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1.0 Text Formatting with Styles

Explanation
It is important to ensure that the structure of the document can be programmatically determined
by the assistive technology. If all the information in the document is available in a form that can
be determined by software, then it may be presented to users in different ways (visually,
audibly, tactilely, etc.). When such relationships are perceivable to one set of users, those
relationships can be made to be more perceivable for most users. If information is embedded in
a particular presentation in such a way that the structure and information cannot be
programmatically determined by the assistive technology, then it cannot be rendered in other
formats as needed by the user.

Working with Styles

Structure is added to documents by using styles. Styles are formatting instructions and help all
of your readers make sense of your documents. Using styles helps your readers to visually get
a sense of the structure of your document, and it helps individuals using assistive technologies,
such as screen readers, as well. Screen reading software can detect these formatting
instructions (styles) and inform the reader of these structural/style instructions. In addition, an
individual using a screen reader may navigate the document by heading level, thus getting an
overall sense of the structure of the document without having to read the entire document.

Sighted users perceive structure through various visual cues — headings are often in a larger,
bold font separated from paragraphs by blank lines; list items are preceded by a bullet and
perhaps indented; paragraphs are separated by a blank line; items that share a common
characteristic are organized into tabular rows and columns; words that have special status are
indicated by changing the font family and/or bolding, italicizing, or underlining them, and so on.
All of this can be accomplished with the use of styles.

Steps to View All of the Available Styles:

See Figure 1
1) Select the Home tab
2) Select the Styles group expansion arrow (Word will display the Styles pane)
3) Select Options…. (the Style Pane Options dialog box opens)
4) Select “All styles” under “Select styles to show:”
5) Select “Alphabetical” under “Select how list is sorted:”
6) Select whether you want the Styles pane to show all styles on this document only or on new
documents based on this template
7) Select OK
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Figure 1 : Steps to View All Styles

Steps to Apply Styles to Text:

See Figure 2
1) Select the text you would like to format with a style
2) Select the name of the style you would like to apply from the list in the Styles pane (not the
down arrow next to the name)

Figure 2 : Steps to Apply Styles to Text

Steps to Modify a Style:

Modifier Beware! Sometimes after a style is modified, unexpected things happen. Be
prepared to experiment with the styles, and do not add the style to the template unless you are
absolutely certain. Do not modify the Normal style. In addition, it is recommended that
you NEVER select the box, “Automatically Update” because Word will make global changes
to the styles in your document and all associated templates.
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See Figure 3
1) In the Styles pane, hover over the style you want to modify
2) Select the down arrow to the right of the style name
3) Select Modify…
4) Make your changes by changing the font, paragraph, borders, etc.
5) Select whether you want the changes to apply to this document only or to new documents
based on this template
6) Select OK

Figure 3 : Steps to Modify a Style

Microsoft Word offers many built-in styles. The most common styles you will be using are
explained below within the appropriate guideline standard. Generally a document will begin with
a Title style and will have Heading styles to indicate the major headings within the document.
Any lists within the document will be styled using the List Bullet or List Number styles and any
text that needs to be indicated as important or emphasized will be styled using the Strong or
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Emphasis style. Finally, the body text of the document may be styled by using either the
Normal or Body Text style.

A. Use Heading Styles to Convey Structure

Explanation
Headings add context and meaning to your text; they provide a method of visual navigation to
content as well as an underlying structural navigation. Visually, headings are apparent because
they are often a larger and bolder font. However, by using heading styles, structure will be
added to the document, and this structure will be detectable by assistive technologies. Screen
reading software can detect the headings in the document thereby giving individuals an overall
sense of the structure of the document without having to read the entire document. Individuals
using screen reading software will be able to navigate the document by heading levels, further
increasing the accessibility and navigability of the document. In addition, using headings will
facilitate the creation of a table of contents.

Example
When thinking about the application of heading styles to a document, it is helpful to think about
the structure of an outline. Following is an example of a short outline. The top-level headings in
the document (e.g., main topics) will be styled using the Heading 1 style. Sub-headings to the
top-level headings (e.g., sub-topics to the main topics) will be styled using the Heading 2 style.
If there are further sub-headings, they will be nested below the higher-level topic to which they
relate.

I. Top-Level Heading [Heading 1]

a. Sub-heading to top-level heading [Heading 2]
b. Sub-heading to top-level heading [Heading 2]
i. Sub-heading to sub-heading [Heading 3]
II. Top-Level Heading [Heading 1]
III. Top-Level Heading [Heading 1]
a. Sub-heading to top-level heading [Heading 2]
i. Sub-heading to sub-heading [Heading 3]
1. Sub-heading to sub-sub heading [Heading 4]
2. Sub-heading to sub-sub heading [Heading 4]
IV. Top-Level Heading [Heading 1]

B. Nest Heading Styles Appropriately

Explanation
It is important that when you use styles, you do so correctly. Use the appropriate style for its
intended purpose. Remember, you are using styles to add structure to your document. Styles
are not used to merely make various elements of your document look a specific way. For
example, only use the “Title” style to format the title of the document.
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Word has nine built-in heading styles. They are called Heading 1, Heading, 2, etc. Use the
Heading styles to indicate major headings in the document. Use Heading 1 to indicate a top-
level heading. If there is a sub-heading for Heading 1, use Heading 2; a sub-heading for
Heading 2 would be Heading 3, and so on. Again, you are adding structure to your document,
and structurally, the headings should be used in order. For example, do not use Heading 1,
then Heading 3 because you like the look of the Heading 3 default formatting. Instead, modify
the Heading 2 style to your liking and use Heading 2 before using Heading 3.

In addition to the heading styles, Word provides a Title style. The Title style is used to indicate
the title of the document. There should be only one Title style in use in a given document.

New in Microsoft Word 2010 is the Navigation pane. The Navigation pane is a visual tool that
enables the document author to view all of the document’s headings and pages in a clear, top-
to-bottom format. This functionality is similar to the Document Map tool that was present in
previous versions of Microsoft Word. The Navigation pane may also be used to locate and
restructure chunks of content by dragging headings. In the Navigation pane, the headings are
indented according to their heading levels making it easy to scan both the top-level headings
and sub-headings. In addition, selecting a heading in the Navigation pane will jump directly to
the corresponding section in the document.

Steps to use the Navigation Pane to View Nesting of Headings:

See Figure 4
1) Select the View tab
2) Select the check box “Navigation Pane” in the Show group (the Navigation pane opens on
the left side of the screen)
3) Visually inspect the placement of the headings within the document
• Heading level 1’s should be flush against the left edge of the Navigation pane
• Heading level 2’s should be slightly indented to the right from Heading level 1’s
• Heading level 3’s should be slightly indented to the right from Heading level 2’s
4) If desired, close the Navigation pane by selecting the “x” in the upper right-hand corner of
the pane
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Figure 4 : Steps to Use the Navigation Pane to Visually Inspect Nesting of Headings

C. Use Styles to Format Text

Explanation
Similar to Heading styles, text formatting should be done using styles because it adds structure
and meaning to the text. Use the Emphasis (italicized) or Strong (bolded) style for text that is
special or that needs the reader’s attention.

Emphasis Style
The Emphasis style may be used to indicate that a word(s) are important. The default format for
the Emphasis style is italic. Visually, using the Emphasis style on a word or words looks the
same as if you simply clicked the italic button on the formatting toolbar. However, for someone
who uses a screen reader, it can tell the individual that you think that word (or group of words) is
important. A screen reader user will not know if a word is simply italicized, but with the
Emphasis style, a screen reader user could learn that you are emphasizing that particular text.
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Strong Style
The Strong style is similar to the Emphasis style except the default format is bold. Again, it
gives structure to your words, rather than simply changing the way a particular word (or group of
words) appears.

Body Text / Normal Style

The Body Text style may be used to indicate the text in the body of the document. The Normal
style is very similar and may be used instead of the Body Text style.

D. Control White Space in the Document with Styles

Explanation
The spacing before and after paragraphs, lists, headings, etc. should be controlled and adjusted
within the styles that are used. The effect of blank lines may be achieved by adjusting the
spacing before or after lines within the style element. Adjusting the space in a document by
using the Enter key will result in numerous blank lines in the document. When an individual
using a screen reader reads the document, he or she will hear “blank” each time a blank line is
encountered that was entered by using the Enter key. Not only will hearing “blank” be annoying
to the individual, but if “blank” is heard several times, the individual may think they have reached
the end of the document and stop reading. Press “Enter” only to indicate the end of a
paragraph.

Steps to Control White Space with Styles:

See Figure 5
1) In the Styles pane, hover over the style you want to modify
2) Select the down arrow to the right of the style name
3) Select Modify…
4) In the lower left corner of the Modify Style dialog box, select the Format button
5) Select Paragraph
6) Adjust the “Before” and “After” numbers in the Spacing section of the Paragraph dialog box
7) Select OK to close the Paragraph dialog box
8) Select OK to close the Modify Style dialog box