1. Tips and Techniques for Accessible Digital Materials and Handouts
Sina Bahram
President, Prime Access Consulting
@SinaBahram

2. What are we going to talk about?
Why does this matter?
Distribution of handouts
Common accessibility tips and tricks
Making accessible Word documents
Making accessible PowerPoint presentations
Recap and call to action
@SinaBahram - #a11y

3. Why Does This Matter?
More than 1 billion persons in the world have some form of disability
Between 110 million and 190 million have significant impairment
(WHO, 2011)
@SinaBahram - #a11y

4. Distribution of Handouts - Digital
Be prepared to make the original presentation available electronically ( or download link)
If possible, generate shortened URL to download materials
Download this presentation:
Follow the tips in this presentation to make materials accessible
@SinaBahram - #a11y

5. Distribution of Handouts - Physical
Make sure that printed slides maintain readable font sizes and legible graphics (do not go below 12 point font)
Provide large print version (at least 18 points, but 22 is preferred)
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6. Tips and Tricks Fonts Color contrast Alt text Table headers
Accessibility checker
Saving, not printing, to PDF
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7. Tips and Tricks - Fonts
Avoid decorative fonts (like script, handwriting, or “display” typefaces, which are not meant to be used for body text)
Slide body text should be a minimum of 24 points, and headers should be between 40 and 60
Keep in mind viewing distance – a large lecture hall may require larger fonts
Watch out for nested lists as the font often gets smaller – make sure the smallest font on the slide is at least 24 points
Avoid all caps
Avoid blinking or animated text
@SinaBahram - #a11y

8. Tips and Tricks – Color Contrast
Make sure there is sufficient color contrast (4.5:1 for regular text, 3:1 for large text)
Make sure text is not placed on busy or distracting backgrounds like videos, images, or bold patterns
Tools
Color Contrast Analyzer
WebAIM Contrast Checker
@SinaBahram - #a11y

9. Tips and Tricks – Color as Meaning
Don’t rely on color alone.
It is perfectly fine and appropriate to use color to convey meaning, but guarantee that there are other ways of understanding the message
❌ DANGER
✅ SAFETY
@SinaBahram - #a11y

10. Tips and Tricks – About Alt Text
Images, charts, and other graphics need descriptive text, called alt text, for people who can’t see them
You should be able to replace the image with the alt text and have everything still make sense
Descriptions should be concise
@SinaBahram - #a11y

11. Tips and Tricks – Writing Alt Text
How To:
Click on the image
In the top menu bar, select Format, then Picture
In the format picture sidebar, go to the Size & Properties tab (blue square) and click Alt Text
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12. Tips and Tricks – Text as Images
Use actual text, not images of text
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13. Tips and Tricks – Table Alt Text
Tables can have alt text
In the alt text, it is important to convey any meaningful takeaways from the table (e.g. maximum values, trends, surprising data points)
Select the table; In the top menu select Format; Go to the Size & Properties Tab and select Alt Text
@SinaBahram - #a11y

14. Tips and Tricks – Table Headers
Make the table more accessible by selecting table headers and banding rows
Select the table, which will add two table-related tabs to the menu ribbon. Click the Table Design tab then check the boxes corresponding to Header Row, First Column (if applicable), and Banded Rows.
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15. Tips and Tricks – Enabling the Accessibility Checker
Enable the checker by clicking the Review tab at the top of the document and selecting Check Accessibility
This will open an Accessibility Checker tab on the right hand side of the screen
@SinaBahram - #a11y

16. Tips and Tricks – Using the Accessibility Checker
Errors
Warnings
Tips
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17. Tips and Tricks – Saving to PDF
Do not print to PDF!
Do not click File --> Print
Instead, click File --> Save As and select PDF from the file format menu
If you save to PDF, the latest version of Office does an okay job of generating a PDF usable by persons with disabilities
This is not a fully accessible PDF!
@SinaBahram - #a11y

18. Accessible Word - Headings
Make text a heading by selecting it, then clicking on the appropriate level in the Styles section of the Home tab
Remember that order matters
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19. Accessible Word – Lists
Do not just copy the bullet symbol beside a series of items – use the actual list style in Word
Ordered (numbered) vs. unordered (bulleted) lists
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20. Accessible PowerPoint – About Reading Order
Screen reader users will encounter the items on your slides in a random order related to how you edited them, unless you fix the reading order
The reading order is not obvious visually, but it is critical to the accessibility of a presentation
@SinaBahram - #a11y

21. Accessible PowerPoint – Correcting Reading Order
On the Home tab, click Arrange then select Selection Pane
In the selection pane, click and drag an item in the content list to change its order
Remember that items read first should be on the bottom of the list, and items read last should be at the top
@SinaBahram - #a11y

22. Accessible PowerPoint – Visualizing Reading Order
You can visualize both the reading order and visual vertical flow of content using the Reorder Objects functionality
On the Home tab, click Arrange then select Reorder Objects
This will bring up a visualization of the layers of your slide using translucent “panes” stacked atop one another in space
Content can also be rearranged in this view
Again, content to be read first should be on the bottom
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23. Accessible PowerPoint – Reading Order Visualized – Layer 3
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24. Accessible PowerPoint – Reading Order Visualized – Layer 2
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25. Accessible PowerPoint – Reading Order Visualized – Layer 1
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26. Accessible PowerPoint – Slide Titles
Unique slide titles are very important
If you want to hide a slide title, do so only visually
On the Home tab, click Arrange then select Selection Pane
In the selection pane, click the eye logo to the right of the slide title; this will change the icon to a dash
@SinaBahram - #a11y

27. Accessible PowerPoint – Captions and Subtitles
PowerPoint 2016 for Windows supports inserting videos that have captions in an external .vtt file
Playing subtitled/captioned videos is only supported on Windows 10 and above
It also supports multiple audio tracks (audio description) for videos
Playing secondary audio tracks on videos is only supported in Windows 8.1 and above
Alternative: hard-code this accessibility information in the video before adding to a slide
@SinaBahram - #a11y

28. Accessible PowerPoint – Adding Captions
To add captions from a caption file:
Click on the video you would like to add them to
A new tab set, called Video Tools will appear in the top ribbon
Select Insert Captions and then click Insert Captions from the menu that drops down.
@SinaBahram - #a11y

29. Recap – Tips and Tricks Fonts Images and Graphics Tables
type, size, color, and meaning
Images and Graphics
alt text, actual text instead of images of text
Tables
alt text with main takeaways, headings
The Accessibility Checker
make sure to run before distributing
Making PDFs
save as PDF, don’t print to PDF
@SinaBahram - #a11y

30. Recap – Application Specific
Microsoft Word
Headings
Lists
PowerPoint
Slide titles
Reading order
Captions/subtitles
Audio description
@SinaBahram - #a11y

31. Call to Action
Implement the tips in this webinar in your next presentation
Read the links on the resources slide for more info
Encourage friends and colleagues to make accessible presentations
Ask plenty of questions on social media using #a11y as the hashtag
@SinaBahram - #a11y

32. Resources Accessibility Checker for Windows
Accessibility Checker for Mac
Accessibility Checker Rules
Making PowerPoint Slides Accessible
Making Word Documents Accessible
Making Excel Spreadsheets Accessible
Making Outlook Accessible
Adding Captions/Subtitles in PowerPoint
Video Playback Accessibility in PowerPoint
Color Contrast Analyzer
WebAIM Contrast Checker
@SinaBahram - #a11y

33. Contact
Personal Website:
Blog: blog.SinaBahram.com
Prime Access Consulting:
@SinaBahram - #a11y