Accessible Excel spreadsheets

To make images in your spreadsheet accessible, start by deciding if they are informative or decorative:

• Informative images include information that helps people understand your spreadsheet. For example, charts, graphs, diagrams and visual instructions.
• Decorative images do not include information, they are just included to visually enhance your document. We don't recommend including decorative images in your spreadsheet because they can distract users from important information.

If an image is informative, you must provide a text description. This helps make sure people who can't see or understand the image don't miss out on the information it shows.

How to provide a text description

Usually, people add a text description to informative images on web pages or in documents by adding alt text to the image.

However, in spreadsheets, it's better to add your text description as visible text on your spreadsheet. If you do this, you do not need to add alt text to the image too.

When you add your text description, think about the clearest and simplest way to communicate all the information shown in your image. For example, this could be a bullet point list, or it could be one sentence followed by an accessible table.

The text description needs to include the name of the image it describes. Position the text description directly above or below the image it describes.

Graphs and charts

If you include a graph or chart in your spreadsheet, make sure it:

• Has a title - visible text positioned above the image
• Has a legend/key - this should explain what any colours or patterns mean
• Has axis labels - if the image has axis, they must have visible text labels
• Has data labels - visible text showing the data type and volume
• Has a text description - see the 'How to provide a text description' heading on this page
• Uses colour in an accessible way
• Is formatted as a single, flat image. To do this you might need to:
  • Copy the graph/chart and paste it as an image (Microsoft Support website); or
  • Save the graph/chart as an image, then insert it into your spreadsheet

Example of an accessible graph: