POWERPOINTS

Get your PowerPoints to the point.

The go-to presentation software. Let’s give your text, links, images (and more) an accessibility check. The following best practices apply to Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Prezi, but the instructional videos pertain to PowerPoint.

There may be items on this page that are inaccessible for individuals with some forms of disability. These items are necessary for illustrating differences between accessible and inaccessible content. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Shelby@thada.org

LEARN THE BASICS

If you’re not sure where to start, then start here! While there are many PowerPoint best practices, I’ve found that these seven areas likely address most of the accessibility issues in your PowerPoint slides. So, let’s start with…

NOW, DIVE DEEPER

Video Tutorial

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

Avoid providing copy/pasted links directly on your PowerPoint slides. Instead, hyperlink your link to descriptive text. 

Hyperlinking in PowerPoint:

  1. Highlight the text in your PowerPoint slide that you want to anchor the link to.
  2. Right click the highlighted text.
  3. Select “Link” in the pop-up bar.
  4. In the next window, paste the link in the “Address” bar.
  5. Click “OK”.

For more information on how to write descriptive text, check out our self-training guide on “Links”.

Hyperlink your links to descriptive text.

IMAGES & CHARTS

Video Tutorial

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

Students who rely on screen readers can only get information from images and charts if you have added alternative text to them. 

Adding alt. text in PowerPoint:

  1. Select the image (or chart) in your PowerPoint slide that you want to add alt. text to.
  2. Right click the image.
  3. Select “Edit Alt Text” in the pop-up bar.
  4. In the sidebar that appears, enter a detailed description of the image or chart in the text box (if the image is an informative image) or, if this is a decorative image, mark the image as decorative by clicking the check box next to “Mark as decorative”.
  5. Click the X to close the sidebar.

For more information on alt. text and informative versus decorative images, check out our self-training guide on “Images”.

Add alternative text to images.

Video Tutorials

YouTube player

 

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

As you learned on our page about “Fonts“, the style of font and the size of font you use can greatly impact the readability of your PowerPoint.

Font Type

  • Arial
  • Calibri
  • Tahoma
  • Verdana
  • Helvetica

Font Size

  • Slide titles/headings should be 40pt or more.
  • Slide body text should be 28pt or more.

Changing Font Type Across the Entire PowerPoint

Depending on the PowerPoint template you’re using or your PowerPoints’ default text, you may be faced with the challenge of needing to change the font style across all of your slides to a font style that is more accessible (e.g., changing Times New Roman to Arial). Instead of editing each individual slide, follow these instructions to change the font type across all your slides in PowerPoint:

  1. Click on the “Home” tab above the toolbar at the top of the screen.
  2. Look for the “Editing” box.
  3. Hit the dropdown arrow next to “Replace”.
  4. Select “Replace Fonts”.
  5. In the pop-up window, select the current font that you are wanting to place from the top dropdown menu.
  6. Select the replacement font from the list in the bottom dropdown menu.
  7. Press the “Replace” button.
  8. Some PowerPoint templates use more than one font style, so repeat the above steps until all of the fonts have been replaced with an accessible font style.

For more information on font type, size, italics, and bolding, check out our self-training guide on “Font”.

Use accessible font style, such as arial, Calibri, Tahoma, verdana, or Helvetica.
Use 28 point or larger font sizes.
Mass replace fonts on every PowerPoint slide.

Video Tutorial

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

Color can be fun, but the wrong color combinations can make your slides incredibly difficult to read.

Tip #1 – Use contrasting colors. If you are using a light background, be sure to use a very dark colored font. If you are using a dark colored background, be sure to use a very light colored font. 

Tip#2 –  Avoid using color to emphasize important information. Using color to callout or highlight important information can be lost on individuals with colorblindness. Instead, use bolded text or quotations if emphasizing the information is crucial to the slide. 

For more information on color, check out our self-training guide on “Color”.

I really like your PowerPoints. I am keeping them for future use. My one complaint is that some of them are not colorblind friendly.

Former Student

Use contrasting colors.

Video Tutorial

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

Too much information on one slide can lead to poor readability. It can also be overwhelming to students with certain neurological disorders (e.g., various learning disabilities). 

Best practice – only make 2 – 4 points per slide, depending on their length. If you have a slide with long chunks of text, spread that information out between multiple slides. 

Only make two to three points per slide.

READ ORDER

Video Tutorial

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

Even if the PowerPoint looks in order to you (e.g., the title is on top of the slide, and the body text is underneath it), that doesn’t mean the information is in the right order for a screen reader. 

Manage *read order in PowerPoint:

  1. Click on the “Home” tab above the toolbar at the top of the screen.
  2. Look for the “Arrange” icon in the “Drawing” box.
  3. Hit the dropdown arrow next to “Arrange”.
  4. Select “Selection Pane” from the list.
  5. In the sidebar that appears, you can manage the read order for each slide. A screen reader will read the bottom item first, so the slide “Title” box should be the bottom item. Be sure to arrange the items in the order of how you would want the information read by a screen reader. You can rearrange the read order by dragging and dropping each item. 
  6. Be sure to check / arrange the read order on each slide in your PowerPoint.

*Managing read order on in PowerPoint on a Mac may be different. 

Help screen readers by managing the read order of your slides.

SLIDE TITLES

Video Tutorial

YouTube player

Written Tutorial

For learners with a visual impairments or learners using assistive technology, it’s important that each of your PowerPoint slides has a different title/heading. 

For example, instead of slides 1 and 2 both being titled “Introduction”. Slide 1 could be titled “Introduction” and slide 2 could be titled “Introduction continued”.

The important thing is to make sure each slide has a title, and each slide title is different.

Be sure to give each slide a different title.

TABLES, VIDEOS & AUDIO, THEMES, ANIMATIONS, & SPEAKER NOTES

If you have to use tables in your PowerPoint slides, keep them simple. Use the table templates already provided in PowerPoint and avoid altering them, such as merging cells or inserting tables inside other tables.

The first row should automatically default as the “Header Row”. A screen reader is going to read the header row first (left to right) and then continue to work it’s way down reading each row left to right. This may be unhelpful if you are wanting students to focus on specific columns rather than rows. In which case, consider whether the information needs to be a table. 

If you embed online videos (i.e., YouTube and Vimeo) into your PowerPoint, be sure they have closed-captions at their source. If they don’t have captions, you will need to provide transcripts to your students (or use a different video; see our self-training guide on “YouTube videos“).

If you embed audio only content, you must provide students with transcripts.

Another thing to consider with videos – since you will sharing your presentation with students as a PDF (and not as a PowerPoint file; see section below called “Share a PDF, not a PowerPoint“), your embedded video will NOT be saved as a playable video in the PDF file; it will be saved as an image. With that said, if you embed an online video in your PowerPoint, be sure to provide a link to that video on the same slide (descriptive text hyperlinked to the video; see section on “Links“). This will allow students to still have access to that video through the PDF file.

PowerPoint has a ton of presentation themes and templates to choose from under the design tab; however, keep in mind that pre-existing themes are not necessarily more accessible themes. If you do choose to use a PowerPoint theme or template, look for layouts that are clean and simple, with high color contrast between text and background. Then, be sure to check it for the accessibility best practices listed on this page.

Use animations and transitions sparingly, if at all! I know animations and transitions are cool, but are they necessary? If you really think they are, then let’s review* how to avoid accessibility issues. 

Examples of problems with animations and transitions:

  • Overly using, or using complex or automatic transitions and animations can be distracting and cause cognitive overload.
  • Complex automatic transitions can be hard for users of assistive technology to follow.
  • Flashing animations increase the risk of inducing seizures due to photosensitivity.

How to use them:

  1. Do not layer content on top of each other while using animations/transitions to show/hide the content. This can break the reading order of the slide and make it difficult to understand by users of assistive technology.
  2. Ensure the length of the animation is under five seconds – Animation time can usually be set within the animation settings.
  3. Create the animation in a way where they do not start automatically – Utilize the slide & animation settings to keep the animation from starting on its own.
  4. Allow the user to stop or skip the animation (required if animation lasts longer than 5 seconds and/or the animation starts automatically) – Typically a default option, executed via the spacebar or arrow keys.
  5. Avoid all animations that create a flashing effect more than three times within one second.

*Sources: accessibleweb.com and digitalaccessbility.unc.edu.

Use the “speaker notes” space to provide more in-depth information about each slide. Speaker notes are already preformatted in a sans serif text (learn more about these on our “Font” page). However, the text defaults to size 12, so be sure to increase it to at least 14 points. Sharing your slides after your presentation allows students to access and recall the verbal presentation. 

SHARE A PDF, NOT A POWERPOINT

PowerPoints are visually great for presentations (whether face-to-face, recorded, or virtual), but PowerPoint files are not necessarily all that accessible. Instead of sharing PowerPoint files with students, save your file as a PDF and share the PDF with students. All the accessibility best practices you implemented in the PowerPoint document will stay with the PDF when you convert it, and the file can now be easily read by a screen reader.

“CHECK ACCESSIBILITY” FEATURE

After you’ve done your best to apply these best practices, give your PowerPoint one final “check” by using PowerPoints’ “Check Accessibility” feature. 

  1. Click on the “Review” tab above the toolbar at the top of the screen. 
  2. Look for the “Accessibility” box and click on the “Check Accessibility” icon. 
  3. In the sidebar that appears, follow the prompts.

Use PowerPoints built in "Check Accessibility" feature

PowerPoint vs. Google Slides vs. Prezi

PowerPoints and Google Slides give you slightly more access to controlling accessibility than Prezi. However, all three platforms share many of the same features, thus the accessibility tips and best practices that pertain to PowerPoints should also be applied to Google Slides and Prezi presentations.

I CAN...

N

Hyperlink

N

Add Alt. Text to Images

N

Control Font Type, Size, and Color

N

Mass Replace Fonts

N

Control Read Order

N

Convert to a PDF

N

Use a Check Accessibility Feature

I CAN...

N

Hyperlink

N

Add Alt. Text to Images

N

Control Font Type, Size, and Color

N

Mass Replace Fonts

N

Control Read Order

N

Convert to a PDF

N

Use a Check Accessibility Feature

I CAN...

N

Hyperlink

N

Add Alt. Text to Images

N

Control Font Type, Size, and Color

N

Mass Replace Fonts

N

Control Read Order

N

Convert to a PDF

Any Questions?

Contact Us 2
Skip to content