Writing Accessible Electronic Documents with Microsoft® PowerPoint

The problem with PowerPoint a crutch for presenters instead of a scaffold for learners. a seductive technology that encourages style over content. too many slides bad slide design unreadable text poor use of colour plain text only distracting effects How NOT to use PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint Templates Choose an appropriate slide template and not begin with a blank slide. Slide template provides a structure similar to that seen by the Document Map in Microsoft ® Word). Using the text or content options provided will enable a screen reader user to navigate the content.

Use the Notes Field One of the most important is the Notes Field. This notes field should house the text on the slide, add more information to a visual image on the PPT. If someone finds PPT inaccessible it can be converted to MS Word. file > send to > MS Word.If someone finds PPT inaccessible it can be converted to MS Word. file > send to > MS Word. The slide will appear as an image but the notes page will appear as text which will be accessible for AT users.

Keep it simple Six points per slide Few words per point Don’t overload slides – use more, simple slides

Keep it readable Font size = 28 points – 24 points is OK – 18 point is too small Use easy-to-read sans serif fonts: – Lucida Sans – Serif fonts like Palatino or Georgia – Sans Serif fonts like Arial or Verdana – Cursive fonts like Comic Sans

Keep it clear Use high-contrast colours – mid-tones do not show up well – avoid bright red – colour-blind people confuse red and green Use colour or bold or italic for emphasis – CAPITALS and underline are hard to read

Avoid Distracting Animation Annoying and amateurish  Avoid unnecessary sound effects too…  And distracting transitions between slides

Environment The environment delivered will also affect the readability of material Presenting in a light room, display dark coloured text on a light coloured background. Presenting in a darkened room, ensure the background colour is dark and the text light. If using a dark background ensure the weight of text is increased (e.g. bold).

Off-white background Reduces contrast Reduces glare

White on blue Classic choice Minimal glare Yellow text also good

Be consistent Backgrounds Fonts Colours Transitions Less is More

Images – Accessibility Benefits Clarifies text explanation. Focus learner on key points. Breaks up text. Good for visual learners. Good for students with a print impairment e.g. dyslexia.

Images Always add Alt Text to Images

Same issues with colour when using Images in PowerPoint

Using Text Boxes to Increase Interactivity Why is this happening? What are the health and safety issues? Learn how to add editable text boxes Follow this link to see page 20 of Accessibility Essentials 3

Activity - Create a Text Box in a Presentation Create a new PowerPoint Presentation. Follow instructions on the ‘Using Text Boxes to Increase Interactivity within a Presentation’ handout provided. To watch instructional video from the TechDis website follow this link Follow the instructions to try it for yourself.

18 Layout and navigation. Some learners may experience difficulties with either the mouse, keyboard or both. It is possible to make PowerPoint more accessible by building in interactive /’action’ buttons. To do this go to ‘insert’ then ‘shapes’ then ‘action buttons’ Doing this replaces the default “transitions” which need to be disabled Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

Using Multi-Media to Increase Interactivity Follow this link to find out how to add sound into PPT Accessibility Essentials 3 page 21 Follow this link to find out how to add sound into PPT Accessibility Essentials 3 page 24

Power Talk PowerTalk does a good job of making any presentation more accessible by automatically speaking the text. It can narrate animated text as it appears and will also speak PowerPoint's 'Web Alternative Text' intended for Web Browser use. Thus apart from being an accessibility tool in its right PowerTalk can be used to test how a presentation will sound with a other tools such as screen readers.