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Abbreviations, not acceptable in normal text, are acceptable in tables if there are is limited space restrictions.
Avoid merged cells, this makes tables inaccessible.
Make all margins / borders visible.
Format the table in Layout > Table properties > Table tab. Make the left and right cell margins 0.15cm.
Note: make sure the Top field is set to 0 cm. Having any value in this field is a prime cause for lines in a table disappearing when you convert it to PDF.
To space the text and let it breathe, go to the Home tab, click the small arrow in the Paragraph group to open the Paragraph dialogue box. Set the spacing before and after to 2pt. This is enough to separate the text from cell borders and so make the table easier to read.
Header row:
- Use light grey to indicate header row - highlight the header row, go to Table Design > Shading and choose the lightest grey at the top left which is called 'White, Background 1, Darker 5%'.
- Header row text in bold
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Align content in a table use the Alignment buttons under the Layout tab i.e. highlight a column and select top left or top right. DO NOT USE THE SPACE BAR TO POSITION CONTENT IN TABLES - use the align functionality.
Numbers must include the thousand comma, that is: 11,328 not 11328.
Avoid colour in graphs. This a) :
- is conveying information through colour, which unsighted people cannot see
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- - find another way to highlight cells - the obvious route is to add a letter in square brackets; for example the common use of red, amber and green to highlight cells can be used but only so long as you add [R], [A] and [G] to the respective cells, and explain what they mean above the table.
- risks breaching colour contrast requirements, namely that the contrast ratio between a foreground colour and a background colour are above a certain
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- ratio
3. Visual elements
a) Accessible graphs
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Use the style menu to apply the Figures/charts title style to the title. Visually, this just makes it go bold, but it is important to use the style and not bold because this tags it the title correctly when the doc is converted to PDF.
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