Word
Accessibility Conformance Report published by Microsoft
Conformance by level
Reported by the vendor. WCAG Level AA is the benchmark referenced by ADA Title II, Section 508 and the European Accessibility Act; Level AAA is optional and often left unevaluated.
Level A — 30 criteria
- Supports
- 17
- Partially supports
- 8
- Does not support
- 0
- Not applicable
- 5
- Not evaluated
- 0
Level AA — 20 criteria
- Supports
- 11
- Partially supports
- 6
- Does not support
- 0
- Not applicable
- 3
- Not evaluated
- 0
Source: Download the original report from Microsoft (Word document). Or browse all of Microsoft's reports on Microsoft's own site.
These figures are extracted from that document. They are the vendor's own statements, not an independent assessment, and automated extraction can misread a table.
All reported criteria (50)
| Criterion | Name | Level | Conformance | Remarks from vendor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 | Non-text Content | A | Partially Supports | In the viewing mode of Word web, pages of text are represented as images. For an accessible experience, select "accessibility mode" to render the document as a PDF. |
| 1.2.1 | Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) | A | Not Applicable | |
| 1.2.2 | Captions (Prerecorded) | A | Not Applicable | |
| 1.2.3 | Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) | A | Not Applicable | |
| 1.2.4 | Captions (Live) | AA | Not Applicable | |
| 1.2.5 | Audio Description (Prerecorded) | AA | Not Applicable | |
| 1.3.1 | Info and Relationships | A | Partially Supports | - Assistive technology such as screen readers may not notify customers when resume reading UI has appeared. On opening a document that has a resume reading bookmark, you can explore the app via the F6 loop or item navigation to access resume reading.- Some assistive technology, such as screen readers, may support columns while other assistive technologies, including Windows Narrator, may not provide such support. In those cases, it is possible to determine this information through the ribbon (ex. Layout -> Columns). - Navigating by link (ex. Caps Lock+ L using Narrator) may skip linked shapes or textboxes. All other link interaction with these objects works as expected. - For a bulleted list, we do not expose list markup and Narrator does not announce "n of m, level p" for each item. |
| 1.3.2 | Meaningful Sequence | A | Supports | |
| 1.3.3 | Sensory Characteristics | A | Supports | |
| 1.3.4 | Orientation | AA | Supports | |
| 1.3.5 | Identify Input Purpose | AA | Supports | |
| 1.4.1 | Use of Color | A | Supports | |
| 1.4.2 | Audio Control | A | Not Applicable | |
| 1.4.3 | Contrast (Minimum) | AA | Partially Supports | - Changed areas for co-authoring doesn't meet contrast ratio vs. the white background by default, color can be customized via the track changes UI.- Colors for tracked change insertion/deletion of table rows/cells do not meet 3:1 contrast ratio |
| 1.4.4 | Resize text | AA | Partially Supports | Certain ribbon controls and dialogs are truncated when zooming to 200% |
| 1.4.5 | Images of Text | AA | Supports | |
| 1.4.10 | Reflow | AA | Partially Supports | Supported for screen resolutions at or above 1280 CSS pixels x 768 CSS pixels on Windows and 1280 CSS pixels x 800 pixels on macOS as the application is designed for use on desktop computers. We work to ensure reflow is supported in all UI that is in active development. There may be UI components that are not in active development that do not reflow at 400% zoom and have 2-dimensional scrolling. |
| 1.4.11 | Non-Text Contrast | AA | Partially Supports | - Changed areas for co-authoring doesn't meet contrast ratio vs. the white background by default, color can be customized via the track changes UI.- Colors for tracked change insertion/deletion of table rows/cells do not meet 3:1 contrast ratio |
| 1.4.12 | Text Spacing | AA | Supports | |
| 1.4.13 | Content on Hover or Focus | AA | Partially Supports | Due to app complexity, we currently do not support hoverability with all app tooltips. We are working on a solution for this. Tooltips are dismissible and can be reactivated with the keyboard. |
| 2.1.1 | Keyboard | A | Partially Supports | - Text boxes are rendered as images in the web, and the text within is not keyboard or screen reader accessible.- Images cannot be re-sized via the keyboard. Instead, select the image, then navigate to the picture tab (alt win JP) then the height field “H” and enter a new size number.- Images can’t be selected via the keyboard, only shift+arrow highlighted.- Charts are represented as images, and the items within them are not individually keyboard accessible.- Grouped images are exposed as one image, and individual items cannot be accessed with the keyboard.- Tracked changed tooltips appear on hover for mouse users, and require the use of the shortcut “Ctrl alt apostrophe” to open tracked changes tooltip.- The Dictate button turns off when a user keyboard navigates away.- In Microsoft Teams, when opening a file in the Files tab of a conversation in-place within Teams, you cannot access all features for Word using the keyboard.- In Outlook for Web, when clicking a link to a Word file stored in SharePoint or OneDrive for Business, it opens in-place in Outlook, but you cannot access all features for PowerPoint using the keyboard. |
| 2.1.2 | No Keyboard Trap | A | Partially Supports | Some navigation within the view mode of Word may result in keyboard focus traps. We recommend using the "Accessibility Mode" option instead of the default view. |
| 2.1.4 | Character Key Shortcuts | A | Supports | |
| 2.2.1 | Timing Adjustable | A | Supports | |
| 2.2.2 | Pause, Stop, Hide | A | Supports | |
| 2.3.1 | Three Flashes or Below Threshold | A | Supports | |
| 2.4.1 | Bypass Blocks | A | Supports | |
| 2.4.2 | Page Titled | A | Supports | |
| 2.4.3 | Focus Order | A | Partially Supports | Controls in the Insert Picture dialog are not in a logical focus order. |
| 2.4.4 | Link Purpose (In Context) | A | Supports | |
| 2.4.5 | Multiple Ways | AA | Supports | |
| 2.4.6 | Headings and Labels | AA | Supports | |
| 2.4.7 | Focus Visible | AA | Supports | |
| 2.5.1 | Pointer Gestures | A | Supports | |
| 2.5.2 | Pointer Cancellation | A | Supports | |
| 2.5.3 | Label in Name | A | Supports | |
| 2.5.4 | Motion Actuation | A | Not Applicable | |
| 3.1.1 | Language of Page | A | Supports | |
| 3.1.2 | Language of Parts | AA | Partially Supports | - When working with mixed languages in a document, Narrator may not read non-default language text in the appropriate language. This issue is addressed in the Windows Creators Update.- Mixed-language UI text visible in some features (ex. phonetic guide) may not have their language correctly exposed to ATs. |
| 3.2.1 | On Focus | A | Supports | |
| 3.2.2 | On Input | A | Partially Supports | - Form controls cannot be filled or interacted with on web- Narrator may not notify users when AutoFormat UI appears. |
| 3.2.3 | Consistent Navigation | AA | Supports | |
| 3.2.4 | Consistent Identification | AA | Supports | |
| 3.3.1 | Error Identification | A | Supports | |
| 3.3.2 | Labels or Instructions | A | Supports | |
| 3.3.3 | Error Suggestion | AA | Supports | |
| 3.3.4 | Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data) | AA | Not Applicable | |
| 4.1.1 | Parsing | A | Partially Supports | - Tracked change table interactions of inserted, deleted, merged, and split are exposed programmatically via object model only.- Legacy form controls are exposed programmatically via object model only (Placeholder text is read, but you don't know type, enter/exit, and controls like checkboxes show up as empty line if using UIA).- Floating objects are harder to work with compared to inline objects (ex. know physical location and properties).- Object formatting exposed programmatically via object model only.- Footnote style area is exposed programmatically via object model only.- If a user shares a document as “View Only”, and restricts download (also considered Confidential/Highly Confidential), blocks the Word Web service from downloading a PDF for Accessibility Mode in the Word Web Viewer. If an AT user opens this document in the web, they’ll be unable to read any of the content because of the default viewer experience rendering the document as an image. |
| 4.1.2 | Name, Role, Value | A | Partially Supports | - The style descriptions in advance table of content dialog may not be clear using a screen reader. Instead, automatic table of contents may be used.- The AutoCorrect Options dialog may not immediately announce “Replace” and “With” pairs while navigating through the list using assistive technologies. You may work around the issue by searching for an existing "Replace" & "With" pairs by typing out the "replace" word, arrowing through the results, and tabbing between the "Results" and "With" fields. You can use this method to create new "Replace" and "With" pairs or replace existing ones. - Information about the advanced color picker found in the “More Colors” dialog is not exposed programmatically but screen-reader users can read or edit the values direct in the UI provided.- Screen Reader cannot read the values under 'Foreground color' and 'Background color' dropdown as they don't have Names.- The version history pane presents the list of previous versions to AT as a sequence of buttons rather than as a list. As a result, AT are not able to identify the number of versions in the list, or the current position within the list. The Tab button will move focus from one item to the next in the list.- In Word web, text boxes inserted via the desktop app are represented as images, and the text in the textbox is not accessible to screen readers- Screen readers do not always announce text displayed in a business bar fully. Screen readers sometimes announce text displayed in a business bar multiple times.- Equations inserted from the desktop app are represented as image and are not accessible.- In Microsoft Teams, when opening a file in the Files tab of a conversation in-place within Teams, the application content is not exposed in the accessibility tree.- For the Pen and Highlighter button on the Draw ribbon, the expand/collapse state is not exposed correctly. |
| 4.1.3 | Status Messages | AA | Supports |
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