How to Make Digital Assets Accessible: 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.

To check:

• WebAIM: PowerPoint Accessibility Evaluation Checklist
• Section 508 PowerPoint Authoring and Testing Guide (.docx)
• Section 508 PowerPoint Accessibility Checklist (.docx)
• Microsoft Office built-in Accessibility Checker. (Learn about the rules used by the Accessibility Checker.)
• WebAIM Color Contrast Checker.
• Adobe Color Accessibility Tool