Tutorial 6: Make a document accessible with GLOW

Goal: take a real document from "probably fine" to verified, graded, and repaired — using GLOW, QUILL's built-in accessibility review system.

GLOW (Guided Layout and Output Workflow) is guided confidence, not a compliance dashboard: it explains each finding in plain language and only applies fixes you approve. Everything is under Tools > GLOW.

0. Switch it on (GLOW is experimental)

GLOW ships as an experimental feature, off by default while it matures:

  1. Preferences > Experimental.
  2. Tick Enable experimental features (the master switch — until it is on, every experimental control is disabled and skipped in the tab order).
  3. Tick GLOW accessibility review and repair (experimental).
  4. Apply. The Tools > GLOW menu appears immediately — no restart.

Experimental means still maturing, not unsafe: every GLOW action below keeps the review-first, never-touch-the-original contract.

1. Audit what you are writing

  1. Open any Markdown or HTML document you have written.
  2. Tools > GLOW > GLOW Audit Current Document.
  3. The report opens as a normal tab. Arrow through it. Each finding gives: the rule, the severity, the location, and a plain-language suggestion — e.g. heading levels that jump (H1 straight to H4), links that just say "click here", images without alt text, HTML missing lang, tables without header cells, paragraphs too dense to listen to.

For just the section you are working on, use GLOW Audit Selection / Paragraph instead.

2. Fix — with your eyes open

  1. GLOW Fix Current Document. QUILL opens the repaired text as a named preview tab and immediately starts a compare session against your original.
  2. Walk the differences. Accept knowing exactly what changed; reject and nothing happened. Never a silent rewrite.
  3. For quick in-place cleanup of one block, GLOW Fix Selection / Paragraph — the replacement stays selected so Ctrl+Z is one step away.

Fixable findings (heading-marker spacing, missing lang, missing alt attributes, trailing whitespace) are marked [auto-fix] in the audit; judgment calls (link text, dense paragraphs) stay yours.

3. Grade the file you are about to send

The headline capability: GLOW audits structured files on disk — Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, EPUB.

  1. Export your document to Word (File > Export > Word Document...), or pick any existing docx.
  2. Tools > GLOW > GLOW Audit File... and choose it. The audit runs in the background and returns a score out of 100, a letter grade, and every finding.
  3. To repair: GLOW Fix File.... GLOW writes a fixed copy next to the original (report.docx → report-accessible.docx), confirms the destination first, and opens the post-fix audit so you can verify the improvement. The original file is never modified.

4. Keep the engine fresh (only when you ask)

Help > Check for GLOW Updates... checks for a newer accessibility engine. The check runs only on your command, the download is confirmed separately, every wheel is signature- and checksum-verified, and a failed install rolls back automatically. The engine's optional networked helpers (AI alt-text, PII redaction) are off until you explicitly consent, per use — the default GLOW workflow is entirely on-device.

5. The routine worth adopting

Draft → Audit Current Document → fix the judgment calls yourself → Fix Current Document for the mechanical ones (accept from the compare) → export → Audit File as the final gate. Two minutes, and you are shipping documents more accessible than most sighted authors produce.

Want an ambitious pass beyond the deterministic rules? The AI menu's Accessibility Tune-Up agent drafts a broader improvement plan — reviewable like everything else.