axesWord 26.1: Accessibility Checks Directly in Microsoft Word

With version 26.1, released in October 2026, axesWord takes an important step toward accessibility at the source. The new accessibility checker in the Word add-in from axes4 checks documents for accessibility directly in Microsoft Word, before they are exported as PDF. It points out the places that should be revised, so authors can see at a glance where improvements are needed.

This shifts quality assurance to where documents are actually created. Instead of discovering issues only in the finished PDF, authors can fix them while they write, saving time and avoiding extra correction loops after export.

The release also brings a range of further improvements. Word comments are now processed correctly during PDF creation, so they no longer need to be deleted before export. Tab leaders in tables of contents are tagged as artifacts, tab stop detection has been improved, and groups with the automatic group role are now consistently exported as Figure. Form field handling has also been refined, with better keyboard navigation and new default values. In addition, several bug fixes improve the export of alternative texts, links and fields.

axesWord 26.1 is available now: https://www.axes4.com/en/desktop-software/axesword/download