Google Docs is a great place to start for any document. The great thing about this format is how shareable it is. Our institution is set up to use Google Workspace, so we end up starting there often. While this platform doesn't support more advanced accessibility features, it can be easily converted to a Word Document if your document becomes complex enough to need those features, or if you want to check your document for accessibility issues.
The Google Help Center provides resources for creating accessible documents, presentations, and sheets.
Interactive and Visual Heading Hierarchy in Google Docs
The reason I love starting my documents in Google Docs is because it makes it easy and intuitive to use an accessible heading structure. Headings can and should of course be used in other document editors, but in Google Docs, you can see the hierarchy in the sidebar visually to get a quick and simple overview of your document's structure. You can also collapse the content of one or multiple headings which is very helpful in seeing where paragraphs and subheadings are nested. See the images below for examples.
Google Docs sidebar: Summary and Outline
Google Docs heading example (no headings collapsed)
Google Docs heading example (Heading 2 collapsed)
Converting a Google Doc to a Microsoft Word Document
If your document becomes complex, it may be necessary to convert it to a Microsoft Word document so you can take advantage of Microsoft Word's more extensive accessibility features. This is recommended if your document contains complex tables or complex images. Converting to a Word document is also a great way to check for accessibility issues, because you can run the Accessibility Checker from within Mircosoft Word. Note if your downloaded document passes the accessibility check, your Google Doc is considered compliant This check will need to be repeated after any changes are made to the source document.
To convert a Google Doc to a Word document, follow these simple steps:
- Open the document in Google Docs.
- Open to the file menu by clicking "File" in the top left of the screen under the document title.
- In the file menu, find the "Download" menu item and hover your mouse over it to open the submenu.
- Choose the option "Microsoft Word Document (.docx)".
- Depending on your computer and browser settings, this may download automatically to your Downloads or another custom folder, or it may prompt you to choose a place to download the file. You can now open this file in Microsoft Word on your computer.
Converting a Google Doc to a PDF
To convert a Google Doc to a PDF document, follow these simple steps:
- Open the document in Google Docs.
- Open to the file menu by clicking "File" in the top left of the screen under the document title.
- In the file menu, find the "Download" menu item and hover your mouse over it to open the submenu.
- Choose the option "PDF Document (.pdf)".
- Depending on your computer and browser settings, this may download automatically to your Downloads or another custom folder, or it may prompt you to choose a place to download the file. You can now open this file in Microsoft Word on your computer.
Accessibility is constantly evolving to keep up with emerging technologies, and the
information herein is not comprehensive. If you still have questions, please fill
out our form. We recommend completing the Canvas training "Accessibility Training: How to Create Content that Works for Everyone" first!Still Have Questions?