Accessible Excel (implementation guide)

2.1. Title of the document

The title is stored in the metadata, meaningful and easy to understand.

What is meant by this?

It is important to make the title of a document easy to understand and meaningful, which means that the title should be formulated in simple and clear words that adequately reflect the content of the document. The title should enable readers to quickly recognise what the document is about and what purpose it fulfils. This title must be stored in the metadata to make it easier for users to identify and organise the presentation.

Metadata is information that describes or identifies a document and is usually invisible to viewers. It includes various properties, such as the title, the author, the creation date, the file format and the size of the file. Keywords or keywords can also be used as metadata to describe the content of the document and make it easier to find for later searches or archiving.

Why is it important?

A meaningful and easy-to-understand title that is stored in the metadata facilitates orientation and approval of a document for recipients who are dependent on speech output and screen readers. Recipients with visual impairments or learning difficulties are often unable to scan the document visually to determine whether it is relevant to them. Instead, they have to rely on voice output and screen readers to understand the content. A meaningful and easy-to-understand title can help them quickly grasp the content of the document and decide whether or not the text is relevant to them.

An example of a meaningful and easy-to-understand title would be "Guide to document accessibility". This title gives readers a clear idea of what the document is about. A bad title, on the other hand, would be "Accessibility", for example. This title is too general and does not tell readers specifically enough what the content of the document is. This title can lead to irritation and a considerable amount of time for readers with screen readers and speech output.

How can I implement/check it?

There are different procedures for entering the title of a document in the metadata, depending on the operating system:

For Mac:

1. Click on "File".
2. Click on "Properties" in the "Summary" tab to access the metadata.
3. Enter the title in the field provided.

On a Windows computer:

1. Click on the "File" tab.
2. Click on "Information".
3. Enter the title in the field provided.

To check whether the title is correctly stored in the metadata, you can click on the "Info" tab and check the information. You can also go through the document and make sure that the title of the document corresponds to the title in the metadata.

Whether a title is ultimately meaningful or not is up to you to decide. But remember that reading decisions should already be made by the title.