MS PowerPoint

Accessibility
Tutorial
 Creating accessible presentations is a
matter of adapting how we work
rather than learning something
entirely new

Microsoft includes a number of built-

Overview in accessibility features which go a
long way towards improving
accessibility

We will discuss these built-in features

as well as other recommended
practices and then use the Office
Accessibility checker
Examples
Templates and Themes

• Accessible presentations don’t have to be boring

• Search the “Design” tab for themes with good contrast and simple
backgrounds, to maximize readability
• Themes can be further customized using the “Variants” and “Design Ideas”
tools
• You can find additional themes by selecting “File > New” and using the
search bar labeled “Search for online templates and themes”
• Include the term “accessible” to look for templates designed with
accessibility in mind
• Check out Microsoft’s Accessible Template Sampler
Templates and Themes - Screenshot
Slide Layouts

• Most layouts provide an accessible structure with a

title object and at least one placeholder object
• Screen readers will treat the title as a header, and
assign a reading order to the placeholder objects
• It is better to use a pre-built layout than to add
objects to a blank slide
• Moving the objects of a pre-built layout will
preserve their structure, while manually-built
slides may lack the proper structure
• You can also let PowerPoint suggest alternate
layout positions using the “Design Ideas” tool
• You can use the “Slide Master” view to edit the
slide layouts, or create new ones, with accessible
structure
Slide Reading Order

• Screen readers will read slides in the following order:

1. The slide title
2. Any preset objects, in the order defined in the slide master
3. Any additional objects, in the order that they were added
• You can verify and change the reading order by Navigating to:
Home  Arrange  Selection Pane
• This pane lists the reading order from last to first
• Bringing an object Forward / to Front will move it up (later) in the list
• Sending an object Backward / to Back will move it down (earlier) in the list
• Clicking the eye icon will visually hide an object, but it will still be read by a
screen reader
Alt Text

• Images convey non-verbal information to your readers. However, Screen Readers

have no way of reading the image on its own. Fortunately, you can provide
"alternative text" for images. Screen Readers will then read out the alt text
instead of the image, allowing assistive technology users to get as much out of
your document as sighted users
• For all images, decide if you need alternative text or not
• Provide alt text if:
• The image conveys any type of meaning (even just an emotion)
• The image contains text
• The image serves a function, such as a button or icon
• Do not provide alt text if:
• The image is purely decorative, or just makes the slide look pretty
• There is a text description close to the image in the body of your text
• Alt text should convey the meaning or function of the image, not just describe
the contents
• Alt text should not be redundant to other text in your document, and does not
need to use phrases such as “image of…”
Shapes and WordArt

• You should also include alt text for shapes and other objects that
you may not consider images
• For complex tables and diagrams, consider providing a paragraph
explaining the process, conclusion, etc., that you are trying to
demonstrate
• WordArt will not be read by screen readers if you convert to PDF.
It is best to add alt text for WordArt just in case
• Remember that alt text provides meaning:
• E.g. “File  Save as” should be read as “File, then Save as”
Tables

Under “Design,” the

Tables divide data into a “Header Row” and/or
grid, and usually include “First Column” options
a header row or column must be checked for
to help explain these screen readers to
divisions benefit from these
divisions
Table example

Color Shape

Object 1 Blue Square

Object 2 Red Circle

Links

Links should use text that adequately describes what the link points to

Users will not always have the context clues of text before or after the
link
Language such as “Click here” does not describe the link’s destination

URLs are not considered adequately descriptive and should not be used
as link text
Avoid automatic transitions

• There are various reasons why users may need more

time to read slides than you anticipate
• If a user cannot control when slides advance, the
presentation may become frustrating or unreadable
• By not using automatic transitions, you allow users
to fully read and understand your information
If you have embedded audio,
include a transcript
• If your presentation includes a video, the video
must have captioning, and should also provide a
transcript in a separate file
• If you’re unable to provide captioning for a video,
at least include a link to a transcript
• Include a transcript for audio files as well
Do not use color as the only way to
convey information
• Screen readers do not indicate if text is colored, bold, italicized,
etc.
• Color coding information is fine, but you should also provide an
alternate method of understanding the information
• For example, use words like “important: ” to denote important
pieces of information
Provide your notes

• If you provide the .pptx file, your audience will be able to see your
notes in addition to the slides themselves
• You can also create handouts with notes using:
File  Export  Create Handouts
• You can also include notes when exporting to PDF
Accessibility Checker

• There are two possible ways to run the Accessibility checker:

1. File  Info  Check for Issues  Check Accessibility
2. Review  Check Accessibility
• If you have used Design Ideas to use a different layout for a slide,
the Accessibility Checker may tell you to add alt text to objects
that make up the slide background. These objects do not actually
require alt text
• However, you should still examine each error to make sure that all
objects which do require alt text are fixed
Converting to PDF

• SmartArt text boxes and Design Ideas will produce inaccessible artifacts. Before
exporting your presentation to PDF, you should revert the affected slides to their
default layout
• To save your presentation as a PDF:
File  Save As  Change “PowerPoint Presentation (*.pptx)” to “PDF (*.pdf)”  More options… 
select “Optimize for: Standard”  Options…  check “Document structure tags for accessibility”
• To include your notes in a PDF:
File  Save As  More options…  Options…  under “Publish what:” change “Slides” to “Notes
Pages”
• PowerPoint for Mac OS does not appear to create accessible PDFs
To create an accessible PDF, open the presentation in PowerPoint on Windows and
follow the instructions above