How to Make Digital Assets Accessible: Spreadsheets

Microsoft: Creating accessible Excel workbooks: Guidance from Microsoft support website on creating accessible Microsoft Excel workbooks.

Accessible U: Spreadsheets: Best practices and tips from University of Minnesota

This is an overview of the elements that require special consideration when creating accessible Excel workbooks. Please review one of the Additional Resources for detailed instructions on any of the following:

• Include a brief description of the sheet in cell A1.
• Identify row and column headers with clear labels.
• Give all sheet tabs unique names.
• Avoid merging cells.
• Use formatting tools (rather than blank cells) for visual design.
• Add ALT Text to embedded images, charts, and graphs in order to provide a description of the item. Images that are decorative maybe tagged as "null" so the screen reader skips the image.  
• Make sure Hyperlinks make sense without their surrounding content. For example, do not title a link "click here." Instead title with the name of the website or resource.
• Do not use color as a means of conveying essential information.
• Use color-safe palettes on charts and graphs.
• Ensure the text is legible by using Sans-serif fonts and make sure your Color Scheme has enough contrast between light and dark. Avoid using orange, red and green for your template or text. 
• Format line charts with varying dots and dashes instead of all solid lines.

Microsoft Accessible Excel Templates  

To check:

• Section 508 Basic Authoring and Testing Guide (Word)
• Section 508 Accessible Testing Checklist (Word)
• Microsoft Office built-in Accessibility Checker. (Learn about the rules used by the Accessibility Checker.)
• WebAIM Color Contrast Checker.
• Adobe Color Accessibility Tool