Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint provides a built-in accessibility checker that will identify accessibility errors, warnings and tips to make your document more accessible. In addition, the checker offers instructions to fix accessibility issues.

• Use the Office 365 accessibility checker

Microsoft has excellent resources with in-depth instructions for incorporating accessibly best practices into PowerPoint presentations.

• Article on accessibly best practices in PowerPoint
• Video series on accessibility best practices in PowerPoint

• Use the slide layout templates provided in PowerPoint. The templates create a navigation structure and reading order for a person using a screen reader to easily navigate your slides. 
  • If you change the default slide layouts, make sure to check the Reading Order panel. 
  • For more information, see the video Create Slides with an Accessible Reading Order and the Reading Order Best Practices below.
  • Search for accessible templates when you start a new presentation.
• Do not use images of text on slides. Instead, add the text directly into the presentation by typing the information into a text box. 
  • Text is read naturally by a screen reader and is more accessible. Images of text require alternative text and provide a less streamlined user experience.
• Give each slide a unique title to help users navigate between slides of the presentation. 
  • Adding large text at the top of the slide does not make it a title. Title text needs to be designated as titles within PowerPoint for them to be recognized by assistive technology. If you use the built-in slide layout templates, a title box will usually already be included on the slide. 
  • For instructions to add a title box to a slide that does not have one, see the Title a Slide article.
• Use the Table tool to add a table to your slide and assign table headers. Include a label for the table and confirm that it appears before the table in the reading order. Do not insert images of tables.
• Use Bullets and Numbering to create lists in your slides. Do not use tables or text panes to format lists.
• Add hyperlinks with descriptive link text that tells your readers where the links take them. The text you use for links will be read aloud.
  • In the Insert Hyperlink box, add the URL to the "Address" field; add the descriptive link text in the "Text to Display" field.
  • Do not use the raw URL (example: "http://www.uc.edu"). If you do not use link text, the URL would be read aloud to screen reader users.
• Add Alternative Text to all images, shapes, charts, graphics and objects that convey information. 
  • Mark images that do not convey meaning as decorative.
  • Always check any automatically generated alt text for accuracy.
  • For more information about alternative text, see Alternative Text Best Practices below.

Alternative text, or “alt text” describes the content of images, graphs and charts. It should be added to every image that conveys meaning in a PowerPoint presentation. Below is a list of best practices for using alternative text in image-heavy presentations.

• Write a concise and contextual description that conveys the information that would usually be taken in visually. Limit the description to 150 characters.
• Do not include the filename or “image of” in your alt text. 
  • Screen readers announce graphics with the word "image" or "graphic", then read the alt text.
  • If you want to describe the nature of the image, use descriptive words like "formal portrait of the UC Bearcat" or "architectural drawing of the library".
• Indicate the purpose and content of complex images like charts, graphs and infographics.  
• Check the “Mark as decorative” box in the alt text pane if the image does not add additional meaning to the presentation and is purely decorative. 
• Identify the required action for images that contain a link or QR code (i.e., "click/scan this image to go to [location of link]").

Reading Order designates the sequence in which all components of a slide are read and how a screen reader will interact with a presentation. To ensure accessibility, manually check the reading order for every slide and correct it if needed.

• To view the reading order for each slide, open the Reading Order Pane. You can view and adjust the reading order of the slide elements using the arrow buttons or by dragging and dropping the elements into your desired order. Elements are read top to bottom, starting with 1 and counting up.
• The reading order should be the same as the actual flow of the slide and the way that it is designed to be read (i.e., title first, then body text, then an image, etc.).
• Elements marked as decorative are visible in the reading order pane but will not be read aloud, so their placement in the reading order does not effect the reading experience. 
• Changing the sequence of the reading order will also affect the layering of slide elements; moving an object in the reading order could affect the object’s visibility on the slide. To resolve layering changes, you may need to move decorative objects or background objects to another place in the reading order. To help you arrange elements on your slide, use the Selection pane.

If the reading order seems to be flawed, the Accessibility Checker might prompt you to change it. The Accessibility Checker cannot make in-depth and complicated observations of your work, but simply checks if elements are listed from top to bottom and left to right or in the order that they were added to the document.