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Re: Microsoft Word Objects And Text Boxes

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From: Karen McCall
Date: Feb 3, 2024 6:26AM

I recommend that people use a paragraph style instead of a text box. You can do a lot with a style, including adjusting the indents left and right, putting a border around the text with spacing, changing the colour of the border to match the document Theme/template and modify the text colour if desired. You can also add shading behind the text but you would need to use a tool like the colour contrast analyzer to make sure the text is readable.

I find that using the paragraph style is more flexible than text boxes and often the reason for a text box is to call out contact information or something important.

I even have custom paragraph styles I can use in parallel columns to have text that visually stands out but is accessible.

Whenever possible create a style for callouts. I modify the Quote style to meet my callout needs in documents. It is already there as a style but has some readability issues/the text is italicized.

Microsoft says there have been improvements in the accessibility of text boxes but keep in mind that any improvements are not backward compatible with previous versions of Microsoft Office/365. I would also think that any improvements would only be usable with the latest version of both Microsoft 365 and any adaptive technology.

Cheers, Karen