Understanding and Using Styles
This section will explain why we use styles, and show you how to apply them to your document.
We consulted with DAISY and our own testing and development in creating these guidelines. This documentation is designed to create the most accessible ebook.
Why styles
We use the Style Pane to format text, and not direct formatting (i.e. we do not use the tools in the toolbar).
Styles allow readers to change how the formatting is presented.
For example, a reader can change the thickness of a bolded word if it has been marked up with the Strong style.
If direct formatting is used, readers can't change the content in a way that works for them (e.g. they are unable to load their own style set).
There are few exceptions to this rule. We use direct formatting for:
- superscript/subscript numbers
- underline and strikethrough (very rarely)
A style is a set of formatting characteristics applied to content.
Always use styles in the Style Pane to control formatting, such as font type, size, bold, italics, etc. In this way, non-visible code gets added to the piece of text that says ‘this is a heading’ (or table, list, image, etc.).
Only use the style pane as directed in this wiki to apply styles to ensure the etext is accessible (unless otherwise instructed).
Styles also give a hierarchical structure to a document’s content. With styles applied, assistive technology can, at the command of the user, jump to the desired part of the document (heading, table, list, images, links, etc.).
By applying this type of formatting, people who have low vision may be able to access and read documents as quickly and as efficiently as those who have good vision.
The image below illustrates how readers using assistive technologies can navigate a document using styles, moving between navigational points, lists, images, and tables.
- TAB characters used to provide indentation
- Multiple Paragraph ‘Return’ characters (¶) used to provide spacing between paragraphs
- Newline breaks (↵)
- Multiple SPACE characters
If any of this exists in the document, then it is not properly formatted with styles. You will need to remove these spaces. See Find & Replace for more instructions.
clear formatting before applying styles. If the issue persists, then simply select the problem text, clear formatting again and reapply the style.
Applying & Changing Styles
Once you have Word set up properly, and all the formatting cleared, you will be able to begin applying styles to the document as per the guidelines in this wiki.
The first step is to clear all formatting in the document:
- Make sure the
Style Paneis open - Select all of the text
COMMAND+Afor MacCTRL+Afor Windows PC
- Select the
clear formattingbutton located at the top of theApply a Stylebox in theStyle Pane
Here is a video showing how to do this!
To Apply Styles:
- First select the text you want to apply a style to
- Then select the appropriate style in the
Style Pane - Now that text will be in the selected style
The common styles used are:
- Normal
- Heading (1-6): for more information on headings go to Understanding and Using Headings
- Quote (see Blockquotes & Quotations)
- Caption (see Captions)
- Citation (see Author & Citation Style)
- Emphasis and sometimes Strong (see Bold, Italics, Underline, & Strikethrough)
- Select section you need to fix
- Clear all formatting using the Style Pane
- Reapply the correct style
Here is a video to show you how to apply and fix styles!
Show style guides to help keep track of the styles applied in the document. This option is at the bottom of the Style Pane. Once selected it will open a colour coded menu at the left side of the document page. Each colour also has a number, each colour and number correspond to the style you have applied to any given section
