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Reading Order
What is Reading Order?
The reading order of a document or presentation determines the order that a screen reader will read out content. When reading order is not correct, screen reader users can easily become confused, lost, or miss parts of the content entirely. Verifying the reading order is imperative to ensuring that all students have equal access to the materials. Even if objects in your document or presentation appear to be ordered logically, you should always manually check the reading order.
Benefits of Reading Order?
- Accessibility for screen readers: Proper reading order ensures that people using screen readers can access content in a logical sequence, making documents usable for individuals with visual impairments and all readers.
- Better comprehension for all readers: When information flows logically, readers can better understand and retain the content without confusion or having to jump around the document.
- Improved navigation: Clear reading order helps readers quickly find specific information and understand how different sections relate to each other.
- Enhanced mobile experience: Proper reading order ensures content adapts well to different screen sizes and formats when viewed on various devices.
- Reduced cognitive load: Readers don't have to work as hard to understand the content, making the reading experience less mentally taxing.
- Ensures that keyboard and screen reader users can navigate menus, links and form field items sequentially when using the tab key. Check Reading Order
Checking Reading Order
Checking your document's reading order ensures that all users can access and understand your content, particularly those users relying on assistive technologies. By verifying the reading order in Word, PowerPoint, and/or PDF documents, you help make your information more accessible and user-friendly.
Resources
- Microsoft Word: Use the Navigation Pane in Word
- Microsoft PowerPoint: Create Slides with an Accessible Reading Order
- Microsoft PowerPoint: Use the Reading Order Pane
- Adobe Acrobat: Reading Order Tools for PDFs