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How to Make Digital Assets Accessible: Presentations

A resource to help you create accessible digital assets for your course

Presentations used for teaching and learning must be in an accessible format so that people with disabilities using assistive or adaptive technology can access the information. 

TIP:  The Accessibility Checker checks your PowerPoint presentations for any issues with regard to accessibility. To learn more, visit Microsoft's website page on the Accessibility Checker.

Get Started

Microsoft: Creating accessible PowerPoint presentationsGuidance from Microsoft support website on creating accessible Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

Google Slides Accessibility TipsGoogle Slides accessibility best practices and tips from the State University of New York Oswego

Accessibility Guidelines for Presentations

This is an overview of the elements that require special consideration when creating accessible presentations. Please review one of the Additional Resources for detailed instructions on any of the following:

  • Give every slide a unique title to enable screen reader to navigate properly.
  • Make sure all links are clearly visible and are not hidden behind other objects, such as images or text.
  • Provide column headings in tables.
  • Use simple table structure. Avoid merged or split cells; these confuse adaptive keyboards and screen readers.
  • Check the reading order of each slide to ensure a screen reader reads it in the order you intended.
  • Provide alternative text for images that convey content. Use accurate and equivalent descriptions.
  • Ensure the text is legible by using Sans-serif fonts and make sure your Color Scheme has enough contrast between light and dark. Avoid using orange, red and green for your template or text. 
  • Use texture instead of color to highlight points of interest.
  • Avoid flashing images. These may cause seizures for students with photosensitive epilepsy and may be distracting for students with learning disabilities.
  • Provide a transcript for spoken content and music with lyrics in a video or audio file. Include visual description of images that provide content.
  • Caption (or subtitle) any video content.
  • Do not use the "Save as HTML" file format in PowerPoint to present documents in Canvas. This format is difficult for screen readers to navigate.

Examples

Powerpoint Accessible Template Sampler: Download ready-to-use accessible slide templates

Creating Accessible and Engaging Presentations

Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

Checking your PowerPoint slides for Accessibility

Accessibility Features in Google Slides

Additional Resources

Accessibility Check

To check:

CONTACT

Email Butler University Libraries
Irwin Library: 317-940-9227
Science Library: 317-940-9937

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