Excel

Create accessible spreadsheets with Microsoft Excel

Overview

Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are not always accessible for users of assistive technology. Although the text in Excel spreadsheets can be read by assistive technology, the spreadsheet's more complex sets of information and functions may be difficult for assistive technology to read.

To provide an accessible experience in Excel, follow the core guidelines outlined in the General guidelines for accessible documents and use the built-in accessibility checker before you share the file.

Accessibility resources for Excel

Microsoft's accessibility documentation provides tips and best practices for creating inclusive content in Excel. It covers accessibility and how it benefits all audience members. For a list of links that cover key accessibility topics in Microsoft's documentation, see below.

• Best practices for making Excel spreadsheets accessible
• Check accessibility while you work in Excel
• Create accessible tables
• Use an accessible template
• Add text to cell A1
• Add alt text to visuals
• Add accessible hyperlink text and ScreenTips
• Use accessible font format and color
• Create accessible charts
• Rename worksheets
• Delete blank worksheets
• Name cells and ranges
• Test the accessibility of your worksheets

Accessibility tips for Excel

Avoid empty cells, columns, and rows

Blank cells can be confusing to users of assistive technology because the lack of content makes the cell’s purpose unclear to both the technology and the user. If cells do not contain data, the optimum experience for users of assistive technology would be to have this information indicated directly in the cell (for example, "no data", "0", "null", etc.).

If the dataset is large and has many cells without data, users might want to leave these cells blank for aesthetic reasons. Do not leave cells blank; instead, use text to indicate there is no data and change the text color to match the background. However, since not all users will be presented with the hidden information, this is not the optimum solution.

Blank columns and/or rows may cause some users (and Excel itself) to think that the sheet has ended when more data is present. Always avoid using blank columns and rows.