Microsoft Sway Accessibility and Usability Information
Microsoft Sway is a digital storytelling app for creating interactive reports, presentations, personal stories and is part of the Office 365 suite of tools. Microsoft Sway is available for free to all UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff via UW-Madison’s Office 365.
Get help
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Contact the DoIT Help Desk for general assistance or to report an accessibility or usability barrier.
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Contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for answers to questions regarding accessibility features, functionalities, and assistive technology with Microsoft products.
Additional resources
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For UW-Madison Microsoft Sway support documentation see Office 365 - Getting Started with Sway and visit the UW-Madison Design Lab’s Sway on Sway, or go to the Office 365 Service page
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Review additional information about Microsoft Sway accessibility features, and how to make your Sway design accessible for people with disabilities
Sway authoring experience accessibility and usability barriers
Some screen reader barriers may be difficult for people with vision disabilities
When the screen reader is on, clicking a function (such as Emphasize) in the toolbar, the focus is inappropriately moved into the text input, which makes it difficult to use the toolbar while navigating via the screen reader. Some elements are read out of order by a screen reader, which may be disorienting. Hidden elements on the page are also read by a screen reader, making the content difficult to navigate. Content has missing and skipped heading levels which makes it difficult for users with visual disabilities to navigate via a screen reader or other assistive technologies. Some images, such as the illustration in “Recent” and “Pin” tab, are missing alternative text.
Magnification and interface barriers may be difficult for people with low vision
Some pages do not reflow when the page is magnified 200-400%, making it difficult for users with low vision who need to increase magnification for readability. When magnified, users are forced to horizontally scroll (scroll left and right) to see all page content instead of reflowing appropriately to the screen view. The navigation bar has a fixed position which can make it difficult to view other content when the page is magnified.
Color contrast barriers may be difficult for people who have low vision or are colorblind
The focus indicator, which lets users know where they are on a page, has a grey outline on buttons, tabs or links, which may cause barriers for people with low vision or who are colorblind.
Sway plug-in accessibility and usability barriers
The following information is provided to help people with disabilities know what potential barriers may exist with the Microsoft Sway.
Some keyboard navigation barriers may be difficult for people with vision or motor disabilities
Microsoft Sway plug-ins within a website have buttons that are not navigable via keyboard.