Accessibility features in SharePoint

Microsoft continues making their services accessible to users with disabilities, and SharePoint is no exception. Check out some of the recommendations for things you can include in your sites today: 

• Keyboard shortcuts – There are lots of keyboard shortcuts in SharePoint that can save you time and effort from the simple (hitting the question mark key on a page to bring up SharePoint help and a shortcuts overview) to the more complicated (using Shift + F10 to bring up the context menu for an item). 
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  Navigation options – Anyone using screen readers will benefit if you format text, links and tables. You can also provide links to headings to break up longer articles. 

• Alt text is fully supported for images in SharePoint sites, even headers. Microsoft has shared information about adding accessible pictures and media to a SharePoint online site.   
• SharePoint site branding always includes an automatic check for accessible colour schemes to help you devise branding and colours that work for your visually-impaired site users and visitors.  

More tips on accessibility features in SharePoint can be found on Microsoft's support website. You can also contact the University's User Experience Centre of Excellence for advice on design.

SharePoint features rolling out soon 

Keep an eye out for these features which we heard will be available in the next few months: 

• A new Forms experience for document libraries, streamlining the document collection experience.  
• The next generation of file and folder sharing is coming to SharePoint and OneDrive to make collaboration smarter, more secure and simpler.  
• Updated filter panes in SharePoint document libraries and lists, enhancing focus on various filter and tagging options.  
• Modern Access Request screen refreshes for SharePoint, allowing quick and easy streamlining of sharing for site admins.  
• Maps web part will use Azure Maps as a data source, switching from Bing Maps.
• OneNote usage will be included in SharePoint site usage metrics.  
• Dark themes for SharePoint sites with two new Microsoft theme templates.  

Visit Microsoft’s SharePoint roadmap to find out more about updates and new features.

SPO training, help and advice  

The SharePoint Online pages on the IT Help website are a great starting point and include lots of useful information for using SharePoint Online and finding help and training.  

The University’s SharePoint Service Home site also includes an extensive help and support section as well as frequently asked questions and walkthroughs and tutorials.

And finally, we recommend joining the Nexus365 User Group (NUG) on Teams and following the SharePoint Online User Group channel where you can share your experiences or tips and tricks for using SharePoint Online with others across the University and find informal support.  

Did you know?  

You can set up 'permalinks' to SharePoint documents using Document IDs with just a couple of clicks? You can then use these links to locate your documents effectively.