Improve Word Docs

Overview

Not only should every student should be able to access the documents of your course equitably, they should be able to experience the learning content equitably as well, whether they use a screen reader or navigate a keyboard or simply want to follow the material in a logical order. Reading order refers to the sequence in which a screen reader moves through the document's content. The sequence should match the order a sighted reader would logically follow. The quality of Word Documents depends on organizational choices made while authoring, not the corrections made after the fact.

Common Issues, By Severity

Severe issues are what actually block screen readers, so work through your severe issues before the minor ones to benefit your students sooner and to make the improvement process move faster.

Level	Example	Solution
Severe	No heading styles used anywhere in the document	Apply Heading 1/2/3 styles in Word, then re-upload
Major	Missing alt text on meaningful images	Fix Issue prompt for alt text
Major	Table has no marked header row	Table Design > Header Row in Word, then re-upload
Major	Low color contrast between text and background	Adjust contrast to compliant level
Minor	Non-descriptive link text ("click here")	Rewrite the link text in Word, then re-upload
Minor	Manually typed list instead of a true list	Reformat with Word's Bullets/Numbering tool, then re-upload

Document Tags

A PDF can look perfectly organized on screen and still be completely untagged underneath.

This is why PDFs require document tags. Document Tags are an invisible structural layer inside a PDF that label each piece of content as what it actually is, such as a heading, a paragraph, a list, a table, an image. Tags are unrelated to how information looks on the page. Screen readers rely on tags to announce structural elements and navigate through the document. Without tags, the assistive device only reads from one undifferentiated block of text with no way to know of its sections.

Workflow

Following these steps will help you develop efficiencies in your habits and routines, so remediations take a matter of minutes.

Open the Accessibility Report
Click the accessibility status icon beside the Word file to open a preview of the document in split view..
Sort by severity, not by order
Work on Severe issues first, then Major, then Minor. Severe issues will drag down drag down the score the most and usually block the document for screen-reader users entirely.
Severe → Major → Minor
Use "Fix Issue" where it's offered
If an issue shows a wrench icon, Panorama can walk you through the fix right inside the report, with no need to leave Brightspace.
Fix structural issues in Word itself
Issues that are based on how the document was originally created, such as missing heading styles, fake lists, an unmarked table header, usually need to be corrected in Word, using its Styles pane and the native tools for building lists and tables, then re-uploaded.
Re-upload and re-check the score
Replace the file in Content with your corrected version. Panorama will automatically re-scan it and update the indicator. Repeat the steps until the file is significantly improved.

Issues Specific to Word

Watch out for four pitfalls that can cause the majority of Severe and Major issues that Panorama finds with Word documents.

When it looks like a heading but is manually bolded or enlarged text that isn't tagged as such. Address this by applying an actual Heading style from the Styles gallery instead.
When it looks like a list but has typed dashes or numbers that read as plain text, not a structured list. Address this by using the Bullets or Numbering buttons so it gets tagged as a proper list.
When content looks like a table but has no header row designated, a screen reader can't logically identify column association. Address this by marking the top row under Table Design » Header Row.
When content looks like paragraph text but is text inside a floating text box, which screen readers can skip entirely or read out of order. Address this by keeping body content in the main text flow, not in text boxes.

Best Practices

Run Word's built-in Accessibility Checker (Review tab) before uploading — it catches most structural issues before Panorama ever sees the file.
Use the Styles pane for every heading — never fake one with bold and font size.
Fix new documents when you upload them, not the week before the term starts — Panorama scans on upload, so the indicator is there immediately.
Treat green as a floor, not a finish line — keep improving toward 100% where you reasonably can.