Module 3: Use Built-in Features to Create Lists

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Voice Over (VO): Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice, AED-COP.

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VO: You are watching how to make an accessible document in Microsoft Word.

VO: This is Module 3, use built-in features to create lists. This video is one in a series showing how to make a Word document, Section 508 Conformant.

VO: Introduction. Lists are used to break up and simplify content.

VO: Assistive technology cannot infer meeting from visual formatting alone. An example of this is if you were to press the Tab key and use a dash as a bullet when making a list.

VO: However, using Microsoft's built-in list features creates the list structure that assistive technology can identify and interpret.

VO: How to author accessibly. To author accessibly, go to the Home tab in the navigation ribbon, and in the Paragraph section, use the Bullets, Numbering, or Multi-Level List feature when making lists in your document.

VO: One way to use the built-in list feature is to select the list option that you would like to use from the navigation ribbon, and then begin typing your list.

VO: Another way to use built-in lists is to type the first item of your list, and then click on the button for the type of list you would like to use from the navigation ribbon.

VO: How to check your work. To check your work, first place your cursor after the text of one of your list items, and then ensure that one of the list options from the navigation ribbon is selected.

VO: Another way to verify a list is accessible is to look at the reveal formatting pane.

VO: To open the pane, use the Shift F1 keyboard shortcut. Once the pane is open, ensure that there is an item for your list option showing under Bullets and Numbering.

VO: In this example, there is a numbered list with one level listed under Bullets and Numbering.

VO: Inaccessible example. Microsoft Word makes it difficult to create an inaccessible list.

VO: If you begin typing a list in your document using dashes and tabs for spacing, Microsoft will automatically start to generate a list using the correct structure.

VO: However, it is possible to overwrite this and create an inaccessible list. So let's take a look at an inaccessible example.

VO: In this example, there is a list of three items where we use an asterisk as the bullet point for list items.

VO: If we select some of the text from the list, you will notice that none of the list buttons on the navigation ribbon are selected.

VO: This is the first clue that it might be an inaccessible list. The reveal formatting pane can also be used to check whether a list is formatted correctly.

VO: Use the Shift F1 keyboard shortcut to open the reveal formatting pane. The pane will appear on the right side of the screen.

VO: When the list is created in an inaccessible format, there will be a category called Bullets and Numbering listed.

VO: If that category does not appear in the formatting pane, then that means the list is not accessible.

VO: Since a list button is not selected in the navigation ribbon, and we just verify that there isn't a category for bullets and numbering in the formatting pane, now we can be sure that the list is not accessible.

VO: Accessible example. Now let's look at an accessible example.

VO: We'll leave the formatting pane open while we select our next example. This example shows three list items with standard bullet point icons, located to the left of the text.

VO: When we highlight the list in this accessible example, we will notice that one of the list option buttons in the navigation ribbon is highlighted and that the bullets and numbering category now displays information in the reveal formatting pane.

VO: This is what we want to see to ensure that we have an accessible list. Thank you for watching Module 3.

VO: You are encouraged to watch the other modules in this video series and can find additional information at section 508.gov.

VO: This video is a product of the accessible electronic document community of practice and the US Department of Transportation.