A few years ago, my friends and I wanted to share our favorite recipes in a digital one-page document, and I outlined this process in a post on how to create a cookbook in Microsoft Sway. When I went back to update this post, I started thinking about all of the great ways we have used Microsoft products and other digital tools over the years to create an accessible digital cookbook or make favorite recipes (or new favorite recipes) easier to see with low vision. Here is a list of options for how to create an accessible digital cookbook with Microsoft products, including several free options for making beloved recipes easier to read.
Scan copies of recipe cards with Microsoft Lens
I received a delicious recipe for homemade rolls in college that was in a font size I couldn’t read. To convert it to a digital format that I could enlarge either in another Microsoft application or magnify with pinch-to-zoom, I scanned the page with Microsoft Lens, a free mobile digital scanning app available to all users with a Microsoft account (no 365 subscription required). Lens can be used to scan in copies of whiteboards, handwritten text, documents, business cards, and other content, providing options for cropping and adjusting contrast as well as recognizing text with optical character recognition (OCR) to read with assistive technology or copy into another app.
Microsoft Lens is a separate application from Google Lens, which is a smart camera built into the Google app, though both applications can be used in different ways for kitchen tasks.
Related links
- How I Use Microsoft Lens With Low Vision
- Reading Handwriting With Assistive Technology
- How I Use Microsoft Whiteboard With Low Vision
- How I Use Google Lens With Low Vision
- How I Access Historical Documents With Low Vision
Recognize text from screenshots or cameras with Seeing AI
Not sure what a handwritten page says? Want to extract text from a recipe graphic shared online? Want to listen to text read out loud? Microsoft Seeing AI is a free visual assistance application designed for blind and low vision users that can read text out loud or display it in large print, as well as provide descriptions of objects, colors, product labels, and more. Seeing AI also has an option to upload images from the gallery or camera so users can explore individual segments of an image, such as reading text line-by-line or copy/pasting text from a screenshot. I used Seeing AI to read a collard greens recipe posted by my university’s social media page.
Related links
- Microsoft Seeing AI And Low Vision
- Recognizing Images With Seeing AI
- All About Visual Assistance Apps For Visually Impaired
- How To Access Images Without Alt Text
Create a one-page document with Microsoft Sway
Microsoft 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. More versatile than a PowerPoint or static Word document, users can collaborate to organize information in Sway that can be read with large print, screen readers, and other types of assistive technology. I personally appreciate being able to open images in a new window/tab and reading text in a single-column layout. Sway is a web application and does not require users to download anything, and offers options for free accounts and premium options for Microsoft 365 subscribers.
Even though they are hosted online, Sway links are not public and cannot be searched for in a search engine. Users can add a Sway link to a webpage or email, and anyone who views the link can see the content (or edit it if sharing has been configured).
Examples of how to create a cookbook in Microsoft Sway can include:
- Adding images or screenshots of recipe cards (don’t forget the alt text!)
- Sharing external links to websites or embedded documents
- Writing or copy/pasting text into text boxes— I recommend using Heading 1 to write recipe names for easier searching
- Embedding online audio or online video links
- Converting an existing Word (doc/docx) or other file to Sway by creating a new Sway and uploading the file, and then selecting “convert to Sway” or “import to Sway”
- Customizing the visual layout of the Sway in the Design tab
When creating a digital cookbook with Microsoft Sway, a great way to involve others is to share the document with others to edit so they can add their own recipes. Because Sway does not require any downloads or specialty software, users can read and collaborate on Sways from any web browser, or export Sway documents as a Word or PDF document for offline reading.
Related links
- How To Use Microsoft Office Sway With Assistive Technology
- How I Optimize Microsoft Office Sway Designs For Low Vision
- Creating Take-Away Documents With Microsoft Office Sway
- How I Read Research Sources With Assistive Technology
- How To Write Alt Text And Image Descriptions For Food
Organize links with Microsoft Edge Collections
Collections is a free tool built into the Microsoft Edge web browser and can be accessed across multiple devices that are signed into the same Microsoft account. Instead of using the Bookmarks tool and viewing a text-based list of links and titles, Collections uses visual links that include the title for the page and an accompanying image, which can make content easier to locate, especially recipes with accompanying food pictures. Users can also search their collections list and access web pages using Read Aloud, Immersive Reader, and other built-in tools.
To save links to Collections, first the Collections tool to the toolbar or open it in the More Tools menu located in Settings and More (three dots icon). From there, Windows users can save webpages using keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-Y or by opening a collection and selecting Add Current Page.
Related links
- Free Digital Bookmarking Tools For Low Vision
- Helpful Ways To Bookmark Websites For Low Vision Users
- Wakelet Accessibility Features For Low Vision
- How To Use Text-To-Speech With Low Vision
Format recipes for screen readers with headings
One of my friends was working on a family cookbook and realized that they were having trouble navigating between different recipes with a screen reader or other search tools. Using heading levels within documents is a great way to keep information organized and can be used to generate a table of contents or other navigational tools. Some examples of how to use heading levels when creating an accessible digital cookbook include:
- Heading level 1: Categories of recipes, chapter headings
- Heading level 2: Recipe names
- Heading level 3: Components of recipe, such as ingredients, instructions, cooking notes, substitutions, etc.
Some applications like Microsoft Sway do not have a Heading 3, but are also not likely to have chapter headings or a large volume of recipes. In this context, using Heading 1 for recipe names and Heading 2 for components of the recipe would make more sense. Users should also use ordered (numbered) lists and unordered (bullet) list structures to make it easier to view recipes with large print, a screen reader, or braille display.
Related links
- Designing Accessible Documents With Microsoft Word
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Secret Microsoft Office Accessibility Features I Use Every Day
- Sideloading and Low Vision
Use Immersive Reader or Read Mode to access text
Immersive Reader is a simplified reading display that provides a consistent background color, font, and text size for digital text, with the option to display fewer lines on a page or read text out loud. This can be helpful for reading web pages or accessing the Printer View of a recipe in large print. Immersive Reader is built into several applications, including Word, Edge, OneNote, Outlook, and more.
To display a recipe in large print, I will sometimes use Immersive Reader on my iPad to view a digital recipe with high contrast text so I can read it while I’m working.
Related links
- How I Use Microsoft Immersive Reader With Low Vision
- Baking Banana Bread With Assistive Technology
- My Talk At I’m Determined Summit: Crash Course In Immersive Reader
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- Secret Microsoft Office Accessibility Features I Use Every Day
- Ways To Use Teleprompter Apps As Assistive Technology
Collaborate in a OneNote notebook
Another option for creating an accessible digital cookbook or “recipe binder” is to create a digital notebook with Microsoft OneNote, a free notetaking application that can organize multiple documents and multimedia content in one place. OneNote supports tools like audio embedding, pictures, and options for linking external content, as well as things like large print text and options for adding photos and drawings. Users can store OneNote documents on their own device or share them for viewing/editing with other collaborators.
Related links
- How I Use Microsoft OneNote With Low Vision
- How I Outline Research Papers With OneNote
- Highlighting Information With Low Vision
- Make Proofreading Feedback Accessible For Low Vision
More tips for how to create an accessible digital cookbook with Microsoft products
- When working with collaborators that have edit access, I recommend resetting the document share link and sharing permissions to view-only when users are finished adding content to make sure nothing gets deleted.
- Did you know you can read accessible cookbooks from Bookshare with Microsoft Word? Check out Reading Bookshare Titles With Microsoft Word
- For people that aren’t great at writing recipes down either by hand or typing, dictation and audio recordings can be used to document information— learn more in How To Use Dictation As Assistive Technology With Mainstream Devices
- Looking to create accessible recipe videos? Read Creating Audio Description For Recipe Videos
- Interested in more posts about ways to use Microsoft products with low vision? Browse Microsoft Archives | Veroniiiica
Published November 19, 2018. Updated January 2025