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Guide · Checklist

Accessible documents and communications quick guide

Clear, well-structured documents work better for everyone, including people who use screen readers, magnification or captions. Use these checks for reports, forms, slides, emails and posts. Aligned with WCAG 2.2, as of October 2026.

PRISM Accessibility Consultants · Reviewed October 2026

How to use this guide

Use these checks while you write, not only at the end: structure is much easier to build in than to add later. The numbers in brackets point to the matching success criterion in the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, if you need the technical detail. WCAG is written for web content, but the same ideas apply to Word files, PDFs and slides. In Ontario, the AODA currently requires public websites of the public sector and of organizations with 50 or more employees to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA, apart from live captions and prerecorded audio description. This guide follows the newer WCAG 2.2, which builds on 2.0.

Plain language

Canada's plain language standard, CAN-ASC-3.1:2025, describes plain language as wording, structure and design so clear that readers can easily find, understand and use what they need.

  • Know who you're writing for and what they need to do with the information.
  • Put the most important information first.
  • Use words your readers already know, and explain technical terms and acronyms the first time.
  • Keep sentences short, and write numbers and dates in a form readers will understand.
  • For complex content, offer a summary or simpler version (3.1.5).
  • Test important documents with a few people from your audience before you publish.

Structure and headings

  • Use your software's built-in heading styles, not bold or bigger text (1.3.1).
  • Use heading levels in order, without skipping any, and make each heading describe what follows (2.4.6).
  • Use the built-in tools for bulleted and numbered lists.
  • Give the document a meaningful title in its properties, and set its language (2.4.2, 3.1.1).
  • Label every form field, and give instructions wherever people need to enter information (3.3.2).
  • Choose a readable font and size, and leave plenty of white space.

Colour and contrast

  • Don't use colour alone to show meaning, such as red for overdue. Add a word, symbol or pattern (1.4.1).
  • Give text a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 with its background, or 3:1 for large text, meaning 18 point, or 14 point bold (1.4.3).
  • Give chart lines, icons and form field borders that people need to understand the content a contrast of at least 3:1 (1.4.11).
  • Avoid text over photos or patterned backgrounds, and check contrast with a contrast checker rather than by eye.

Images and alt text

  • Give every image that carries information alt text that conveys its purpose, usually in a sentence or less (1.1.1).
  • Skip words like "image of". Screen readers already announce that it's an image.
  • Mark decorative images as decorative so screen readers skip them.
  • For a linked image or icon, say where it goes or what it does.
  • For charts and diagrams, give the main message in the alt text and the full data in the text or a nearby table.
  • Use real text instead of pictures of text, apart from logos (1.4.5).

Tables

  • Use tables for data, not to lay out a page.
  • Mark the header row, and header column if there is one, with the table tools (1.3.1).
  • Avoid merged or split cells, nested tables and blank rows or columns used for spacing.
  • Give each table a caption or heading that says what it shows, and split complex tables into simpler ones.

Links

  • Write link text that says where the link goes, such as "2026 annual report (PDF, 2 MB)", never "click here" (2.4.4).
  • Say when a link opens a file, and give its format and size.
  • Use readable link text instead of long, bare web addresses.
  • Make links look like links, for example underlined, not just a different colour (1.4.1).

Word and PDF

  • Build accessibility into the Word file first: styles, lists, alt text and table headers. The easiest accessible PDF starts as an accessible Word document.
  • Run Word's Accessibility Checker (File, Info, Check for Issues, Check Accessibility) and fix what it finds. It won't catch everything, so check link text and alt text yourself.
  • Export with File, Export, Create PDF/XPS, with document structure tags, document properties and bookmarks from headings turned on. Don't use "Print to PDF", which loses the structure.
  • Check that the PDF is tagged, has a title and language, reads in a logical order and has bookmarks.
  • A scanned document is only a picture of text. Run text recognition (OCR) and review the result by hand, or provide an accessible version.
  • Where you can, offer an editable format, such as Word or HTML, alongside the PDF.

Social media

  • Add alt text to images and GIFs, and prefer still images to GIFs, which can distract.
  • Caption videos, and provide a transcript for audio.
  • Capitalize each word in a multi-word hashtag, such as #AccessibleOntario, so screen readers read the words separately.
  • Use emojis sparingly and put them at the end. Screen readers read out each emoji's description.
  • Avoid writing in all capitals, and say where a link goes before you post it.

Alternate formats on request

Under the AODA, Ontario organizations must tell the public that accessible formats and communication supports are available, and provide them on request in a timely way, at no more than the regular cost. Work with the person to find a format that meets their needs. If something can't be converted, explain why and give a summary.

  • Add a line to documents, your website and email signatures saying how to ask for another format.
  • Know how you'd produce common formats: accessible Word or HTML, large print, braille, audio and plain-language versions.
  • Keep the editable source files, not just the PDF, so you can respond quickly.
  • Know who can arrange sign language interpretation or captioning when someone asks.
  • Keep a simple log of requests and how quickly you met them.

Key point: These checks catch the most common problems. For a website, an online form or an important series of documents, a professional review that includes testing with assistive technology gives you certainty. PRISM's audits cover communications and digital tools, and our training helps teams build these habits.

Sources

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Why it matters: WCAG 2.2 in plain language