Accessible Excel spreadsheets

You must check that any link text in your spreadsheet describes where the link is taking the user.

This helps users understand where a link will take them and decide whether they want to click on it. It also helps people using screen readers in particular - they might skip straight to the links rather than reading all the text in your spreadsheet. So, the link text needs to make sense out of context.

You should try to avoid:

• Linking to untrustworthy sites
• Sites where a user must pay or register to see the information
• Using images or icons as links

How to write accessible link text

If you find any inaccessible link text in your spreadsheet, you must rewrite it:

• Consider starting with an action like download, visit, how to, go to, find out, read...
• Then use either:
  • The title of the web page you're linking to
  • A description of the web page you're linking to

Good link text examples:

• 'How to create accessible content'
• 'Go to GOV.UK's working, jobs and pensions page'
• 'NHS heatwave guidance'
• 'What happens next when you contact us'

Bad link text examples:

• 'Click here' - it is too vague and not everyone can see where 'here' is
• Read this link' - 'this' is not descriptive, and you don't need to tell users it's a link
• 'Learn more - 'more' is not descriptive

You can include urls in your spreadsheet if they are descriptive and don't include 'https://'.

Good URL link text examples:

• www.norfolk.gov.uk/digital
• www.norfolk.gov.uk/contactus

Bad URL link text examples:

• https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/digital/
• www.bit.ly/49rYKgx

We recommend writing email addresses out in full - like 'email@example.com' rather than 'email us'. This is because:

• Email addresses are usually short and descriptive
• This allows users to find out the email address without clicking the link. Clicking the link may open an application the user doesn't want to use

Read GOV.UK's guidance on how to write link text.

Internal links

If your spreadsheet is quite large, you might want to include internal links. These are links that take users to specific locations in your spreadsheet. It's important to make sure that your links take the user to the correct place:

• If you're linking to a sheet, make sure you link to cell A1 of that sheet
• If you're linking to a particular piece of content, like a table, make sure you link to the cell where that information starts. For example, the title of the table.

Resources

Microsoft support explain how to add links to your spreadsheet