Presentation Accessibility

(WCAG 1.1.1)  Back to 🔝

Alternative text descriptions of images (ALT text) allows screen reader users to benefit from the information being conveyed by an image.

What information should you include or exclude from alternative text descriptions? See the  DIAGRAM Center's alt text resource.

In PowerPoint

1. Right-click on the image and select Edit Alt Text.
   
   1. Appropriate alt text is a succinct description of pertinent information about the image. The description should be able to stand on its own to tell the reader why the image was included.
2. There is no Save button. You can either close the side bar or click on a different picture to add its alt text.

See Complex Image Accessibility for images that cannot be adequately described in alternative text (which should be limited to one or two brief sentences).

(WCAG 1.3.1)  Back to 🔝

Page formatting (lists, headings and links) is read aloud to screen reader users so that the content can be understood in context. If order is important in your list, make it a numbered list. If order is not important, a bulleted list is a better choice.

In PowerPoint:

1. Select the text that you want to make into a list.
2. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, select the Number (ordered list) or Bullets (unordered list) icon.
   
   1. The bulleted (unordered) list in the picture above is highlighted to show that it would be better as a numbered (ordered) list, due to the step-by-step nature of the list.

(WCAG 1.3.2)  Back to 🔝

Designating column and row headers in a table is essential. You can also add alternative text descriptions to tables to give an overview of the information in the table.

In PowerPoint:

1. Place cursor anywhere in the table.
2. Two Table Tools tabs will appear in the Ribbon.
3. Click on the Design tab.
4. Check the Header Row checkbox. Also check First Column if your table has row headers.
   

Ensure a proper reading order in tables

Screen readers  read tables from left to right, top to bottom, one cell at a time (no repeats). If cells are split or merged, the reading order can be thrown off.

Read your table left to right, top to bottom (never repeating a cell). Does it make sense? A screen reader reads tables in this way.

Merged, nested, and split cells change the reading order of tables. Make sure you construct your table in a way that accommodates good reading order.

(WCAG  1.3.1  and  1.3.2 )  Back to 🔝

PowerPoint treats slide titles as headings, so you'll receive an error in the Accessibility Checker anytime you omit a slide title.

(WCAG 1.4.1 and 1.4.3)  Back to 🔝

Using color or text cues alone to make a distinction, a comparison or to set something apart from the rest of the web page can exclude students that aren't able to perceive those text changes. If you categorize something by color or size alone, those who are color blind or blind will not benefit from the distinction.

Instead, add some text that makes the element stand out to people with a vision impairment. I.e. "DON'T MISS THE DEADLINE!" is better written as "Important note: Don't miss the deadline!" because it announces "Important note" aloud to text-to-speech users, instead of using visual text cues.

Use sufficient color contrast

If you print your documents or pages on a black and white printer, would they be understandable? Without sufficient color contrast, people who are color blind or have low vision will not be able to benefit from the information.

Check color contrast

For a stand-alone tool that can test things in many applications (not just PowerPoint), try the Colour Contrast Analyzer Tool

1. Download Colour Contrast Analyzer Tool for Windows or Colour Contrast Analyzer Tool for Mac
2. Make sure you are in the Result — Luminosity mode, not the contrast result for color blindness.
3. Click the Foreground eye dropper tool, hover over and click the foreground color to select the foreground color.
4. Click the background eye dropper tool, hover over and click the background color.

 Video How to use the Colour Contrast Analyzer tool

(WCAG 1.4.5)  Back to 🔝

Text inside JPEGs, PNGs, etc. is also not readable by assistive technology. See Alternative Text Tags

• Outline View is a great way to visually check whether all of your text is available to screen reading software.
  
• Make sure all of the slide text content appears in the outline view. Students with visual disabilities may prefer not to bother with the more visual slide view.
• Recommended best practice: Compose your outline in the outline view, and then move to the slide view to add images and design.

(WCAG 1.4.5)  Back to 🔝

Math, science equations, formulas and notations can only be read by JAWS or NVDA in  PowerPoint with MathType 7 .  Otherwise, be prepared to extract all the content and place it in a file format that is accessible.