How to Create Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

For creating accessible PowerPoint presentations this is a checklist as well as detailed steps/explanations that can be followed.

 

  1. Click on File found in the Word menu

  2. Click Info

  3. Under Properties, add the Title and Author if needed

  • Good Choices are:

    • Arial

    • Calibri

    • Verdana

  • Try to use font size 12 and higher

  • Use Strong style for bold and Emphasis style for Italics

  • Do not start alt text with “picture of“ or “graphic of”

  • Validate auto-generated alt text

  • Include enough information for end user

  • Exclude information found near the image (example: caption below image)

  • Include alt text for images with hyperlink

  • Tip: You can turn on/off the Automatic Alt Text setting found in File > Options > Ease of Access > Accessibility

  • Write link text where it is going, for example IT Accessibility

  • Do not use “click here”, “learn more”, “read more”

  • Do not underline text that is not a link because keyboard users may think it is a link that is inaccessible

  • Use only data for tables

  • Designate top row as the header for each column

  • Turn on Repeat Header Row (found under Layout menu item when table is highlighted)

  • Add Alt Text to the table

  • Cannot create accessible table if using split cells, merged cells, or nested tables in Word when exporting to PDF

  • Tab through each cell to check for navigation (left to right and down)