Use group policy to set the Microsoft Office Accessibility Inspector to "check while you work" by default

The Accessibility Inspector in Office is a useful tool that helps content creators identify accessibility potential improvements while they create content in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The tool does not run by default. A user has to follow three steps to turn it on.

To promote the use of this tool we arranged to have the accessibility inspector run by default on University-managed desktops and laptops running Windows with Microsoft 365.

We have now successfully implemented this change. It's early days but feedback so far is positive. Here is a slightly anonymised implementation plan, with thanks to my colleague Nick Williams for sharing it.

This guidance is provided "as-is". Test in a pre-production environment first. No guarantees or assurances etc.

By the way, here's a recording, transcript and slides from our session that introduces the accessibility inspector.

Implementation plan

  1. Login to a management server
  2. Edit the Group Policy [this will be unique to your environment]
  3. Navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry
  4. Create a new Registry Collection called "Office Accessibility Checker"
  5. Inside the new collection (folder) create three new registry keys (Note that the Value Name for Word is different from that used for Excel and PowerPoint):

Word

General Tab:

  1. Action: Create
  2. Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  3. Key Path: Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Options
  4. Value Name: enableacccheckerstatusbaritem
  5. Value Type: REG_DWORD
  6. Value Data: 1

Common Tab:

  1. Apply Once and do not reapply.

Excel

General Tab:

  1. Action: Create
  2. Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  3. Key Path: Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel\Options
  4. Value Name: enableaccchecker
  5. Value Type: REG_DWORD
  6. Value Data: 1

Common Tab:

  1. Apply Once and do not reapply.

PowerPoint

General Tab:

  1. Action: Create
  2. Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  3. Key Path: Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Powerpoint\Options
  4. Value Name: enableaccchecker
  5. Value Type: REG_DWORD
  6. Value Data: 1

Common Tab:

  1. Apply Once and do not reapply.

Post-implementation Testing

  1. Login to any GPO-managed Windows Workstation
  2. Run a "gpupdate /force" to pick up the new settings
  3. Open (in turn) Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  4. Create a new document
  5. Click "File" > "Options" > "Ease of Access"
  6. "Keep accessibility checker running while I work" should be TICKED (and can be unticked/re-ticked at will)
  7. There should also be "Accessibility: Good to go" in the bottom left of the application's window

Backout plan

  1. Login to a management server
  2. Edit the Group Policy [this will be unique to your environment]
  3. Navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry
  4. Navigate to the Registry Collection called "Office Accessibility Checker"
  5. Disable the three Registry items inside (to prevent any new deployment of the keys)

To revert the change completely (not recommended)

  1. Login to a management server
  2. Edit the Group Policy [this will be unique to your environment]
  3. Navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry
  4. Navigate to the Registry Collection called "Office Accessibility Checker"
  5. Disable the three Registry items inside (to prevent any new deployment of the keys)
    1. Copy and paste each key, in turn
    2. Change the "Create" to a "Replace"
    3. Change the Value "1" to a "0"
    4. Make sure "Apply Once and do not reapply" is still ticked on the "Common" tab
    5. Enable each newly created key, in turn