What are the tricks to make a Word document well done and readable by all with captions, table of contents, videos and headings
Many users make the mistake of using Word as a simple sheet of a virtual typewriter : they therefore limit themselves to writing only the text, using just two titles here and there and stop, exploiting only a small part of the potential of a program. so powerful and complete. If these are our needs, we might as well use a free tool like WordPad or LibreOffice Writer ! If, on the other hand, we need to create a professional document to be delivered to the head of the office, the teacher or a report of a certain importance, it is essential to create a perfect Word document accessible to everyone, so as to stand out from the mass of those who use Word in an extremely limited way.
In the following guide we will show you all the tricks you can use to make a Word document perfect : at the end everyone will want to read it, everyone will want to copy it and will try from now on to leave the task of drawing up Word documents to us, who have become in little time the real professionals of the word processor.
Generate caption and alt text for images
When we add an image to the document we advise you to always add the descriptive caption or automatically generate an alternative text, so as to be able to describe well what the image contains and what its purpose is within the text. To add or generate alternative text for images, right-click on the image added in Word and click on the Insert caption and Edit alternative text items .
We insert in both a nice description of the object or subject in the photo, using the text fields that will open (for the captions we can use the predefined labels or create custom labels). The use of alternative text is also useful for making the document accessible to the blind, who use an audio text reader (which also reads the images, which will be translated into read text thanks to the alternative text). If we don’t know what text to insert, we can press the Automatically generate a description button to use Microsoft’s artificial intelligence for the purpose.
Include videos and subtitles
A beautiful Word document not only includes images, but can also contain a video present on online services such as YouTube. To add a YouTube video to the document, press the Insert menu at the top , press the Online Video option and use the search field next to the YouTube item to search for the desired video.
Alternatively, we can always insert the embed code in the dedicated field, so that it can be viewed directly inside the Word sheet. If we want to add subtitles to the video, simply take advantage of those already present on the YouTube video or automatically generated by Google.
Build your documents with a logical structure
The most frequent errors in Word documents are undoubtedly the titles made in bold and an uncoordinated and meaningless use of headings and titles, which lead Word documents to communicate disorder in anyone who reads them. To create professional-grade documents, remember to generate a logical structure for our documents , like the one shown below:
- Heading 1 (Heading 1)
- Heading 2 (Heading 2)
- Title 3
- Title 3
- Heading 2 (Heading 2)
- Title 3
Titles 1 must be used only once and never repeated in the document, while it is also possible to insert two titles 2 but only if we have to completely change the subject . To create the chapters of the individual topics we instead use many Titles 3 , which lend themselves well to all situations and are easy to understand, as well as giving a really pleasant order to the text we are creating.
Other recommendations that are always valid for text documents are: do not insert an image before or after a bulleted list, do not end a chapter with a bulleted list and do not abuse multimedia content; if we want to use only images and videos it is better to use PowerPoint.
Use simple table headings and structures
If we have inserted a table in the Word document we can make it understandable and accessible to everyone by pressing the Design menu at the top and activating the Header row item.
With a table well headed and made with a simple structure (such as those provided by the automatic generation system of Word) we will also be able to help people who use a voice text reader, who will thus be able to read the table without difficulty.
Carry out an accessibility check
To understand if the document is accessible to everyone and is made to perfection, click on the Revision menu at the top and then click on the Check accessibility button.
If the control detects any problem, we will correct it, perhaps using the suggestions in this guide or activating the items that will be indicated by the integrated tool. By passing the accessibility check we will have the certainty of having created a perfect Word document accessible to everyone , including people with visual impairments (who can thus have our document read by a speech synthesizer capable of reading the texts).
Conclusions
Following all the suggestions presented, our Word documents will be envied by everyone and will stand out considerably compared to the Word documents that we created until recently, also offering the possibility for disabled users to read it through dedicated reading systems.
