Microsoft Excel course

Excel Lesson 8

Charts, Alternative Text, and Accessibility Checker

First-time setup and success checks

Lesson goal in plain language: Create a simple chart, provide a text equivalent, and use Excel accessibility checks.

Prepare before step 1

  1. Open the correct application, website, or device screen and wait for its name to be announced.
  2. Open Excel manual and review the matching procedure if any command or term is unfamiliar.
  3. Use only fictional, public, disposable, or instructor-provided practice information. Make a copy before changing an important file.
  4. Read all numbered instructions once before performing them so you know the intended final result.

Commands used or referenced

Enter, Alt+F1, F6, Shift+F10., Alt+Q,, Insert+Spacebar,, Alt+Q

For a plus-sign command, hold the modifier key, press and release the final key, then release the modifier. For a sequence, press and release each key in order. Stop after every command and listen for the result.

Work and verify

  1. Perform one numbered instruction and stop. Identify the active window, focused control, selected item, cell, slide, message, field, or device area before continuing.
  2. Compare the result with the lesson goal. A sound alone is not enough; verify the name, state, value, location, permission, or content.
  3. If the result is wrong, press Escape once to leave an unexpected menu, identify focus again, and use Undo only when the change is safely reversible.
  4. Save or synchronize at natural stopping points. Use the required filename Excel-Lesson-8.xlsx.
  5. Complete the “Before submitting” checklist from top to bottom. Correct missing items before marking the lesson complete.
  6. Close and reopen the practice item, or return to it from the product’s main screen, to prove you can locate and verify the result independently.

Success standard: Explain what each major command did, show the finished result, and recover from one harmless focus or navigation error without another person naming the next key.

Goal

Create a simple chart, provide a text equivalent, and use Excel accessibility checks.

Skills practiced

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Create a two-column table with Month and Completed Trainings.
  2. Enter January through June and fictional completion totals.
  3. Select the table, including headers.
  4. Press Alt+F1 to create a chart on the current worksheet.
  5. Use F6 to move focus among the worksheet, ribbon, and chart objects until JAWS announces the chart.
  6. Open the chart context menu with Shift+F10. Use Format Chart Area or Alt Text options to add a description.
  7. Write concise alt text that explains the chart's purpose and important trend, not every visual detail.
  8. Keep the source data table in the workbook so screen-reader users can inspect exact values.
  9. Add a cell below the table containing a short text summary of the trend.
  10. Press Alt+Q, type Check Accessibility, and run the Accessibility Checker.
  11. Review and resolve issues that apply. Do not remove the source table.
  12. Save the workbook as Excel-Lesson-8.xlsx.

JAWS help: Press Insert+Spacebar, then J, to search JAWS commands when you forget a keystroke. Ribbon KeyTips can differ slightly by Microsoft 365 update, so Alt+Q search is included where useful.

Your assignment

Create a six-month training-completion chart, add meaningful alternative text, retain the source data, and include a plain-text trend summary.

Save the finished assignment as Excel-Lesson-8.xlsx.

Before submitting