Office Accessibility Checker

The Accessibility Checker tool in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint and Excel) is useful for finding common accessibility issues.

However, no automated tool can catch all issues. Manual checks may still be needed for some items.

Macintosh Office 2016

In Word, PowerPoint and Excel, the Accessibility Checker can be accessed as follows:

  1. Open the Tools menu, then select Check Accessibility.
  2. A report will open show any errors found. The report is customized for each application (Word, Power point, Excel).

Note: The Accessibility Checker was not available in earlier versions of Microsoft Office for the Mac.

Windows Office

In Word, PowerPoint and Excel, the Accessibility Checker can be accessed as follows:

  1. Open the File tab.
  2. Click Info in the left menu.
  3. Click the button Check for Issues (next to Inspect Document) and select Check Accessibility in the drop down menu.
  4. A report will open show any errors found. The report is customized for each application (Word, Power point, Excel).

Note: The Accessibility Checker is not available before the 2013 version

Where to update software

If you have older versions of Microsoft Office, please go to the ITS Home page and use the "Install Software" button under "Popular ITS Help Topics".