Word 2016: how to check for missed numbering or levels

The improved Accessibility Check in Word 2016 for Windows (Office 365) can be some help in the problem of inconsistent levels or numbering.

Messed up numbering is an issue in contracts and other legal documents.

Go to File | Info | Check for issues | Check for Accessibility and scroll down to the tips section.

Skipped Numbering

The warning ‘Missed heading level’ appears because there are gaps in the numbering after both the ‘Fred’ and ‘Betty’ items.

Sadly, the Accessibility Checker doesn’t pick up manual numbering as in this example.

When the manual numbering is added, an AutoCorrect option appears.  But that warning disappears after a few moments.  The only way to detect the manual numbering is to select the numbers so they become shaded (see above) and look for non-shaded numbers.

This is something Microsoft should improve, not just for ‘accessibility’ but also to check strictly formatted documents.

Headings

Another example, here the warning ‘Missed heading level’ appears because the document has a ‘Heading 1’ then a ‘Heading 3’ with no ‘2’ level in between.