{"id":1123,"date":"2017-11-10T14:46:19","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T20:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/?p=1123"},"modified":"2019-09-10T17:28:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T23:28:22","slug":"sip-6-6-creating-accessible-powerpoint-presentations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/sip-6-6-creating-accessible-powerpoint-presentations\/","title":{"rendered":"SIP 6.6 Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Whether we are presenting at a conference, reporting to colleagues, pitching a proposal, or teaching classes, we want our PowerPoint presentations to be accessible to everyone. How do we do that? Here\u2019s how\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a SIP of This: Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
What to do\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nWhy it is important\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nHow to do it\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Before you do anything else, check your PowerPoint presentations to see if they are already accessible\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nProfessors have enough to do. If your presentations are already accessible, don\u2019t add to your work burden!\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nRun the accessibility checker built into PowerPoint software.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft Accessibility Checker for Mac\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft Accessibility Checker for Windows<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

When creating new PowerPoint presentations from scratch, use the preformatted slides and layouts that are provided in the PowerPoint software.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nMicrosoft has already done most of the work to make presentations accessible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nBegin with an accessible slide design by using an Office Theme. Find the Office Themes by following the instructions at\u00a0Use an accessible slide design<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Avoid using jargon or acronyms\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nIf you discuss something that has only been named by an acronym or\u00a0discipline-specific\u00a0jargon, audience members who may not be familiar with it can start to tune out, not understand or remember what you said, become frustrated, or feel alienated.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nThink of your audience and the names they may know for what you are talking about. You will likely have a\u00a0good sense of that in your classes, but may have a broader range of audience familiarity with discipline specific acronyms and jargon at a professional conference.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Be thoughtful about how you use color by providing sufficient contrast and by avoiding the sole use of color to add meaning or emphasis.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nContrast between text and the background it is presented against increases ease-of-reading for all users.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People with visual impairments, including those who are colorblind, may not gain the meaning you intend them to if they have to rely solely on color.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n

Include an underline to color-coded hyperlinked text.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Use bold or larger font for headings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read your slides in high-contrast mode to see how your color scheme presents.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Be sure slide contents can be read in the order you intend.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nSighted people read a slide by taking in all of the information, sometimes in no particular order. Screen readers, in contrast, read the slide content in the order the information was added.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nWhen you add a new slide, select a layout from the menu. Layouts provided in the PowerPoint software have been pre-formatted to support reading order for screen readers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

See\u00a0Set the reading order of\u00a0slide contents<\/a>\u00a0for specifics on setting reading order.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Be sure your text is clear and easy to read\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nYour audience can easily become frustrated when trying to read text that is too ornate, small, or crowded.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nConsider your audience and the environment where you will be presenting your slides. Use a minimum font size of 18pt (larger for larger rooms) at least 28pt font for audiences of 40-100 people, and 36pt font for audiences over 100 people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sans serif fonts are better for headings, serif fonts are better for body text, and include white space to increase readability.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Give every slide a different title\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nScreen readers read the slide title first, then proceed to the slide content. Confusion can result when two or more slides are titled identically because the listener can\u2019t be sure where they are in the sequence.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nIf you have two or more slides on the same topic, add something indicating a sequence such as, \u201cPowerPoint Accessibility Part 1\u201d, \u201cPowerPoint Accessibility Part 2\u201d, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can hide a slide title in the presentation but still make sure it can be read by screen readers. Find instructions at\u00a0Hide a slide title<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Include alternative text for images, smart art, videos, hyperlinks, and tables\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nScreen readers speak the alternative text to describe images and other non-text content that users can\u2019t see.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nAlthough the ideas are all the same, adding alt text to different features is a slightly different process. Find instructions for each feature below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add alt text to images<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add alt text to SmartArt graphics<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add alt text to shapes<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add alt text to charts<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add alt text to tables<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Still Thirsty? Take another SIP of Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations<\/h3>\n

Go to Microsoft\u2019s page on\u00a0Creating Accessible PowerPoints<\/a>\u00a0for more specifics\u00a0and instructions\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Find lots of accessible PowerPoint templates at\u00a0Microsoft\u2019s Accessibility Guide<\/a>\u00a0page\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0article has solely addressed\u00a0accessibility issues for Microsoft PowerPoint, but many of us use other technologies as well.\u00a0Here is a quick overview of accessibility issues for\u00a0two\u00a0other\u00a0very\u00a0popular presentation software packages, Prezi and Google Slides:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n