Relevant to: faculty, staff, and students
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Follow these 10 Steps to Make Your PowerPoint Accessible
- Always use the built in slide layouts (title slide, title and content, two content, comparison, etc.). Right click on the slide and select “Layout.” Avoid using the “blank” layout or drawing your own text boxes, as these will not be understood by a screen reader.
- Include a unique and descriptive slide title for each slide.
- Write descriptive but succinct alternative text on your images, graphs, charts, etc. Right click on an image and select “View Alt Text.” Complicated images, graphs, or charts may need long descriptions. Always verify and edit any AI-generated alternative text.
- Avoid using Smart Art as it is inconsistently understood/read by a screen reader.
- Add content like images by selecting the appropriate content type within a text box from the slide layouts.
- Select colors or themes that provide sufficient color contrast. Verify and test colors with a tool like WebAIM Color Contrast Checker (link opens in a new window).
- Use a legible font (sans-serif is often preferred) that is large enough, and avoid crowding your slide with too much text.
- Check the reading order of your slides and edit to ensure the order is logical. Select Review, Check Accessibility, Reading Order Pane.
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- Check the outline view to make sure all of your text shows up on each slide (note that images and other non-text content will not show up here). Select View, then Outline View. If your text isn’t present in the outline view, it may not be read by a screen reader. This can sometimes happen if you draw extra text boxes, or use some of the suggestions from the Designer tool. *If you modify your slides using Designer, go back to Outline View after and verify your text is still present and accessible.
- Run the accessibility checker (Review, Check Accessibility) and use the assistant to help remediate any accessibility issues.
