One of my favorite ways to create takeaway documents and handouts after meetings and presentations is with the Microsoft Office Sway web application, which makes it easy for presenters and audience members alike to access content with their favorite assistive technologies. Here are my tips for creating take-away documents and conference handouts with Microsoft Office Sway that I’ve used in my own presentations.
What is Microsoft Office Sway?
Microsoft Office Sway is a free web app that allows users to create their own simple one-page websites and presentations with text, images, widgets, file attachments, and more. It’s a great substitute for PowerPoint or handouts, and it’s by far my favorite Microsoft Office application. Users will need a Microsoft account to create and edit Sways, but the Sway itself can be accessed from any device with or without a Microsoft account.
As of 2020, premium features for Sway are now included in Microsoft 365/Office 365 subscriptions so that users can add even more content to their documents (more information is linked below). There is also a free version of Sway that provides close to full functionality for creating take-away documents like the ones I mention in this post.
RELATED LINKS
Why I recommend Sway for reading takeaway documents
- Sway can be accessed on any internet-enabled device, which includes tablets, phones, computers, and similar. Sways can be scaled to a variety of device sizes without text or other information being cut off or running off the page.
- Users can follow along with the document during a meeting or presentation on their own device
- Accessibility View is available for all Sway pages and makes content easier to navigate with a screen reader or screen magnification tool.
- Users do not have to have a Microsoft account to view a Sway document
- Sway offers additional features that aren’t available in traditional word processing applications, such as the ability to add multimedia content
Related links
- How To Create Accessible Assignments With Microsoft Office Sway
- A to Z of Assistive Technology For Low Vision
Why I use Sway for authoring takeaway documents
Besides being helpful as a reader, I also love to use Sway when authoring takeaway documents for a few reasons:
- The Sway editing interface is simple and automatically aligns and formats content with readability in mind
- I can share a link with others at the beginning of a talk, add it to a QR code, or send it after the meeting is over. The link itself is not public and is only visible to those who have it
- I can update the Sway after the meeting to address questions, add additional resources, or session recordings without changing the link
- Since Sway is accessed from a web browser with no downloads required, I can edit with my co-presenters easily and from anywhere by sharing a Sway link with editing enabled. Before sharing a link with public audiences, I will generate a new view-only link that does not include editing privileges
Related links
- How To Use Microsoft Office Sway With Assistive Technology
- Sending Well Wishes With Microsoft Office Sway
- My Talk At I’m Determined Summit: Crash Course In Immersive Reader
- Quick Ways To Improve Accessibility For Virtual Learning Materials
How I structure documents
One of the foundations of an accessible assignment is proper heading structure, and Microsoft Office Sway makes this easy for users. Users can insert a heading by clicking the plus icon underneath a Sway card (section) and selecting the “Text” tab. Before inserting any additional headings, I recommend typing the talk/meeting title and date in the “Title” box.
Here is how I recommend using each of the headings:
HEADING 1
Different from the Title heading, I use Heading 1 to label sections, such as my introduction, contact information, and other top-level content. Think of Heading 1 content as the headings/title boxes of PowerPoint slides.
HEADING 2
I type out subsections of Heading 1 information with Heading 2, dividing the top information into smaller points. For example, if my Heading 1 had the title “What to know about Disability Services,” my Heading 2 titles might include:
- Getting a Disability Services File
- Common accommodations for low vision
- Working with assistive technology specialists
- On-campus disability transportation
BODY TEXT
This is text that is otherwise not included in a heading, such as paragraphs, instructions, questions, or other text-based content.
Hyperlinks
Sway makes it easy to add hyperlinks to other websites or content that can be opened in a new browser tab, though it’s important that these links are descriptive and tell the user what they will be accessing. Labels like “link here”, “click here”, “here”, or “1” are not particularly helpful, especially for screen reader users.
Examples of more descriptive hyperlinks include:
- Disability Services homepage | George Mason University
- How To Create Accessible Assignments with Microsoft Office Sway | Veronica With Four Eyes
- Link to example Sway
- Notability on the App Store
- Disability Services transportation form
To add a link to Microsoft Office Sway, select the Link option in the Text card by either highlighting text or placing the text cursor at the desired link location. From there, add a descriptive link title in the Link Text box, and paste the link into the Web Link box. Select OK to insert the link into the document.
Related links
- Six CSS Accessibility Tweaks I Made For My Website
- File Formats For Low Vision and Print Disabilities
- Ten Spooky Inaccessible Assignments and How To Fix Them
My favorite designs for Sway
When creating a take-away document in Microsoft Office Sway, I have a few design elements that I use whenever possible that are optimized for users with low vision. These include:
- Vertical scrolling
- Style 4 for content, which features colored bars across Heading 1 content and no background graphics
- Subtle animation emphasis
- Large text size
- Arial Nova font for headings and body
Related links
- How I Optimize Microsoft Office Sway Designs For Low Vision
- How I Document Accessibility Preferences With Low Vision
Adding audio/video recordings of sessions
When I add audio or video recordings of sessions, I prefer to embed them as YouTube videos or pre-recorded audio files from my computer, as this helps the Sway load faster and gives users the option to access captioning or transcription tools on YouTube. Since a lot of my talks are posted on YouTube, this option works well.
To add video files to Sway:
- Select the Insert Content/Plus icon at the bottom of a card
- Select the Media tab
- Select Video
- Select a video source from the drop-down menu in the upper left corner. Videos can be uploaded from a device, embedded from YouTube, or shared from other sources
Users can add additional content to the video caption such as links or other text. Users can also upload .vtt caption files for their videos within the Details menu after the video has been uploaded.
To add audio files to Sway:
To add audio recordings to Microsoft Office Sway:
- Select the Insert Content/Plus icon at the bottom of a card
- Select the Media tab
- Select Audio
- To add an existing audio file that is already downloaded to the device, select Add an Audio File to open the file explorer
- To record new audio, select the Record button
Additional content can be added to the audio text box caption such as hyperlinks or text. Users can also upload .vtt caption files for their audio files within the Details menu after the file has been uploaded.
Related links
- Creating Audio Narrated Images For Low Vision
- How To Create Audio Description For YouTube With YouDescribe
Including transcripts and other documents
For users who want to include transcripts or other documents in their take-away document, Sway can embed a document so that users can read/download it within the Sway document, or convert the document to be readable in Sway, as if it was part of the document. Users can embed several different file types, including Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoints, and more.
To add additional documents to a Sway:
- Select the Insert Content/Plus icon at the bottom of a card
- Select the “Suggested” tab (which is the first tab)
- Select the “Upload” option
- Once the document is uploaded, select “Embed” to have the document displayed in its original formatting, or “Import” to have it become part of the Sway.
Related links
- File Formats For Low Vision and Print Disabilities
- My Talk At I’m Determined Summit: Crash Course In Immersive Reader
- Seven Accessibility Features You Didn’t Know Existed In Microsoft Office
- Designing Accessible Documents With Microsoft Word
Including images and alt text
Microsoft Office Sway makes it easy to insert images without altering the format of text, a known frustration when authoring with Microsoft Word. Instead of inserting an image into a text box, users add images by adding a separate image card above or below the text card.
To add an image in Microsoft Office Sway:
- Select the Insert Content/Plus icon at the bottom of a card
- Select the “Media” tab
- Select the “Image” option
- Select the source for an image from the drop-down menu- users can search the web, upload from OneDrive, or upload from their device
To make images accessible to screen reader users, users will need to add alternative text, also known as alt text, which is a text-based description of an image that is recognized by a screen reader. Alternatively, users can make alt text visible to everyone by adding a descriptive caption (also known as an image description).
To add alt text and/or image captions in Microsoft Office Sway:
- On the image card, select the “Details” button
- Select either the caption or alternative text section
- Type a description in the text box of the image that describes any important visual details
- Select the “Image” button in the top left corner to save and close the Details menu
Users can insert a variety of images, including photos, diagrams, graphs, charts, and more. To learn more about writing alt text and image descriptions, check out my post on more in-depth topics below.
Related links
- How To Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the Visually Impaired
- How To Write Alt Text And Image Descriptions For Photojournalism Images
- How To Create Accessible Pie Charts For Low Vision
- How To Create Accessible Diagrams For Low Vision
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Low Vision
Sharing Sways with others
Once all of the Sway content has been added, it’s time to finalize the design and share it! I like to wait until all my content has been added so that I can easily visualize how the different design elements will look with my content. Users can also run the Accessibility Checker to ensure that the document is usable with assistive technologies such as a screen reader, and correct any issues that may come up such as missing alt text.
After everything is finished, select the Share button to generate a link for the Sway that can be copy/pasted into any application, social media post, email- wherever links can be found. Anyone with the link can access the Sway and view it by default, but cannot edit it. Sway documents are not otherwise public and do not show up in search engines, though for further security authors can require a password for viewing or editing. Alternatively, users can restrict their Sway to viewers within their organization- for example, I could restrict my Sway to people at my college or at my tech internship.
Once a link is shared, authors can still edit the Sway as necessary, and the link will not change unless they reset the settings.
Summary of creating take away documents with Microsoft Office Sway
- Microsoft Office Sway is a free web app that allows users to create their own simple webpages and presentations with text, images, widgets, file attachments, and more.
- Sway can be used on any device that can access the internet, is compatible with screen readers, and is easy to use- no need to download extra software
- There are several ways that users can create accessible designs, including large print and reduced animations
- Sway is great for take-away documents because it can easily be edited later or with co-presenters, users can follow along during a meeting, and it can easily be shared
- To create a quality document, users will need to structure it with headings
- Sway has several options for accessible multimedia content, including images with alt text, videos with captioning, and audio files with transcripts
- Sway documents can be shared with the “Share” button and privacy settings can be configured
