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Introduction
The new PHE UKHSA report template has been designed to meet the requirements of Accessibility legislation from 23 September 2020.
The template has been designed to restrict the creation of non-accessible content.
The PHE UKHSA Publishing team cannot accept any submissions in the previous ‘non-accessible’ PHE template UKHSA template after 23 September 2020. Any exception to this – such as when a report is already ‘in progress’ in the previous template – will require prior agreement with the Publishing team.
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If pasting copy from another document, select ‘Paste | Keep text only’ from the Paste Options button on the Home tab or after right-clicking.
Download the new template
Download the new template by clicking on the image below.
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The
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UKHSA ‘boilerplate’ page
This page contains standardised content about Public the UK Health England Security Agency along with contact details and so on.
It has been moved to form the final page of each report (as you create pages above it, the boilerplate page will move down accordingly).
On this page you can:
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No other content should be changed on this page. The digital team will add the copyright year, month published and Gateway number.
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How to open and use the Styles panel
Much of the standard Word toolbar is locked and greyed out in the template to ensure that only a limited number of pre-set PHE UKHSA styles are available to format your document.
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To access the Styles menu, click on the small arrow at the bottom right of the Styles tab, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S.
This should open the Styles menu or panel. Click it at the top and drag it over to the left side of the page where it should lock into place.
Note how the styles are in alphabetical order.
To apply a style to some text - for example, to create bullet points, to make a heading 2 or 3, to apply italics or bold - highlight the relevant text and click on the appropriate style in the Styles menu.
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If you're having trouble getting rid of a previous style, highlight the affected text and select Clear All at the top of the list, which should remove all formatting.
Front page main title
The front page should have a clear title titled as Front page main title.
Underneath goes Front page title second level (if required – if not, delete the guide text).
There is also a Front page sub-title style, if a sub-title is required.
Front cover image panel
The shaded area on the cover can be used for an image providing:
- it is relevant to the subject matter or content
- you have copyright permissions to use the image
- it is a professional image of sufficient resolution
- it does not display information (such as a graph or chart)
- you do not change the dimensions or location of the image panel
- your title is not more than 3 lines long (including subtitle)
If no image is available or a cover image is not required, delete the image box by highlighting it and clicking Delete.
Table of contents
The table of contents should be the last thing you finalise in a document.
Do not manually create a table of contents. The template automatically generates a table of contents as you work through the document.
The table of contents has been set up so that any text with the style Heading 1 and Heading 2 will be automatically included in the table of contents when it is updated.
To update the table of content right-click anywhere on it to open a dialogue box and select Update field.
This opens a further dialogue box with two options:
- if your table of contents is mostly finished and you just want to alter a few page numbers, select Update page numbers only
- if you have made major changes to the document and, therefore, to the contents, select Update entire table
NOTE: When you update he entire table entries might appear for Title page and Content pages, which you don't want. There is no automatic way to exclude these. You'll have to carefully highlight those lines and delete them. Carefully, because if you over-extend the highlighting and press Delete you might delete the entire table. Simply click Alt + z to restore the table and try deleting the lines again.
Add header text
Header text must be added to the document. Usually this is the title of the document or an abbreviated version of it, since best practice is to keep the header text on one line.
To add header text:
- double click on the header area at the top of any page,. containing the greyed-out text reading 'Main title goes here as running header' – this makes the header section editable
- write the desired header text
- double-click anywhere on the main part of the page and the header section closes, now displaying your title – you can change it at any point be repeating these steps
Portrait and landscape orientation of pages
The template automatically generates new pages in portrait layout, but you can insert landscape pages as required. To insert a landscape page:
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- when you want to revert to Portrait layout, repeat the process and select the 'Portrait' option and 'This point forward'
Page breaks
To create a page break:
- click the cursor where you want the page to break
- go to the Insert tab in the top menu
- click the Page Break icon
Headings
We use the heading styles to give a document a logical structure which helps users of assistive technology to navigate it. Headings are pre-set in the style panel:
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- front page main title
- front page second level (subhead)
Within In the main template pages, 4 headers are available:
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- use the headings in sequence – a Heading 3 needs to be preceded by a Heading 2
- headings should be clear and concise and fit into a single line in the table of contents
- headings must be written in sentence case i.e. with the first letter of the first word in capitals and all the rest in lower case (unless they are proper names, for examples of species or organisations)
- a page break will automatically be added before each new Chapter header
- the styles are set up to create a space before and after headings or paragraphs – do not add extra paragraph returns to increase the space between headings or paragraphs
Table of contents
The table of contents should be the last thing you finalise in a document.
Do not manually create a table of contents. The template automatically generates a table of contents as you work through the document.
The table of contents has been set up so that any text with the style Heading 1 and Heading 2 will be automatically included in the table of contents when it is updated.
To update the table of content right-click anywhere on it to open a dialogue box and select Update field.
This opens a further dialogue box with two options:
- if your table of contents is mostly finished and you just want to alter a few page numbers, select Update page numbers only
- if you have made major changes to the document and, therefore, to the contents, select Update entire table
Text boxes
UKHSA style dos and don’ts
- use sentence case
- don’t manually create headers (use the preset styles)
- avoid using italics for emphasis (and only use for valid scientific terms such as scientific binomials, such as Escherichia coli)
- use single quotation marks for publication titles or hyperlinks for online publications
- do not italicise quotes – use the blockquote style for quotes longer than a few sentences
- do not use footnotes at the foot of page – incorporate footnote text into the main body of the document
UKHSA uses the GDS style guide with certain exemptions, for example third party content, non-branded publications and some Easy Read and translated materials.
Text boxes
Do not use manually generated text boxes. These are inaccessible to screen readers. Highlight the text you want to put in a 'box', then use the 'Text - boxed - grey shading' style.Don't use manually generated text boxes. Use the style panel options:
Bullet points
Pre-set styles have been created for bullet points. Remember bullet points:
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To add bullets within bullets i.e. 2 or more sub-bullets hanging from a bullet list, use the sub bullet point styling.
Numbered bullet list
A numbered bullet list should be used when summarising the steps in a process. For example, to make a cup of tea:
- boil the kettle
- put the teabag in the cup
- pour on boiling water
- stir and add milk
To restart the numbering, If you need to insert some text and then pick up a numbered list where you left off, create the new numbered list, then right-click in the paragraph it and select ‘Restart at 1’ ...' or ‘Set numbering value’ and add the value you want to restart the numbers at.
Links
When creating hyperlinks:
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Alternatively, paste the destination URL into the document and click a space and the link should automatically become live.
Email addresses
To add a live email address, cut and paste it the address into the template, then click the space bar. The link should automatically become live but if it doesn't, highlight the text and select Hyperlink from the Style menu.
Front cover image panel
The shaded area on the cover can be used for an image providing:
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If no image is available or a cover image is not required, delete the box.
Images, charts and other visual content
Charts and tables
Tables should only be used to present data (effectively in effect, that means number data) and use . Use as simple a table structure as possible.
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Consider the alternatives. A simple table can often be replaced with:
- a series of bulleted lists with headings and subheadings
- a single bulleted list, using commas to separate the information
If you do use a table, ensure it is accessible:
- Title it must have a title
- Simple cells make sure it doesn’t contain split cells, merged cells, nested tables or completely blank rows or columns
- it should have a title
- Headers give every column a header (screen readers use header information to identify rows and columns)
- No colours don’t add background colours to in tables
- Reference if the table is from elsewhere, you should reference the source
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Do not use colour as the only means of conveying information.
Read our guide to making charts and tables accessible.
Images
Images should only be used if they help to demonstrate the meaning of your content. They shouldn’t be used just for decoration.
If an image is purely decorative, it doesn't need alt text.
If an image is relevant to the text, use alt textYou should ensure that colour is not the only means of conveying information.
Alt text
Alt text should describe what graphs or charts show and tell users where in the document they can find more information about them. It is not a replacement for a caption. Charts and tables still require a caption or title.
Alt text for charts:
- Right-click on the chart. You have to right-click somewhere inside the frame that surrounds the entire chart, not inside one of its parts.
- Select ‘Format chart area’. The Alt Text pane opens on the right side of the document body.
- Click on the ‘Layout & Properties’ icon and select ‘Alt text’.
- Type a description and a title.
Alt text for images:
- Right-click on the image.
- Select ‘Edit alt text’. The Alt Text pane opens on the right side of the document body.
- Type 1 to 2 sentences to describe the image and its context to someone who cannot see it.
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We no longer use Alt text. Government Digital Service stipulate the all visual elements must be described in the main body copy.
Colour contrast
All text in the template, including that in charts and tables, should strive for the maximum contrast between the text and the background.
WCAG 2.0 level AA requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text colour and background colour for normal text and 3:1 for large text (large text is defined as 14 point and larger).
The highest contrast i.e. the most readable format, is black text on a white background.
Check your document for accessibility
To check your completed UKHSA template document for accessibility:
- go to the Review tab
- select Check Accessibility
- results will appear in an Accessibility Checker panel to the right, displaying
Check your report for Accessibility
Ensure your report meets accessibility requirements.
To check your MS Word content for accessibility:
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- a list of errors, warnings and tips
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- note the 'Read more about making documents accessible' link which opens Microsoft's guidance about accessible Word documents
TIPTip: Do a quick ‘save as PDF’ test to view whether any of the content is disrupted by the conversion to PDF.
Read our guide to making your charts and tables more accessible.
Using citation software
If you have a citation tool such as EndNote or Mendeley, the template may not accommodate the citation assembly within the doc.
If so, assemble the bibliography or references ‘offline’ and then import into the template and format appropriately.
PHE style: dos and don’ts
- use sentence case
- don’t manually create headers (use the preset styles)
- avoid using italics for emphasis (and only use for valid scientific terms such as scientific binomials, such as Escherichia coli)
- use single quotation marks for publication titles or hyperlinks for online publications
- don’t italicise quotes: use the blockquote style for quotes longer than a few sentences
- don’t use footnotes at foot of page, incorporate footnote text into the main body of the document
PHE uses the GDS style guide with certain exemptions (in PDFs), such as third party content, non-branded publications and some Easy Read and translated materials.
Contact the Publications team
For all queries, contact Publications@UKHSA.gov.ukContact Publications@PHE.gov.uk if you have any specific exemption query.