Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most popular tools for making slideshow presentations. People often use it to organize ideas for a meeting or class, to show important points during a live presentation, and even to make handouts.
Making PowerPoint Files Accessible:
By following these tips, you can help more people access your PowerPoint presentations online.
-
Templates and Themes
The first step in making a PowerPoint presentation is picking a slide theme or template. In the Design tab, you’ll find lots of built-in themes and color options that can change how your presentation looks. You can also make your custom themes to fit what you want.
Some of these templates have text and backgrounds that are too similar in color, making the text hard to read. Others might have busy designs that make it even harder to see the text. It’s important to pick a theme with strong color differences and simple backgrounds. If you’re using a projector, make sure to check the contrast and readability and adjust the color settings based on how it looks.
Note:
- Use good color contrast for text color, images, and backgrounds.
- Don’t use a busy design; keep things simple.
- Keep text size 18 or larger.
- Avoid crazy animations. (Fade transition between slides is okay)
Besides the built-in and custom themes, there are many templates you can download. To find a certain template, go to File > New and type what you’re looking for in the Search box. If you add the word “accessible” to your search, you’ll find templates that creators have marked as “accessible.” This doesn’t mean they will be perfectly accessible, but it helps you find better options. If you’re not sure, Microsoft has some templates that are specially made to be more accessible.
-
Slide Layouts
The most important part of making PowerPoint accessible is using slide “layouts.” When used correctly, these layouts make sure the information on the slides has the right heading structure and reading order.
Understanding Slide Layouts for Accessibility
Most slide layouts have a slide “title” at the top. They also have one or more “placeholder” spots where you can add things like lists, images, and tables. The title is the first thing screen reader users hear, acting like a heading. If each slide has a clear title, it will be much easier for screen reader users to read and navigate the presentation.
Note:
- Limit information on each slide. Use multiple slides if needed for a section, and ensure each slide title is unique.
- Use bullet points to keep text short, simple, and easy to read.
- DO NOT use text boxes. ALWAYS use content placeholders in the slides layout.
Create a new slide
You can change a slide’s layout whenever you want, but it’s easier to pick it when you’re making a new slide. To add a new slide, go to the Home or Insert tab and click on the New Slide icon. This will usually give you a slide with the same layout as your current slide. If you want a different layout, click the small arrow or the words “New Slide” below the icon. A menu with different layouts will pop up, and you can choose one to create your new slide.
Slide Master
You can change things on every slide in a presentation. For example, you can make the text size of all the slide titles bigger or smaller. You can also change just one slide’s layout or even create new layouts. You do all these changes in the Slide Master view. This helps you make layouts that are easy to use, keep the titles in order, and make sure the screenreader reading order is correct.
To open the Slide Master, select the View tab > Slide Master.
You can find the different layouts for your presentation in the left-hand sidebar. At the top of this sidebar is the Master Layout. If you change something in the Master Layout, it usually changes on every slide in your presentation. Below the Master Layout, there are individual layouts. If you change one of these, it will change every slide that uses that specific layout.
To make a new slide layout, first click on Insert Layout and then choose Rename to give your layout a clear name. You can add placeholder objects and change their size and position on the slide. After you’re done with the changes, click Close Master View. Any changes you make will automatically show up on the whole presentation.
-
Slide Reading Order
Using slide layouts is usually a good idea, but sometimes it’s easier to just add content directly to a slide instead of making a new layout. A screen reader will normally start by reading the slide’s title and then go through the content in the order set by the slide layout. After that, it reads any extra stuff added to the slide in the order it was put there. If you remember this when you’re adding content, it will help people using screen readers get the information in the right order.
You can check or change this reading order by selecting Home > Arrange > Selection Pane. The Selection Pane will appear in the right-hand sidebar.
The pane shows every object on the slide. If you highlight an object in the pane, it will also be highlighted on the slide. The reading order for the items on this page goes from bottom to top. This might seem strange at first, but it’s like thinking of the objects as being stacked on the slide. The first object on the slide will be read first. If you put another object on top of it, the screen reader will read that second object next, and it will cover the first one. To change the order of an item, just click and drag it. -
Alternative Text for Images
PowerPoint presentations often have pictures, and these pictures should always have alternative text that describes them. Check out WebAim’s resource and information on alternative text.
To change the alt text for an image, right-click on it and choose View Alt Text. Type in a good description in the box that shows up in the Alt Text sidebar. If the image is just for decoration, leave the box empty and check Mark as decorative.
Don’t click the Generate alt text for me button. The descriptions it makes aren’t very good, and an image description is often different from the alternative text.
-
Tables
In HTML, you can label row and column headers in a table to help people who use screen readers. PowerPoint also lets you choose one row for column headers and one column for row headers. Here’s how to set up these headers in your table:
-
Click inside the table. You’ll see the Table Tools options, and the Table Design tab will be open.
-
If the top row has headers for each column (which is usually the case), make sure the Header Row box is checked.
-
If the first column has headers for each row, ensure the First Column box is checked.
In the Table Styles section, pick a style that makes the table headers stand out. Make sure the style has a strong contrast so it’s easier to read.
Most screen readers might not notice table headers in PowerPoint, but it’s still a good idea to do this. Being able to see the headers is important, and Microsoft Office is getting better at supporting table accessibility. Also, when you save your document as a PDF using the newest versions of PowerPoint, these headers will be recognized.
-
-
Links
PowerPoint makes a link when you paste a full URL onto a slide and then press Enter or Space. But just seeing the URL might not help people using screen readers or others understand it, so it’s important to make sure the link text explains what the link is about.
To change the link text, right-click the link and select Link. A dialog box will appear. Click in the Text to Display field at the top of the dialog and enter descriptive link text.
When making a presentation that will be shown on a screen and printed, you should add the website address (URL) and a short description in the link. For example, you could write: “NOCE Admissions & Records FAQs (noce.edu/faq).”
-
Accessibility Checker Tool
PowerPoint includes a tool that will identify many common accessibility issues.
To run the accessibility checker, select File > Info. Select the Check for Issues button and choose Check Accessibility.
You’ll see the Accessibility menu at the top and a sidebar on the right. The checker finds problems like errors (for example, images without alt text), warnings (like confusing link text), and tips (such as checking the reading order of slides with custom stuff). Clicking on a problem in the report will show you where it is on the slide. You’ll also find details about the problem and how to fix it in the sidebar.
Once the issue is resolved, it will be grayed out, and a checkmark will appear beside it.
-
Convert PowerPoint to PDF
PowerPoint works well for presentations you give in person, but it’s not the best choice for online content. The files can be big, and you need Microsoft Office or a special tool to open them. PDFs are usually better for sharing PowerPoint slides online. The files are smaller, any distracting slide changes are gone, and almost everyone can open a PDF.
All the accessibility tips and techniques in your PowerPoint will be saved in a PDF file if it is made correctly. If your presentation has tables or decorative images, and you know how to add accessibility information in Adobe Acrobat, your PDF could be even more accessible than the original PowerPoint.