As editors, we work with writers to fix problems. While it is satisfying to identify problems and help writers improve their work, one of the hazards of editing is focusing only on what is wrong and forgetting to acknowledge what is right.
Punctuation: Accessibility’s silent superheroes
As an editor, I’ve always had an unusual fascination with, and appreciation for, punctuation. Proper punctuation can help readers untangle the most complex of sentences, offering barely noticeable signposts to group related elements together and cue readers as to what they should emphasize and where they should pause. More recently, I’ve also learned about the important role punctuation plays in accessibility, in particular for screen-reader users.
In fact, punctuation is so important for accessibility that it’s specifically mentioned in the Web Accessibility Initiative’s cognitive accessibility guidance, part of the supplemental guidance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:
Cognitive accessibility design pattern: Use clear, unambiguous formatting and punctuation
User need: “I need words to include accents, characters, and diacritics that are necessary to phonetically read the words.”
What to do: Use punctuation and format for text, numbers, and symbols that reduce ambiguity and improve readability and comprehension.
The screen-reader experience
Screen readers don’t voice most punctuation, which is actually ideal—no one wants to hear every period and comma announced. But using the correct punctuation can guide screen readers in more accurately reading out text, helping writers communicate their intended message.
Periods, commas, and semicolons (oh, my!)
In general, periods, commas, and semicolons are not voiced; they are simply used to convey the length of a pause. Periods represent a longer pause, while commas and semicolons indicate a shorter one. And whatever your preference for the serial comma, this is a good argument for using it, as it gives screen-reader users a helpful pause between list items.
Hyphens and dashes
Hyphens are also not voiced—and again, this makes sense. Em dashes are treated similarly to commas and semicolons, to indicate a pause mid-sentence. En dashes may be read as the word “to,” which is generally the intended meaning. This is not reliable across screen readers, though, so it’s best to avoid the en dash and use the word “to” instead.
Math operators
As mentioned above, hyphens and em dashes are not voiced by screen readers, and en dashes may not be either. This can be especially problematic when such a mark is used to indicate a negative number—for example, in scientific or financial documents—so best practice is to use the minus sign. Similarly, a multiplication symbol should be used instead of an x, a division symbol instead of a slash, and so on.
Bullet points
Although it can be tempting to get creative with your bullet points, using a standard filled circle is most helpful for accessibility. This little dot signals the presence of a list to screen readers, which announce the beginning of the list as well as the number of items. Fancy characters like stars, diamonds, and arrows may not be read at all, and if they are, they will generally be voiced literally, which can be distracting to readers.
Fun fact: The open circle bullet, which is Microsoft Word’s default second-level bullet, is actually a lower case letter o and is read as such, which can be not only distracting but also confusing.
Recommendations
Using the correct punctuation helps screen readers more accurately interpret and deliver written communications, ultimately helping writers communicate with their intended audience. Although not all of the punctuation marks mentioned above are included on a standard keyboard, they can be inserted in Microsoft Word by navigating to the “Insert” menu and selecting “Symbol” (“Advanced Symbol” on a Mac). You can also use alt codes if preferred. If you’re not sure what punctuation will be voiced or how, consult a guide such as “How Screen Readers Read Special Characters” from Eleven Ways while writing, and be sure to test the user experience using a screen reader such as JAWS (Job Access With Speech) or NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access).
One small step forward for punctuation and a big win for accessibility!
Suggested reading
Eleven Ways. “How Screen Readers Read Special Characters: An Update.” March 17, 2023. https://www.elevenways.be/en/articles/screenreaders-special-characters.
Bohman, Paul. “Why Don’t Screen Readers Always Read What’s on the Screen? Part 1: Punctuation and Typographic Symbols.” Deque, January 20, 2014. https://www.deque.com/blog/dont-screen-readers-read-whats-screen-part-1-punctuation-typographic-symbols/.
Useful Shortcuts. “ALT Codes / Alt Key Codes.” Accessed May 18, 2026. https://usefulshortcuts.com/alt-codes.
Web Accessibility Initiative. “Cognitive Accessibility Design Pattern: Use Clear, Unambiguous Formatting and Punctuation.” Supplemental Guidance to WCAG 2, January 2022. https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG2/supplemental/patterns/o3p06-format-punctuation/.
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