1. Accessibility Guide

2. Contents
This template is designed to be used as a guide to make your own accessible presentation. Review the Accessibility tips on the following slides, as well as tips at Microsoft’s support site: Go to “Make Your PowerPoint Presentations Accessible”. Contents of this guide are listed below – click a link to jump to that topic:
Getting Started
PowerPoint Best Practices
Fonts and text: Size, Color and Contrast
Color accessibility rules – Charts and SmartArt
Alt text accessibility rules – Picture
Alt text accessibility rules – Chart
Alt text accessibility rules – SmartArt
Accessibility rules – Table
Accessibility Checker
Tip: The color palette “UNC Accessible Color Palette” has been applied to this presentation. There are instances where the colors may need to be adjusted for better contrast depending on their use in your presentation – use the following color tests on your slides: Go to Color Blindness Simulator and Go to Contrast Checker

3. Getting Started
Every slide needs a unique title. You can use the text “Slide 1“ if you don’t have a specific title, and then you can increase the number for every slide. Begin with the Master Slides already available in this presentation. Enter content in the placeholders rather then inserting new text boxes. This way, the text will be read by screen readers. Text read by screen readers appears in the Outline View. You can check this by going to View > Outline View
As you build slides, pay attention to the reading order (the order in which screen readers read the content). You can view and change the reading order by going to Home > Drawing > Arrange > Selection Pane.
Tip: Reading order in the Selection and Visibility panel is done from bottom to top, so the first item read by the screen reader will be at the bottom of the list.

4. PowerPoint Best Practices
PowerPoint is a visual presentation tool, meant to enhance your presentation. You – the Presenter – are the best mode of communication and interaction with your audience –PowerPoint is simply a visual tool to support your statements, and is not meant to replace you. Don’t forget to interact with your audience rather than reading from your PowerPoint, otherwise you risk losing your audience’s attention.
Text:
Use short bulleted lists, not paragraphs.
Limit lists to 3 to 4 bullet points per slide.
Add punctuation after bulleted items (periods, semi- colons) so that screen readers understand the bulleted item is finished.
Do not use more than one font per slide. Use a larger font size or bold style for emphasis.
Use left-aligned paragraphs: justified text can cause irregular spacing between letters and words which is difficult to read.
Do not use all capital letters.
Images:
Imagery should be clearly understood and support the idea without cluttering a slide.
Try to use only one image or object per slide.
Avoid using clipart, especially those whose style is not appropriate to the audience (do not use child-like clipart for a medical professional audience, for instance).
When presenting, images can create a nice pause on screen while the Presenter discusses a topic at length.

5. Fonts and Text: Size, Color and Contrast
Font sizes should be large (14 pt and above).
A sans-serif font is recommended.
There has to be a strong contrast between text and the background. Black, or almost-black/very dark grey on a white background is a safe choice.
Avoid using color to highlight important text as some people’s vision will not allow them to see the difference between the colors. Instead, BOLD or underline type to add emphasis to it.
Avoid using text in images as the sole method of conveying important information. If you must use an image with text in it, repeat that text in the document. In the alternative text, briefly describe the image and mention the existence of the text and its intent (See ‘Alt Text Accessibility Rule – SmartArt’).
Tip: Not all graphic elements need to pass the Accessibility Checker tool; only graphics that appear behind text, and graphics that have a meaning to them and aid in understanding the content. 
Passing color contrast
Fails color contrast
Good contrast
Not enough contrast
Web Carolina Blue (the blue color bar with white title text) should only be used against a white background, for higher contrast. Only large text, or bold text should be placed on the Web Carolina Blue for legibility.
Tip: Not all graphic elements need to pass the Accessibility Checker tool; only graphics that appear behind text, and graphics that have a meaning to them and aid in understanding the content.
Passes ONLY with LARGE TEXT

6. Color Accessibility Rules – Charts and SmartArt1
Some people cannot see hues, therefore all colors appear as shades of grey. When viewing chart 1 below in an accessibility analyzer, there is not enough contrast in the greys to make the lines distinguishable, using our theme. To address this, we can do one of two things:
Change some solid lines to different dotted lines. To do this, select the single line and choose Format Data Series > Fill & Line. In the menu you will see an option for a ‘Dashed Line’.
You can also adjust the contrast of the colors in this chart without changing the entire color theme. To do this, select a line and choose Format Data Series > Fill & Line. In the menu you will see an option for changing the color. 2

7. Alt Text Accessibility Rules – Pictures
Alternative text helps people who can’t see the screen to understand what’s important in images and other visuals. All your pictures and tables need appropriate descriptive alternative text (known as “alt text”) that doesn’t use the words “photo” or “graphic”. To add alt text, right click on your picture and select Format Picture, then go to Size & Properties > Alt Text and add alt text only to the Description field.

8. Alt Text Accessibility Rules – Charts
All charts also need to have alt text. To add alt text to a chart, right click on the chart and select Format Chart Area which will open the Format Chart Area pane, then go to Size & Properties > Alt Text and enter your alt text only into the Description field.
Alt text examples for two different chart types on this slide:
Line chart showing values of three series for four categories
Clustered column chart showing values of three series for four categories 1 2

9. Alt Text Accessibility Rules – SmartArt
Alt text should be added to SmartArt diagrams on both grouped and sub-grouped objects. For grouped objects, only add alt text in the Description field. For sub-grouped objects, only add alt text in the Title field. Here are some alt text examples for SmartArt diagrams:
Text example for a grouped SmartArt diagram:
“Alternating Flow diagram showing 3 groups arranged from left to right with a title and bullet points in each group and a curved arrow showing the flow from one group to the next.”
To add alt text to a grouped SmartArt diagram, right click on the diagram and select Format Object > Size & Properties > Alt Text > Description
Text example for a sub-grouped SmartArt object:
“Task description under Step 4”
To add alt text for grouped objects inside of SmartArt diagrams, right click on the object and select Format Object > Size & Properties > Alt Text > Title

10. Accessibility Rules – Tables
First make sure there are no blank cells in your table. All table cells need to have content for screen readers to read. Next run the color contrast analyzer tool on your table. You might need to change the design from the default colors to make them accessible. Tip: Tables should not have any alt text on either the title or description because it causes an error in screen readers. This will cause an error in the Accessibility checker which can be ignored. If you change the table style, remember to set the new style as the default. To do this, select the table and go to Table Tools > Design > Table Styles, right click on the style you are using and select Set as Default.
Class
Group 1
Group 2
Class 1 82 95
Class 2 76 88
Class 3 84 90

11. Accessibility Checker
PowerPoint has a built in Accessibility Checker. To run the Accessibility Checker, go to: File > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility.

12. More questions about Accessibility?
Learn More
More questions about Accessibility?
Visit the PowerPoint Accessibility Support page. 