Unpacking Document Accessibility: Risks and Best Practices

Whether internal or public-facing, documents play an integral role in your organization’s communication and service delivery. And, with an estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide living with disabilities, creating accessible documents is not just a necessity—it’s a responsibility for every organization.

Despite their importance, digital documents rarely receive the same level of attention as websites or apps in accessibility efforts. Unlike these other digital touchpoints, documents are frequently treated as static, one-off files—uploaded to portals, embedded in workflows, and eventually archived, often living forgotten in systems for years. This leaves organizations vulnerable to accessibility gaps that can impact user experience and expose them to legal risk.

In this blog, we’ll walk through best practices for making your organization’s documents accessible—across every format—so you can support compliance, while creating digital experiences that are easy for everyone to access and use.

Why document accessibility should be an organizational priority

When accessibility is not integrated into the life cycle of digital documents, the usability of those documents is compromised. Over time, as organizations accumulate an increasing volume of documents (forms, reports, policy statements, contracts, etc.) this challenge becomes more complex and harder to manage.

Maintaining inaccessible documents can have multiple negative consequences:

Poor user experience

For people who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers or voice recognition software, an inaccessible document (lacking proper structure like headings, lists, logical reading order, and features such as alt text) can be more than frustrating. It can be completely unusable.

For example, a 20-page policy document with no headings provides no clear way for users to navigate it. A user seeking one clause or contact number within that document would be forced to navigate the document line by line, unable to obtain timely access to the information they need.

Compliance risks and legal liabilities

In sectors like government and healthcare, organizations have a legal requirement to ensure documents meet accessibility standards. For example, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that U.S. federal agencies create and maintain Section 508-compliant documents. When organizations fail to meet these standards, they risk facing financial penalties and compromising their public image.

Operational inefficiencies and increased costs

Remediating inaccessible documents after they’ve been created is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and often disruptive to workflows. Teams may need to revisit outdated files, coordinate across departments, and manually fix issues that could have been prevented with accessible templates. By prioritizing accessibility from the start, organizations save time, reduce rework, and avoid bottlenecks, making operations smoother and more efficient in the long run.

Reputational damage and loss of trust

Inaccessible documents can severely damage an organization’s reputation. When accessibility is neglected, it sends a message that certain individuals or groups are not valued or included. This not only alienates users but also weakens relationships with customers, clients, and stakeholders.

Whether in the public or private sector, prioritizing document accessibility is essential to maintaining trust. By ensuring digital documents are accessible, organizations demonstrate their commitment to inclusivity and social responsibility, safeguarding their reputation and reinforcing their credibility with the communities they serve.

Ten best practices for creating accessible documents

Now that you understand the importance of document accessibility, let’s explore how you can put that understanding into action. The following ten strategies apply across different formats and will help your organization shift from one-off fixes to a proactive, scalable process.

Embedding inclusive practices into the beginning of the document creation lifecycle will form the foundation of a sustainable approach to document accessibility—one that works for organizations of any size, in any sector, and at any stage of their accessibility journey.

1. Start with high-impact documents.

Identify a widely used document (like a customer onboarding guide, internal training deck, or application form) and make it fully accessible. Clearly label it as accessible and share it internally as a model. It will provide your teams with a clear, practical reference they can use to develop accessible templates, streamlining future work and making it easier for teams to follow best practices.

2. Prioritize visual clarity.

Meeting global standards for color contrast is essential. It ensures readability for users with low vision and improves usability for everyone. Additionally, avoid relying on color alone to communicate meaning, especially red / green combinations which can be inaccessible to many people who are color blind. For charts and infographics, use patterns alongside color for clearer interpretation.

3. Use legible formatting.

Your choice of font is important, especially for users with dyslexia or low vision. Sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Verdana are considered more legible than serif fonts such as Times New Roman. Avoid decorative or narrow fonts and stick to a minimum font size of 12pt (or 16 CSS px) to support readability across screen sizes and devices.

4. Build a reliable content structure.

Clear, consistent structure helps everyone follow along, especially users of assistive technology. Use a single Heading 1 per document or page, and organize subheadings hierarchically (Heading 2, Heading 3, and so on). This gives screen reader users a logical map to navigate and helps all readers stay oriented, especially in longer or more complex documents.

5. Ensure content is unique and descriptive.

To avoid confusion, each piece of content—especially link text—should be unique and descriptive. Avoid using repeated phrases like “learn more” or “read here” when links lead to different destinations, as this provides no context for users relying on assistive technologies.

Instead, use meaningful text that clearly describes the destination or purpose of the link. For example, instead of “Learn more,” use “Learn more about our postgraduate funding options” or “Read the full HR policy.” This gives all users, especially those using screen readers, enough context to decide whether to follow the link.

6. Use descriptive titles for slides, tables, and multimedia.

Whether it’s a slide, a table, or a video, every piece of content should have a clear, unique title. Titles help people understand what they’re reading, and users of assistive technologies rely on them to provide context. This is especially important for long presentations or documents where content can get lost without a clear title.

7. Check the reading order of your content.

For people who rely on screen readers or keyboard navigation, the order in which content is read is particularly important. If a document or slide deck presents content that is out of sequence, it’s easy for users to miss key points or lose context entirely.

Reading order should follow a logical path—for example, left to right and top to bottom in English-language documents—so that information flows in the order users visually expect.

In PowerPoint, the order that content is added to a slide does not always match the order in which it’s read. Using the Selection Pane, you can review and adjust the reading sequence to ensure it makes sense. Additionally, one way to create accessible Word documents is by adding a clear heading before a table. This heading provides essential context for screen reader users and improves overall readability.

8. Keep your content readable.

Following the KISS (Keep It Short and Simple) principle helps ensure your documents are clear and accessible. Dense or jargon-filled text can create barriers for people with cognitive disabilities, limited literacy, or those reading in a second language.

Use plain language, short paragraphs, and straightforward sentences. Aim for an eighth grade reading level for most public-facing content; for broader accessibility, a sixth-grade level is even better. For expert audiences, a twelfth-grade level may be appropriate. Whatever your target, clarity is always key.

9. Make documents accessible by design.

Treat accessibility as a foundational part of your document creation process—not something to bolt on later. When you use accessible practices as a core part of your workflow, accessibility becomes routine, not a retroactive fix. This shift not only prioritizes quality and efficiency across documents but also saves time and reduces the risk of non-compliance down the line.

10. Partner with experts to close knowledge gaps.

Most organizations don’t have the internal resources to manage document accessibility on their own, especially at scale. That’s where a trusted partner can help. An experienced digital accessibility solution provider can support you with remediation and provide the tools and guidance you need to create accessible documents efficiently and avoid costly rework.

Expanding your teams’ own knowledge of document accessibility is also key to implementing best practices more consistently and effectively. Whether they’re writing Word documents or formatting PDFs, equipping team members with foundational awareness will help ensure accessibility is built in from the start of every document’s lifecycle.

To build in-house skills, the Level Access Academy offers live and on-demand training designed for practical application. With learning paths tailored to specific roles, your teams can grow their capabilities and create content that’s usable for everyone.

Start your journey to document accessibility and compliance.

Digital documents will continue to play a central role in communication, compliance, and service delivery. Prioritizing document accessibility is essential for organizations to reduce legal risk and support inclusive user experiences. A trusted partner like Level Access can help you confidently create—and maintain—accessible documents across every format.

Designed around the three pillars of effective digital accessibility programs, Audit & Test, Build & Fix, and Governance & Reporting, our solution supports the full lifecycle of any effective document accessibility program. Connect with our team to learn more about our document accessibility tools and services.

Frequently asked questions

Why is making documents accessible important if our website is already compliant?

Digital documents are subject to many of the same legal accessibility requirements as web content. They’re often used to deliver essential information, and, if they’re not accessible, your organization could still be at risk of legal action due to non-compliance or user complaints.

How can I check if a PDF document is accessible?

To evaluate the accessibility of a PDF, you can use built-in accessibility checkers to verify that your document has key features like selectable text, structured headings, alt text for images, and logical reading order. Tools like Level Access’ PDF Accessibility Checker can flag common issues, such as missing tags or poor structure, and validate assets against the PDF/UA standard, the globally recognized benchmark for accessible PDFs.

Are we liable for accessibility issues in documents provided by third-party vendors?

If your organization distributes, hosts, or relies on third-party documents, you may still be held responsible for their accessibility under laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and European Accessibility Act (EAA). It’s critical to include accessibility requirements in vendor contracts and review materials before use.