I am able to create folders in my root directory using cPanel. When I do so I would like to be able to access them from the public_html so that they are available on my website. However, I don't see any way of doing so.
Are folders at the root level actually accessible from public_html folder? If I want to make them accessible, then how to do that?
If you want something to be accessible publicly on the web, you should put it in the public_html folder. You can create folders within public_html as well.
There is no functionality in cPanel for publicly browsing files outside of public_html. That is a security feature. Many items in the root folder should not be public. There are passwords stored in .htpasswds. Your server logs might have sensitive details about your users. Anything that you want to be visible on your site should go in the place that is designated for that.