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Setting up Microsoft Word for Reformatting E-Text

  1. View > Print Layout
  2. Show Navigation Pane: (Windows Mac: View > Navigation Pane) This is a ‘map’ of the structure in terms of the heading styles that been applied in the document. The map provides a quick means of navigating to different headings.
  3. Show all non-printing characters: (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+8. Mac: Cmd+8) This shows formatting characters and marks in the document. There are a few non-printing characters and marks that Word uses (spaces, tab characters, paragraph or ‘carriage return’ characters, and object anchors) that do not show up on the printed page. It can be useful to make them visible while editing.
  4. Show Style Pane: The Styles Pane is useful for seeing what styles have been applied to text, picking styles to apply to text, and managing styles. Style-formatting is a necessary part of making documents accessible.
  5. Show Ruler: The Ruler will help you check to see that all body text is left justified. Here is a link to directions on how to set up your ruler. Quotes and Headings do not need to be left justified only the body text of the document. You can use direct formatting buttons to Align Left and Decrease Indent to fix justification.
If you find you have an .rtf file, contact the Production Coordinator through RT and they will convert the file for you to .docx

Set Document Properties

Before you start editing, set up your document properties. Add the title, author, and other information (below). This data will become the book's metadata and is used by assistive technology.

  1. Go to File in the top menu
  2. Select Properties
  3. Enter the Title and the Author of the work
    1. If the book has multiple authors, separate their names with a comma
  4. Enter the National Network for Equitable Library Service in the Company field. Do not use the publisher name of the original book.

Note: do not use underscores (_) in document properties.

See also document metadata.

NOTE: if you are working in Office 2013, follow these instructions for setting the document properties:

  1. Click the 'File' tab.
  2. You should now be on a page titled 'Info'. Click on the link 'Show All Properties'.
  3. If needed, edit the author and title. Change the company to National Network for Equitable Library Service.
  4. Press the back arrow to return to the document.

Keyboard shortcuts

Optionally, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to quickly apply styles and conduct other operations that you regularly do while e-text editing: Keyboard Shortcuts

General tips

Have the original ebook open along side the document you are editing. This will ensure you are keeping close to the original document as possible.

Some types of formatting can not be converted to accessible standards, this wiki explains how to reformat each book section as per current accessibility standards.
If there is something missing from the wiki, or you are unclear about anything in your workflow, post a question in the Q&A section.
public/nnels/etext/set-up.1601401118.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/09/29 10:38 by rachel.osolen