Cookbooks and Recipes

Recipes in cookbooks need special attention to improve their accessibility.

If anything is a list, even if it is presented as a paragraph (e.g. directions), it must be reformatted as a list.

Most recipes have the following formatting:

Name of Recipe
- Format as a heading. The heading level will depend on the heading hierarchy of the book. If in doubt, post on the Production Q&A
Introduction, History, or Note about Recipe
- This is often a brief paragraph that is usually a couple sentences. It does not include directions, and may not be present in all recipes. Format as normal.
Serving information
- If this is just one item (e.g. Serves 8 people) they keep it as its own paragraph and style as normal. If it is several items (e.g. Makes 2 cups, Active time: 15 minutes, Start to finish: 15 minutes) format it as an unordered list. A list must be two or more items, otherwise it is not a list.
Ingredients
- Insert the heading Ingredients above this section. Set the heading level to be one level lower than the heading of the Recipe. Format the ingredients as an unordered list.
Directions
- Insert the heading Directions above this section. Set the heading level to be one level lower than the heading for the Recipe (i.e. same heading level at Ingredients). Format the directions as an ordered list even if it is presented as a paragraph. A list must be two or more items, otherwise it is not a list. If in doubt, post a question on the Production Q&A.
Additional Notes
- If there is additional information that begins with the term: Note: format the term with the same heading level as Ingredients and Directions and format the content note as normal.
- If there is additional information without a heading, then format as normal
- If there is a list in the note, then format as a list.

Most images in a cook book are simple complexity. See Simple Images for more information on how to describe these types of images. When in doubt, ask on the Alt-text Q&A.

Recipe Example

In this first example there is a screen shot of the recipe for the original book. It has additional information that has the term Note. This is followed by a second image of the recipe in the Word Doc with all the appropriate formatting.

In this second example there is a screen shot of the recipe from the original book. It has additional information in the Directions that does not have the term Note. This is followed by a second image of the recipe in the Word Doc with all the appropriate formatting.

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