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How to use Grackle Sheets

Google Sheets stored in your Boise State Google Workplace account must meet digital accessibility standards. Use Grackle Sheets to identify barriers and improve your document’s accessibility.

Get started

To begin, you will need to launch the Grackle Sheets add-on in your Google Sheet.

  1. Open the Google Sheet document you want to check.
  2. In the Google Sheets menu, select Extensions > Grackle Sheets > Launch.
  3. If prompted, select Allow or Continue in the permissions window.
  4. Grackle Sheets will open in the right sidebar and begin running an accessibility check.

Grackle accessibility check

Grackle Sheets provides you with information on each section that it checks.

  • Green checkmark = passed
  • Green checkmark with exclamation = passed with warning
  • Red X = failed

Accessibility check sections

The Grackle accessibility check includes several sections. Review sections with warnings or failed checks for probable accessibility issues or barriers. Follow the instructions in the Grackle sidebar to resolve issues.

Sheets

This section provides feedback on the sheets in your Google Sheets. It checks that:

  • Your Sheets file has a descriptive title.
  • Each sheet within the file has a descriptive name (rather than “Untitled Sheet” or “Sheet1”).
  • The total number of sheets is manageable.
  • Individual sheets are not too large or empty.
Tables

This section analyzes the tables within your Sheets file. It checks that:

  • Table headers are included.
  • Tables are not too long.
  • The total number of tables is manageable.
  • Merged or isolated cells are flagged.
Charts

All charts, graphs, and images generated in Google Sheets must have accompanying alt text descriptions. This section checks that alt text is included.

Contents

This section checks the readability of your Sheets. It checks that:

  • Good contrast is used.
  • Font size is readable.
Table structure

The Table Structure tab provides information on the tables within each sheet. Clicking on the table will highlight it in the sheet. Use this feature to examine the data in each table. If needed, you can reorder data, move a table to a different sheet, trim a sheet to fit a table, or merge sheets together.

Additional information

Diver deeper into using Grackle Sheets with Google Sheets on the Boise State Accessibility website:

Meet Grackle Sheets (Boise State Accessibility)

Need assistance?

Contact the WordPress Support Team through the OIT Help Desk at (208) 426-4357 or email helpdesk@boisestate.edu.