Accessibility in Google Suite
Overview
Adapt these tips and tricks for setting up your digital content with accessibility in mind. This includes your documents (Google Docs), presentations (Google Slides), and spreadsheets (Google Sheets). Additional recommendations are included for making PDF’s accessible.
Review the Quick Reference guide after creating your documents as a form of testing.
Background
All digital content must meet UC Policy (IMT-1300) for WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. The general process includes:
Format content
Run automatic testing using built-in accessibility checkers
Conduct manual testing (especially for color contrast and reading order)
Save as PDF
Upload metadata into PDF
Test using PAC checker, NVDA, or JAWS screen readers
The recommendations on this webpage are not all-inclusive. Learn more at the Training videos library by Section508.gov.
Google Docs
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Choose darkest background against font
Use contrast checker such as the WebAIM Contrast Checker
Ensure contrast ratio is 3:1 for large font (or 4.5 : 1 for font smaller than 18 point)
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Save as PDF
Go to “File” tab
Select “Save as”
Choose “Browse”
Select “PDF” under Save as file type
Select “Options” button
Check the box next to “Create bookmarks using headings”
Make your PDF accessible
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Google Slides
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Ensure your layout and slide title is visible to assistive devices.
Layout
DO Insert new slide
DO go to “Slide” tab
DO Select “Apply Layout”
Avoid inserting a blank slide
Avoid inserting a Text Box
Avoid using Shapes
Avoid Diagrams
Avoid Google slide templates
Slide title
Format each section with built-in styles. Avoid using the bold, italics, underline, or color tools to distinguish words.
Add one Title per slide
Give each a unique title
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Styles
Use the “Normal text” style for the body section of your document. If you are borrowing from another document, try to copy and paste as text only (unformatted).
Webpages
Add links using descriptive text. This is generally the name of the webpage, and not its URL.
Write out page name
Select text
Press “Ctrl” and “K” on keyboard
Paste URL of webpage
For example, Google is a correct way to link to a website, while www.google.com is incorrect.
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Images can refer to photos, graphics, and diagrams (including charts and graphs).
Add Alt-text
Go to “Insert” tab
Go to “Image”
Select “Upload from computer”
Right-click on the image
Select “Alt-text”
Describe
Alt-text general rules
Screenreaders and assistive devices alternative text (AKA “Alt-text”) to identify components of an image. Generally, you should:
Describe in short phrases in an answer to, “What is this a picture of?”
Avoid “Picture of” or “Screenshot of” (120 character max)
Words in photo? Write out text that appears in images
Diagram? Write out Headers 1-3
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Choose darkest background against font
Go to “Slide” tab, select “Change Theme”, and choose simple themes
Use contrast checker such as the WebAIM Contrast Checker
Ensure contrast ratio is 3:1 for large font (or 4.5 : 1 for font smaller than 18 point)
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Before sharing make sure to conduct automatic testing using the built-in checker, Grackle.
Go to the “Extensions” tab
Select “Grackle”
Select “Launch”
Resolve all errors
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Save as PDF through Grackle (premiums) “Export to PDF” button.
Or, download as a PPT and Save as PDF
Go to “File” tab
Select “Save as”
Choose “Browse”
Select “PDF” under Save as file type
Make your PDF accessible
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Go to your slide
Use “tab” key to identify slide object order
If slide objects are not in correct reading order, right-click, then either “Send back/backward” or “Bring front/forward”
Google Sheets
PDFs
Converting to a PDF from a source file requires additional editing, often in HTML tags. This can be quite complicated, so it’s recommended that you restrict editing of source documents, when possible (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or HTML), or use remediation tools such as PDFix, PREP, or the UCOP PDF-Fix website.
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Avoid the Metadata error known as, “PDF/UA identifier missing.” Program your document to incorporate the needed metadata.
For Adobe Acrobat Pro XI (or versions before 2024), you must first download the pdfUA-ID.xmp file somewhere onto your computer.
Open your PDF file
Go to “File” then “Properties”
Select “Additional Metadata”
Select “Advanced” tab (left-hand side)
Select “Append”
Locate and open the file “pdfUA-ID.xmp”
For Adobe Acrobat Pro (2024 - present versions), follow the steps below to add the PDF/UA identifier.
Open your PDF file
Go to “File” then “Properties”
Select “Advanced” tab (far right)
Change “PDF/UA Compliance” drop-down menu selection from “None” to “PDF/UA v1 - ISO 14289-1 2014”
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Avoid the Quality error known as, “Tagged text consists of only whitespace.” Any images inserted into a Word document automatically receives an empty paragraph container after being converted to a PDF. These must be removed, or there will be tagged text consisting of only white space (“empty paragraph containers”). Depending on your version of Adobe Acrobat, you can display the tags tree window by going to the “View” tab, selecting “Show/Hide,” choosing “Navigation Panes,” and selecting “Tag.”
Go to the “Tag” tree window
Locate the <Figure> tag in your document
Locate the <P> tag that appears before the figure
Select the plus icon “+” that appears underneath the paragraph tag
Right click on the empty box
Select “Change tag to artifact”
Choose “Background” or “Pagination”
Save document
Right-click on the <P> tag
Select “Delete Tag”
Save document
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Avoid the WCAG error known as, “Contents entry on an annotation exists, but is only comprised of white space.”
Go to the “Tag” tree window
Locate the <Link> in your document
Right-click on the <Link> tag
Select “Properties”
Enter webpage name in the alternate text field
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Define table header columns
Go to “Reading order”
Right-click on table
Select “Table editor”
Select column headers (Press and hold “Shift” and select column headers)
Right click and select “Table cell properties”
Select header cell type
Change scope to “Column”
Define table header rows
Go to “Reading order”
Right-click on table
Select “Table editor”
Select column headers (Press and hold “Shift” and select row headers)
Right click and select “Table cell properties”
Select header cell type
Change scope to “Row”
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Your final step is to test the document for accessibility. To do you this you should use the built-in checkers, as well as external tools.
In Adobe PDF
Go to the “Tools” menu
Run through the “Full check” under Accessibility
Save any reports for future reference
In PAC checker:
Download and install the PAC checker tool
Upload your document
Save any reports for future reference
Empty tags
Paragraph symbol next to <p> tag that appears before the <figure> tag. There is a box symbol underneath the <p> tag that is empty (does not have a tag next to it).
Quick Reference
Complete these steps for creating and sharing accessible documents:
Document title. Add a Document Title
Sections
Documents
Format headers with (1) Title, Header 1s, and Headers 2-3 nested underneath
Add line spaces after paragraph (instead of pressing the “Enter” twice)
Use the built-in tools to make Tables and Graphs
Presentations
Format slides so there is a layout that uses content placeholders, and (2) slide title
Check for reading order
Links. Add links to webpages using descriptive text (e.g., “Ctrl” and “K”)
Images. Add Alt-text to all images/graphics, tables, and graphs
Color. Check for color-contrast using tools such as the WebAIM Contrast Checker (ensuring 3:1 ratio for large font)
Testing. Conduct automatic testing for accessibility using the built-in Accessibility Checker
PDF version. Prepare your PDF (bookmarks, metadata, tags, links)
Save as PDF
Add metadata using the pdfUA-ID.xmp file or toggle drop-down menu to “PDF/UA v1 - ISO 14829-1 2014”
Remove empty paragraph <P> tags before Figures (“images”) (Microsoft Word only)
Update webpage links with alt-text (Microsoft Word only)
Test for accessibility in Adobe PDF and using the PAC checker tool