1. Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations
John Slatin AccessU – Austin, Texas
May 15 & 16, 2019

2. Introduction

3. Mike Zapata
Accessibility Specialist with Texas Health and Human Services
Student and teacher of accessibility since 2005
Contact:

4. What Is Accessibility?
What is accessibility?
Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible.
Accessibility enables people with disabilities to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with their environment. Accessibility also benefits those whose abilities have changed or are changing due to aging, temporary injuries, etc.
The underlying principle of accessibility is inclusiveness.
Accessibility enables people with disabilities to access the same information and perform the same functions as anyone else.

5. Prepare for an accessible presentation.
Course Objectives
This training will help you prepare, design, and deliver an accessible presentation.
Prepare for an accessible presentation.
Design an accessible presentation.
Deliver an accessible presentation.

6. Preparation

7. Preparation Is Important
As my colleague Cornelius says, “Proper preparation prevents presentation predicaments.”
Proper Preparation Prevents Presentation Predicaments

8. Consider Your Audience
When creating an accessible presentation, consider who your audience is.
Some of your audience may have issues affecting their ability to:
see
hear
move
speak
understand information
Also, keep in mind that your audience may include those not present at a live session. The presentation may be posted online or distributed to others who were not able to attend the live session.
Some audience members may have issues affecting their ability to:
See
Hear
Move
Speak
Understand

9. Ask in Advance… …if anyone needs an accessibility accommodation.
As you invite attendees to the presentation, ask if anyone needs an accessibility accommodation.
For an attendee who is deaf or hard of hearing, you can arrange to have a sign language interpreter at the live presentation. For attendees with low vision, you may need to prepare handouts with large print. For users of screen readers, you may need to provide them with the PowerPoint file of the presentation ahead of time.
Be sure to inform your attendees that you will need a reasonable amount of time to arrange any accommodations. Typically, a lead time of several weeks before the live presentation is enough to get most accommodations ready.
…if anyone needs an accessibility accommodation.

10. Sample Questions for Attendees
Be sure to include a deadline for requests for accommodation so that you can fulfill them in time for your event. 
I will need the following accommodation(s) in order to participate:
the presentation to me in advance.
Braille
Assistive listening device
USB Drive:
Large print:
Format _____
Font size _____
ASL interpreter
Captioning
Wheelchair access
Other: _________
An assistant will be accompanying me:
Yes No

11. Venue Aspects Architectural Room size Number of seats Technical
At minimum, the venue should have adequate sound and visibility for the presenter and slides.
Architectural aspects of a venue that could affect a live presentation: Loud HVAC system, poles in middle of room, varying floor levels.
Technical aspects of a venue that could affect a live presentation: Lack of A/V equipment, computer issues, WiFi/cellular “dead” zones.
Be sure you know who can provide technical support at the venue if issues arise.
Architectural
Room size
Number of seats
Technical
Audio/visual equipment
Network availability

12. Reserved Seating
At the live presentation, provide reserved seating for people with disabilities and those that will be serving them (assistants, service animals, sign language interpreters).

13. ASL Interpreter Provide technical terms and acronyms.
Training participants who are deaf or hard of hearing may require an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. Be sure to request an ASL interpreter with an appropriate skill level based upon the technical complexity of the training information. ASL interpreters are usually contracted with a minimum two-days’ notice.
If your session includes an interpreter, speak at a conversational speed. Providing the interpreter with a copy of your talk before the presentation is extremely helpful. Also, be sure to spell out long and difficult words for interpreters including surnames.
At the venue, be sure to provide good seating for the interpreter so that he or she can be seen by the audience.
At least two interpreters may be needed for a presentation lasting more than 90 minutes.
Provide technical terms and acronyms.
Provide good seating and visibility.
May need more than 1 interpreter.

14. Captioning & Listening Devices
Audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing may require the provision of a CART (communication access realtime translation) service. CART is also known as computer-assisted realtime translation or real-time captioning.
CART can be used to generate audio transcripts if the live presentation is being recorded for later distribution via the web.
Assistive listening devices (ALDs) are also useful and may be provided by some venues.
CART: communication access realtime translation
Audio transcripts
Video captions
Assistive listening devices (ALDs)

15. File Distribution Presentation files can be provided: By email
Presentation files can be provided electronically ahead of time to attendees. This can be especially helpful to users of screen readers.
Presentation files can be provided: By
On a USB drive
On a website

16. Braille Handouts Replace graphics and charts with descriptions.
Save file as a Word document with headings.

17. Design

18. Standard Layout Templates
Use PowerPoint’s standard layout templates and styling features as the basis of your accessible presentation.
Use PowerPoint’s standard templates and styling features.

19. Slide Masters
Adding custom slide layouts through the slide master is critical for accessibility because only text fields added in a slide master are read by a screen reader. Manually-inserted textboxes (and the content they contain) are ignored by screen readers. Slide masters also allow for consistent formatting between slides.
Use a slide master to set styles, layouts, and placeholders.

20. Placeholders Use placeholders to add content.
Placeholders come preformatted for a range of purposes and help ensure that each slide is accessible to people using screen readers.
Don’t use textboxes or simply copy and paste images; these methods will make content inaccessible to screen readers.
Use placeholders to add content.

21. Don’t Stuff Your Slides
Information overload can affect all users. Keeping an individual slide focused on one idea will avoid that. If needed, a topic can be presented as a series of slides.
Methods to minimize information overload:
Use 3 or 4 bullet points per slide
Limit text to no more than 6 lines per slide
Use 5 or 6 words per line
1 idea per slide
3 or 4 bullet points
6 lines of text
5 or 6 words per line

22. Outline View
The Outline View is a great tool for checking the accessibility of a presentation’s textual content. Text contained in textboxes that are not part of the presentation’s default layout will not appear in the Outline View, and so, will be unavailable to screen readers.
To activate the Outline View in PowerPoint 2013 (and later versions):
Go to the View tab in the Ribbon.
In the Presentation Views section, select the Outline View option.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Tab to toggle between the Outline and Normal views.

23. Unique Titles Before After
Using the Outline View, you can also verify that each slide has a unique title. (Having more than one slide with the same title may be confusing to users.)
If you have multiple slides on a single topic, you can make each slide unique with the “X of Y” numbering method. For example, if there are 3 slides on a topic, the first one will be “1 of 3”, the second will be “2 of 3”, and the third slide will be “3 of 3”.
Before
After

24. Exercise 1 Open the exercise file.
Change duplicate slide titles so that each are unique.

25. Visibility of Titles
The slide title can be made invisible to reduce visual clutter while still keeping it accessible to screen readers in the Outline view.
To change the visibility of a slide’s title:
Go to the Home tab.
In the Drawing section, select the Arrange icon to reveal a drop-down list of commands.
Choose Selection Pane. The pane will appear to the side of the slide.
In the Selection Pane, all elements of the slide will be listed. Locate the “eye” icon next to the Title and toggle it.
Note: An element whose visibility is made invisible via the Selection Pane will be unavailable to screen readers navigating the presentation using the Slides view.

26. Exercise 2
Open the exercise file.
Hide slide title.

27. Fonts
Serif fonts have decorative features called “serifs” on each letter. Sans- serif fonts lack these decorative features.
Text using sans-serif fonts is easier to read than text using serif fonts.
Garamond, Georgia and Times New Roman are serifs fonts. Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana are sans-serif fonts.
All the text of this slide has the same size of 32 points.
Serif fonts: This font is Garamond. This font is Georgia. This font is Times New Roman.
Sans-serif fonts: This font is Arial. This font is Tahoma. This font is Verdana.

28. 44 points Text Size 40 points Smaller sizes are harder to read.
For better legibility, font size should be 32 points or larger. Avoid using a font size less than 24 points since smaller sizes are harder to read.
Smaller sizes are harder to read.
12 points
18 points
24 points
Larger sizes are easier to read.
32 points
40 points
44 points

29. Text in italics can be hard to read for some people.
Text Attributes
While italics and all-capitals (or “all caps”) are often used by presentation authors for emphasis, these text attributes can make text hard to read and process, especially for people with dyslexia or cognitive issues. Using boldface is the best way to emphasize text.
However, keep in mind that boldface should be limited to one or two words or a single phrase at most. Using boldface on whole sentences or paragraphs will lessen its effectiveness, especially if it is the entire text of a slide.
Text in italics can be hard to read for some people.
TEXT IN ALL CAPITALS CAN BE HARD TO READ, TOO.

30. Avoid Right-justified Text
Right-justified text can make it hard to read and process, especially for people with dyslexia or cognitive issues. Since text in English (and other languages using the Roman alphabet) are read from left-to-right, having text aligned to the right can disrupt the reading process for some.
This text is right-justified and may be hard to read and process for some.

31. Avoid Fully-justified Text
The inconsistent spacing in fully-justified text can make it hard to read and process. While fully-justified text can negatively affect with people with dyslexia or cognitive issues, it can especially impact users of screen magnifiers. These users often rely on the spacing between letters to determine where words begin and end.
This text is fully-justified and may be hard to read and process for some.

32. Images (1 of 2) Avoid using images of text.
Avoid using images of text on slides. Images of text may become pixelated or blurry when magnified.
Avoid using flashing or blinking items on slides. At best, blinking or flashing items may be distracting to your audience; at worst, blinking or flashing items could induce seizures in some audience members.
Avoid using images of text.
Avoid flashing or blinking items.

33. Images (2 of 2) Use the Insert tab to add images to the presentation.
Don’t drag-and-drop images into a presentation; this method can make content inaccessible to screen readers. Rather, use the Insert tab to place an image on a slide.
Also, alternative text (more commonly known as “alt text”) should be applied to each image so that users can understand the information contained within.
Alt text should:
Be accurate and equivalent in presenting the content and function of the image.
Be succinct.
Avoid using the phrases "image of..." or "graphic of..." to describe the image. (A screen reader will announce an image to a user by saying “Graphic”)
Examples:
Bad alt text: “A chart with blue and red bars.”
Good alt text: “This chart’s data shows that people with disabilities report spending more time in emergency rooms than people without disabilities.”
Use the Insert tab to add images to the presentation.
Use alt text to describe images.

34. Alt Text
To add alt text to an image in PowerPoint 2013 and later versions:
Select the image.
From the image’s contextual menu, select the Size and Position option. The Format Picture pane will then appear to the right of the slide.
At the bottom of the Format Picture pane, click Alt Text to display the Title and Description fields.
Type a short meaningful description in the Description field. (Leave the Title field blank since it is not used by screen readers.)
Note: Alt text is not needed for images that are purely decorative (non-informational). For those images, you should leave the Description field blank.
Select Image > Size and Position > Alt Text > Description

35. Exercise 3 Open exercise file. Insert an image into a slide.
Add alt text to the image.

36. Keep them simple. Charts and Graphs
When using graphs and charts in a presentation, keep them simple. A complex chart can often be simplified by splitting it into a separate charts.
In all cases, be sure to include a description for each chart or graph via its alt text.
Keep them simple.

37. Graph Description in Notes
One method for a describing graph is to put its full description in the Notes section of the slide. (The Notes section is accessible to screen readers.) The alt text of the graph image should have a brief description of it and end with a notification telling the user that the graph’s full description is in the Notes section.
Add alt text with a short description.
End with the words "Full text description in the Notes section of this slide."

38. Graph Description on Slide
Another method for a describing graph is to put its full description inside a content placeholder in the slide. The alt text of the graph image should have a brief description of it and end with a notification telling the user that the graph’s full description is on the slide. The content placeholder containing the graph’s full description can be visually positioned behind the graph image.
One advantage of this method is that it allows the graph’s full description to appear in the Outline View.

39. Exercise 4 Open exercise file.
Add a description of a graph in the slide’s Notes section.
Add a description of a graph on the content area of the slide.

40. Don’t Rely on Color Alone
Avoid using color as the sole means of conveying information. At most, color should play a supplemental role.
Presentations that use color alone to convey meaning can be inaccessible.

41. Color and Text Add asterisks to required elements.
The examples here show how a list would appear in full-color and when viewed by a user with color blindness (or when printed using a black-and-white printer). Without color (Version 1), it is unclear which items are required. In Version 2, the asterisks (along with text explaining their usage) clearly indicate the required items to all users.
Add asterisks to required elements.

42. Add parentheses to negative numbers.
Color and Numbers
In the first example on this slide, the color red is used to indicate negative values in a spreadsheet. If this spreadsheet was viewed by a person with color blindness (or printed by a black-and-white printer), it would be difficult to determine the negative values.
In the second example, parentheses are used along with the color red to indicate negative values. If this spreadsheet was viewed by a person with color blindness (or printed by a black-and-white printer), the negative values would be still be evident without color.
Add parentheses to negative numbers.

43. Color and Line Graphs Use different styles for lines.
The examples here show how line graphs would appear in full-color and when viewed by a person with color blindness (or when printed using a black-and-white printer).
Without color (Version 1), it is unclear which line refers to a particular set of data points. In Version 2, the use of unique line styles clearly indicate which line refers a particular set of data points.
Use different styles for lines.

44. Color and Bar Graphs Use different patterns for bars.
In a similar manner to the previous slide’s examples of line graphs with unique styles, unique patterns can be used in bar graphs to differentiate particular sets of data points.
Use different patterns for bars.

45. Provide Sufficient Contrast
Text on high-contrast, solid backgrounds are much easier to read than those on light-colored backgrounds. (Since projectors can lessen the intensity of colors, its best to use high-contrast colors in slide presentations.)
Put text on a plain, solid- colored background.

46. Color Contrast Tools
Some color contrast tools to help improve accessibility:
Colour Contrast Analyser is a free desktop application that determines the how well color contrast ratios adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. Intuitive and simple to use, it is considered widely as an industry standard. Available from
Colour Contrast Check is a free web-based validator that allows you find which foreground and background color combinations are accessible. Available at

47. Grayscale Mode
Using PowerPoint’s Grayscale mode can help uncover contrast issues by rendering everything within the presentation pane in grayscale.
Go to the View tab in the Ribbon.
In the Color/Grayscale section, select the Grayscale option.
To deactivate the Grayscale mode, click the “Back to Color View” option.
Use Grayscale mode to view the presentation in black and white.
Click Back to Color View to exit Grayscale mode.

48. Exercise 5 Open exercise file. Activate Grayscale Mode.
Deactivate Grayscale Mode.

49. Verify the Reading Order
Reading order is the order in which a screen reader will read the contents of a slide.
To verify the reading order of slide elements in PowerPoint 2013 (and later versions):
Go to the Home tab.
In the Drawing section, select the Arrange icon to see a drop-down list of commands.
Choose Selection Pane. (The pane will appear to the right side of the slide.)
In the Selection Pane, all slide elements will be listed. The bottommost item (last) in the list is read first by the screen reader. The topmost item is read last.
To re-order an element, select an item in the Selection Pane and then drag-and-drop it into the desired place in the order. Alternately, you may click either of the “re-order” arrows to move a selected
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+F10 to open and close the Selection Pane.

50. Exercise 6 Open exercise file.
Check and adjust the Reading Order of a slide.

51. Delivery

52. Let Them See You
Face the audience.
Don’t hide behind the lectern.

53. Be Heard Speak slowly. Speak clearly. Use a microphone.
Speak so that your audience can follow what you say.
Speak slowly.
Speak clearly.
Use a microphone.

54. Be Understood Use simple language.
Avoid jargon, undefined acronyms, or idioms.
Allow the audience to process the information.

55. Describe Slides Titles Graphics Text Slide numbers
Don’t just point at an important region of the slide; describe it. Imagine if you were hearing your presentation on the radio or over the phone. Would it make sense and would you fully understand all the information?
Titles
Graphics
Text
Slide numbers

56. Question & Answer Sessions
Provide microphones for audience questions.
Repeat questions and comments from the audience.

57. After the Presentation
Audio or video recordings should have captions or transcripts.
Handouts and other materials should be accessible.

58. Afterword

59. Resources
Texas HHS Accessibility Center for Electronic Information Resources
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: How to Make Presentations Accessible to All
WebAIM: PowerPoint Accessibility

60. Recap
Prepare for an accessible presentation.
Design an accessible presentation.
Deliver an accessible presentation.

61. Send questions or comments to:
Thanks!
Send questions or comments to: