Word Document Accessibility

Best Practices for Using Word Documents in Your Online Course

Word documents may be appropriate to use in your online course if you need students to print or fill out the page. We recommend that you present content to students using the Pages tool in Webcourses@UCF rather than uploading Word documents to your course. Pages are the preferred format to present content in your online course since they have HTML code behind the scenes and can be opened quickly using any internet browser, do not require additional software in order to view them, and can be easily navigated by assistive technologies such as screen readers.

Alternatives to Uploading Word Documents to Your Course

  1. Convert the Word document to a Webcourses@UCF Page using the Import DOCX or HTML tool. You can then edit and format the page for accessibility using the rich content editor and easily embed images, videos, and links.
  2. Consider using the Webcourses@UCF Templater Tool.
    • You may utilize the Templater tool to import content pages (e.g., Syllabus, Course Expectations, Module Overview) that are pre-formatted for accessibility. You can then use the rich content editor to modify the pages.
    • If you copy/paste text from a Word document onto a template page, be sure to use the clear formatting tool in the rich content editor after pasting the text to remove any extraneous html code that is brought over from Microsoft Word.
  3. If you have a small amount of content, you may copy/paste the content from a Word document onto a blank (e.g., newly created) Page in your course.

How to Build Word Documents Accessibly

If sharing Word documents with your students is the best pedagogical choice for your online course, refer to the UCF Student Accessibility Services Digital Accessibility Microsoft Word Guide for tips on how to build an accessible Word documents.