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ADA Compliance Checklist for Word Documents

Responsive Translation translates for all levels of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If your source material is ADA compliant, your translation will be too. Please keep in mind that ADA-compliant translation will include any image meta-text, any audio transcription/caption or dub, as well as localized versions of any sign language.

ADA Compliance in Microsoft Word

One of the most common file formats clients request translation in is Microsoft Word.

When you’re producing documents in Word, please keep this handy checklist in mind to ensure ADA compliance.

Metadata
  1. The document’s metadata is properly filled out (author, title, etc.).
  2. For a monolingual document, the language is properly selected.
  3. For a multilingual document, the language of each text section is properly selected.
Color
  1. There is a high level of contrast between the text color and the background color.
Headers and Footers
  1. Headers and footers are only used for page numbering or decorative purposes.
Structure
  1. Heading styles, and not unrelated visual elements, are used to create the document’s structure.
  2. Title style is used for the title page.
  3. TOC Heading style is used for the table of contents heading.
  4. Heading 1 is used for section titles.
  5. Heading 2 is used as a sub-heading for Heading 1.
  6. Heading 3 is used as a sub-heading for Heading 2.
  7. Heading 4 is used as a sub-heading for Heading 3.
Text Alignment
  1. All text is left aligned.
  2. There are no text boxes.
Lists
  1. All lists use numbers or bullet points provided by Word.
Images, Tables, Charts and Other Non-Text Elements
  1. All non-text elements have alt-text descriptions.
  2. All non-text elements have meaningful captions or an accompanying summary to communicate any visually conveyed information.
  3. All non-text elements are set to “In Line With Text.”
Links
  1. Links have display text: they use ScreenTips and not raw URLs.
  2. Links clearly state where they will direct the user.
Foreign-Language Solutions

At Responsive Translation we know how important it is to make communication inclusive and accessible. We specialize in providing high-stakes translation and foreign-language solutions to high-compliance industries.

For more information about how we can help you, please get in touch at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].

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