Q. What are the accessibility challenges for blind or low vision students in formatting papers?

Formatting papers as a blind college student often requires significantly more time due to several challenges inherent in the process. Unlike sighted students, who can visually inspect the layout and structure of a document with ease, blind students must rely on screen readers and keyboard commands to access and manipulate formatting elements.

• Screen readers provide linear, auditory feedback, which means that blind students must navigate through text and formatting sequentially. This can make it difficult to get an immediate sense of how the document looks overall or whether specific elements, such as headings, font sizes, margins, or line spacing, are correctly applied.
• Programs like Microsoft Word or Google Docs are highly visual in design, and their formatting tools often require additional steps to access using a keyboard and screen reader. For instance, adjusting margins or inserting page numbers can involve navigating multiple menus or dialog boxes, which is slower than using a mouse.
• Blind students may need to rely on screen readers to announce formatting details, such as font style or alignment. This process can be inconsistent, requiring trial and error to ensure the correct settings. Additionally, they might not have immediate confirmation of visual elements like page breaks or headers unless they actively check.
• Academic styles like APA or MLA often have strict requirements for citations and references. Blind students must carefully format these elements manually, as citation generators or plugins may not always produce accessible results that screen readers can verify.
• Documents provided by instructors or peers may not be fully accessible. For example, if a professor supplies a template with unlabeled formatting elements, the student may need to invest additional time to understand and adapt the template to their needs.
• Advanced formatting often requires proficiency in screen reader-specific commands or shortcuts. Mastering these commands can take time, especially for newer students, and even experienced users may encounter tasks that require extra effort or creativity to complete.
• In some cases, blind students may need assistance from tutors or disability services to verify the final appearance of a document. This coordination can add additional steps and time to the process.

This content was authored by Kathleen DeNicola at Western's Disability Access Center. A complete guide in Word format on using JAWS to apply APA style is here.