Grackle for Google Workspace
Grackle accessibility tools are available to Texas A&M University users within Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The set of tools supports the creation of digital content that is accessible and usable for individuals with a wide range of abilities.
Important: Grackle is an integration for specific Google Apps, and as such, all usage should follow the Acceptable Use section of the Google Apps Terms of Use & Privacy.
About Grackle
Grackle is available enterprise-wide to Google Workspace for Education Plus users. It is designed to help identify and address common accessibility issues during the content creation process.
Digital accessibility is an important component of the university’s commitment to providing access to programs, activities, and services. Use of accessibility tools such as Grackle helps support compliance with university standards and WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
Accessing Grackle
Grackle can be launched directly within Google files:
- Open a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slides file
- Select the Extensions tab
- Choose the companion Grackle tool - Grackle Docs, Grackle Sheets, or Grackle Slides - then Launch
After launch, the tool analyzes content and highlights areas that may need improvement.
Functionality
Grackle provides support for identifying and resolving accessibility issues, including:
- Detection of structural issues such as missing headings or improper formatting
- Identification of missing alternative text for images
- Review of color contrast and readability concerns
- Guidance for improving document navigation and clarity
The tools provide recommendations to help users apply accessibility best practices while creating and editing content.
Accessibility Considerations
Accessibility should be considered throughout the content lifecycle, including creation, review, and updates. Using Grackle can help improve:
- Compatibility with assistive technologies such as screen readers
- Document structure and navigation
- Clarity and usability for a broader audience
Additional Resources
See more information about the specific tools:
Learn more about making accessible Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in the following Knowledge Base articles:
Did you know?
- In the United States, about 55 million people have a disability (src: 2010 U.S. Census).
- About 1 in 5 Americans have some kind of disability (src: 2010 U.S. Census).
- The percentage of people affected by disabilities is growing as our population ages.
- Two popular, free screen readers are VoiceOver (Mac OS and iOS) and NVDA (Win).
- Good accessibility practices can improve the search ranking of your website.
- Form fields without labels can cause problems for some assistive technology users.
- Low color contrast makes content difficult to see, especially for users with low vision.
- Documents linked on a website need to be accessible too (e.g., PDF and Word files).
- Audio content, like podcasts, need transcripts for deaf or hard of hearing users.
- Online videos should be captioned for deaf or hard of hearing users.
- Using HTML tags correctly is very important for accessibility.
- Descriptive link text helps make a website more accessible. Avoid using "Click here" or "Read more."
- A "screen reader" is an application that reads content aloud to a user.
- There is no "alt tag" in HTML. "Alt" is an attribute used with the img tag.
- HTML uses the alt attribute to provide a text description of an image.
- Alt text should describe an image, if the purpose of the image is to convey information.
- If an image is a link, the alt text for the image should explain where the link goes.
- If an image is only being used for decoration, the alt text should be null (i.e., alt="").
- If a table has headers, using header tags (<th>) will make the table more accessible.
- An accessible website is one that can be navigated and understood by everyone.