Organizing Information: 
Introduction to Reading Order 
Accessibility Video Tutorials 

Katie Allen 
Center on Victimization and Safety 
Vera Institute of Justice 

December 3, 2019 

This project was supported by Grant No. 2016-TA-AX-K068 awarded by the Office on Violence Against 
Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations 
expressed in this program are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the 
Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. 


What we will cover in this video 

In this video, we will discuss & demonstrate: 

How can we organize information accessibly in 
electronic and web-based materials? 
What is reading order, and why does it matter for 
accessibility? 
How can we use built-in Microsoft Office structures to 
create accessible materials? 
How can we use the Microsoft Office Accessibility 
Checker tool for reading order? 


Vera Institute of Justice Center on Victimization and Safety logo

Assistive Technology 

Screen readers rely on reading 
order in documents to navigate 
written electronic materials 
accessibly 




Reading Order 



How to organize content in Microsoft Office 


Slide Layouts in PowerPoint 

This image of a 
slide has 2 content 
placeholders and a 
slide title 
placeholder, so it 
should have a title 
and 2 pieces of 
content. 

If one placeholder is left empty, or if more than 2 
pieces of content are added, a screen reader will 
miss content, or read the content out of order. 



2 content layout: a screen shot of the powerpoint layout with two pieces of content

Four content placeholders, 
four pieces of content 

Artemis is a small, black 
and white cat, commonly 
referred to as a Cow Cat. 

This is a slide layout with 
4 content placeholders. 
I’m using 2 for images 
and 2 for text! 

Artemis the cat in a circle curled up in a ball
Artemis the cat relaxing on the arm of the couch with her chin resting on her paws

Word: Objects In-Line with Text 

• The first example has 
the image in-line with 
text. 
• The second example has 
the text wrapping the 
image. This is not 
accessible, because it is 
not detectable by a 
screen reader. 
screen shot of a image not inline with text in microsoft office, illegible text about refreshable braille displays and an image of the refreshable braille display wrapped with the text.
screen shot of a image in line with text in microsoft office, illegible text about refreshable braille displays and an image of the refreshable braille display in line with the text.



Word: Built-In Heading Styles 

• Headings are visual and 
non-visual elements of 
reading order. 
• It is important to use 
Microsoft Word’s built-in 
headings. 
• Assistive technologies 
can detect headings 
without needing visual 
labels. 


Microsoft office for mac list of heading styles indicating which heading label is used for each. This example shows the text:
Title: All About Cats
Heading 1 – Introduction
Heading 1 – Types of Cats
Heading 2 – Wild Cats 
Heading 3 – Lions
Heading 3 – Panthers 
Heading 3 – Tigers
Heading 4 – Siberian Tigers
Heading 4 – Bengal Tigers
Heading 2 – Domestic Cats
Heading 3 – Short Haired
Heading 3 – Long-Haired
Heading 1 - Cat Food 

Word: Page Numbers 

Page numbers in 
documents can help 
survivors navigate visually 
and non-visually. 

To add page numbers in 
Microsoft Word: 

• Go to Insert and 
choose Page Numbers 
from the drop-down list. 

Microsoft Word for mac Insert drop-down menu with page numbers selected. 

PowerPoint: Slide Numbers 

You can add slide 
numbers in PowerPoint in 
the Master Slide Deck. 

• Go to View, and click 
Slide Master. 


• Then, go to Insert, and 
click Slide Number. 
Power point for mac View tab highlighted, indicating the location fo the Slide master icon. 
Power point for mac menu bar indicating the location fo the Slide number icon in the slide master tab.

Accessible Bulleted Lists 

• Bulleted lists help 
all survivors follow 
information flow 
on a page. 
• Instead of 
creating bullets 
manually, you will 
want to use the 
built-in list tool. 

Under the Bullets drop-down 
list, you can select the format for 
you bullets. 

Power point for mac home menu bar with the bullets drop-down selected. the menu is open, and the first option for "filled round bullets" is selected. 

Microsoft Office Accessibility 
Checker Tool 
Microsoft Office’s Built-in Accessibility Tool 


What is the Microsoft Office 
Accessibility Checker Tool? 

• Microsoft offers a simple tool for checking 
accessibility of PowerPoint and Word 
documents: the Accessibility Checker. 
• This tool will flag some accessibility issues in 
your document, but it is not comprehensive, 
so we cannot rely on it for complete accessibility. 
• It flags errors, warnings, and tips, including 
those related to inaccessible reading order. 



To Recap: Organizing 
Information Accessibly 

Accessible information orga

•
nization is multi-faceted. 

Accessible organization is 
important for survivors in 
printed, electronic, and web-
based materials 
Survivors who are blind and 
survivors with other types of 
disabilities often access 
electronic information using 
assistive technology. 


Screen readers rely on 
structural elements in 
documents to navigate 
electronic materials. 
Accessible Reading Order is 
key. 
Microsoft Office Accessibility 
Checker will flag reading 
order issues in Word and 
PowerPoint. 



Thank you! 

For more information and videos about accessible 
content, visit: www.endabusepwd.org 

Ending abuse of people with disabilities is a team effort. 
Contact us for support: 

End Abuse Email Address: cvs@vera.org 
End Abuse Phone Number: (212) 376-3096 
End Abuse Toll Free Phone Number: (855) 274-8222