This tutorial is for Office 2019
One of the most important parts of making a PowerPoint accessible is to use the built-in slide layouts. These slide layouts were built to be recognized by screen readers. Selecting a blank slide and adding text boxes might look fine to visual users but it could effect the accessibility of the presentation. A screen reader user, for example, might hear content read out of order or might miss some information altogether.
To select the layout of each slide, use the 'Layout' dropdown or the 'New Slide' dropdown in the toolbar on the 'Home' tab.
Many screen reader users will use the titles of each slide as a way to navigate through the presentation in order to go straight to the slide they want to view. So it's important to have titles to each slide that are both unique and descriptive. Sometimes, information spills over across several slides, in these cases, consider adding "Slide 1 of 2" or something similar to the slide's title.
To make images accessible, add alternative text that will be read to a user by a screen reader. Alternative text should give both semantic and descriptive meaning to images.
In PowerPoint, alternative text can be presented in two ways:
Right-click the image and select 'Edit Alt Text...'
Write alt text in the description box. If the image is decorative or needs an alt text of null (""), leave the box empty and mark the image as decorative.
Some images are purely decorative. Others have information that is already conveyed in the context of the document, and therefore adding more description in the alt text will be redundant for a screen reader user to hear. In these cases, you can mark the image as decorative, or give it null alt text ("").
When deciding whether you need to add descriptive alt text or use null ("") alt text, ask: Does this image contain information that is not conveyed in its surrounding context?
Yes
Use descriptive alt text to convey the content of the image in terms of its function in the document.
No
Mark as decorative.
Sometimes, a screen reader user might want to hear all of the links in a PowerPoint presentation read out loud in a list or sequence. So it's important that the link text alone conveys the function of the link. When creating a hyperlink in a PowerPoint, include text that conveys information about the where the link goes.
*Note: For presentations that will be presented both electronically and in print, you might want to include the full URL in addition to descriptive link text for users viewing a hard copy. In these cases, consider making the full URL an inactive link to save confusion of duplicating links, and to save a screen reader from reading it out loud if a user is sequencing through all the links in a list. For example, "Accessibility for PowerPoint (simmons.libapps.com/libguides/....)".
In your PowerPoint, highlight the text you want to hyperlink and press Ctrl + k on a Windows or Command + k on a Mac. Or Select the 'Insert' tab and then the 'Link' button. An 'Insert Hyperlink' dialog box will appear. Copy and paste the URL into the 'Address' field.
Windows:
Mac:
Most of the time, a screen reader will read the information on a slide in the order that it was created. This could be much different than the order that the information appears visually. To set the correct reading order of a slide, on the Home tab, select Arrange > Selection Pane.
The reading order should be arranged from the bottom to the top. So, typically, the slide title would appear at the bottom of the list. To rearrange content items, click and drag or use the up and down arrows.
*Note: To the right of each content item is an icon that looks like an eye. This icon allows creators to visually hide elements from a slide, but they will still be read by a screen reader.
PowerPoint has a built-in Accessibility Checker that can assess your document for accessibility errors. Though the tool is helpful to check your presentation, it's important to remember that the Accessibility Checker might not catch everything. The results will be similar whether you are using a Windows or a Mac, but the way to access the Accessibility Checker is slightly different.
On a Windows, go to File > Info. Select the Check for Issues button, and then the Check Accessibility option from the drop-down menu.
On a Mac, select the Review tab, and then click Check Accessibility.
When exporting a PowerPoint to a PDF, you want to make sure that all the accessibility features will be preserved. There are a few different ways to properly export a PowerPoint file to a PDF, and the process is slightly different whether you are using a Windows or a Mac.
In Windows, either go to 'File' > 'Save as PDF', or select the 'Acrobat' tab in the top menu, and select 'Create PDF' to save your file as a PDF with the accessibility features intact. You can check to make sure the accessibility features will be saved by selecting the 'Options' button next to the 'Save' button. An Acrobat PDFMaker dialogue box will appear. Make sure the checkbox that says "Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF" is checked.
On a Mac, go to 'File' > 'Save As...' and select PDF from the choices, or select the 'Acrobat' tab in the top menu, and select 'Create PDF'. Make sure the radial button that says "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility" is selected.
Accessible PowerPoint Techniques | WebAim
Accessible PowerPoint Presentations | University of Washington
Understanding PowerPoint Accessibility | University of Colorado
Make Your PowerPoint Accessible | Microsoft Support
Writing Effective Alt Text | Microsoft Support
Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations Webinar (running time: 53:08) | UA Technology Accessibility, YouTube
Accessible PowerPoint Templates | Microsoft Support
