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Using lists correctly

How to add lists to your document in an accessible way

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Lani

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Creating accessible documents: Step by step

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Page contents

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Part of
Creating accessible documents: Step by step

Information about how to create accessible documents for use on the web

1Structure, styling and accessible features

  1. Reading order and layout
  2. Images and alt text
  3. Tables and charts
  4. Fonts and styling

2Writing accessible content for documents

  1. Using Headings correctly
  2. Document language and reading age
  3. Using lists correctly
  4. Using hyperlinks correctly

3Final checks

  1. Checking the accessibility of your document
  2. Accessible documents summary

Introduction

Using numbered or bulleted lists in documents can be a very useful way of breaking up complex, content-heavy information, making it easier to read and follow.

Numbered lists are generally used for step by step guides, and bullet point lists for all other types of list content. If you are not sure which one you should use, use a bullet point list.

Why it matters

Using properly formatted numbered or bulleted lists in Word tells assistive technology valuable information including:

  • where the list starts and finishes
  • how many items are in the list
  • what list item the user is currently on
  • it also allows the user to skip the list if they do not want it read out in full

If proper formatting is not used the assistive technology will read out the text as sentences. Often bullet points are very brief, so there is a high chance the wording will make little or no sense out of context.

important

You must always use the built-in list formatting tool, instead of writing the items as paragraphs with no icon, or by manually typing an asterisk, number or bullet icon.

You must never make single item lists, they are frustrating to assistive technology users and serve no useful purpose.

Ensuring your document uses lists correctly is a key part of making documents accessible, and is part of the legal criteria your document must adhere to.

How to do it

For the list feature to work correctly with assistive technology, the author must create the list using the built-in list formatting within Word. In the ‘Home’ tab choose either a bullet list or numbered list as appropriate.

Lists within lists

You will see on this website that we often indent sub-lists within lists, this is useful when each point you are making has multiple clarification points.

To create this press ‘enter’ after your text and then ‘tab’ which will move the text to the right and create a new list within the existing one. Once you have typed all the sub-points you need, you can press ‘enter’ twice to get back to your original list. You can also press ‘enter’ twice to exit the list tool when you are finished writing.

The same rules apply to these sub-lists – they must use the proper formatting, and should not be single item lists. If you only have one sub-point to make simply add it as a second sentence on the original point.

Try to avoid creating too many levels as this can be extremely difficult to understand for assistive technology users.

Example of a list within a list

  • This is the first list item
    • This is a sub-point relating to the first item
    • This is a second sub-point
  • This is the next item on the original list. This one only has one sub-point so it can be added as a second sentence.

Last reviewed: August 14, 2025 by Kailani

Next review due: February 14, 2026

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