it does not need alt text and can be marked “decorative.”

To add Alt Text:

1. Right-click on the intended image to bring up the Mini toolbar.
2. Select View Alt Text to bring up the Alt Text window on the right side of the screen.
3. Enter the image description.

Cell A1 should always contain text. Screen readers always start reading any worksheet from cell A1. Ideally, the text in Cell A1 would describe the content of the sheet, such as a descriptive title. If cell A1 is left blank, the screen reader may consider the sheet empty.

Other important information should be added cell A1 as well, such as whether or not the table contains any blank spaces, the number of tables on the page, or any other information needed to navigate the page.

Colors should be selected carefully when formatting a table. Many of the templates under the Format as Table menu are accessible, but any changes to template colors (both cell color and text color) need to be checked with a contrast checker to assure that content is accessible to color blind and low vision individuals.

Color contrast can be checked manually with tools like WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker.

Although many of the suggested formatting options in Excel are accessible, there are a few Cell Styles available that do not meet color contrast requirements and will be flagged by the Accessibility Checker.

How to Use WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker

1. Open WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker.
2. Use the tools under the Foreground section to enter your text color. You can use a hex code, RGB value, or use the eye dropper tool to sample your text color.
3. Use the tools under the Background section to enter the background color.
4. Check the report below to ensure that your document content meets WCAG AA guidelines.

If you use the Eye Dropper Tool to sample your document colors, be sure that you select a pixel from the center of the character. This will give you the best sample for the font color. Pixels near the edge of a character will not be an accurate representation of the font color.

While color can make the user’s experience richer and easier, screen reader users won’t be able to utilize color-based information, and it may also pose serious problems for low vision and colorblind users.

Because the accessibility checker verifies each cell individually, it cannot evaluate if the colors used across a spreadsheet are colorblind-friendly. The biggest offender for this is using red and green formatting to indicate opposites within a sheet, like in the “Bad, Good, Neutral” cell styles. Individual cells may meet color contrast guidelines, but a colorblind user may not be able to detect that highlighted cells are using separate colors. This is a case where the information is being conveyed through color alone. Whenever color is used in a spreadsheet, it should not be the only way information is available to the user.

It is common in some accounting formats to use red text to indicate a negative value in a cell. This is an example of color alone being used to convey information, which is an issue for screen-reader users as well as some low-vision users. A minus (-) sign or parentheses () should accompany all negative numbers in a spreadsheet. 

Excel comes with a built-in accessibility checker that can help identify accessibility issues throughout a document. Although the accessibility checker can check for many common accessibility issues, it is not a substitute for understanding accessibility best practices. For instance, the accessibility checker is not able to flag instances where color alone is used to convey information. Using the accessibility checker is not a substitute for understanding best practices in Excel.

As a responsible content creator, you should do your best to author your Excel spreadsheets documents accessibly first by applying the best practices listed on this page, and then use the accessibility checker to screen for any remaining issues.

• TPGI Color Contrast Analyzer (CCA)
• ColorZilla – Browser based color analyzer for Chrome
• Excel Accessibility Guide