Making your course more accessible
Creating accessible PowerPoint Presentations
The use of Microsoft PowerPoint in creating course content is becoming more prevalent. There are a number of ways to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to all students. Here are some ideas to:
· Slide Layouts
o Use the slide layouts to ensure that your content is accessible. Recent versions have a series of highly-accessible slide layouts that when correctly used will help ensure files contain correctly-structured headings and lists, proper reading order, etc.
o Use the Outline Pane. Text on a slide is accessible if it can be viewed on the Outline tab.
o Use the Notes pane to describe images such as graphics, logos, charts, graphs, and diagrams.
· Alternative Text for Images
o Provide a text equivalent (Alt Text) for all images. Images that contain unique content should be given a text alternative so that the information is accessible to screen reader users or others that are prevented from fully benefitting from the image.
o Alt Text should remain intact when exporting to HTML or PDF.
o Embedded charts or graphs should be given alternative text. Lengthy, numerous or complex charts or charts will have to be accommodated in another manner (i.e., linking to the original file).
· Audio and Video
o Provide a text equivalent or transcript for any audio, such as lyrics or a speech. A transcript in .txt format can be read in notepad (Windows) or Text Edit (MacIntosh).
o Include synchronized subtitles or captioning for any sounds or speech contained in video and that the player controls are accessible.
· Data tables
o While you can create rows and columns for the appearance of data tables, there is no way to add the content in a way that will be identified by a screen reader. There is a possible solution issuing Adobe Acrobat: save your presentation to PDF and add the additional accessibility information in Acrobat Pro.
· Links
o Hyperlinks are automatically created in PowerPoint when you type the full URL into a page and press Enter. However, the URL may not be very descriptive and can be confusing to students with visual impairments. Change the link text to a description of the destination.
o Ensure all links are clearly visible and not hidden within other objects, such as a picture or text.
· Other Important Principles
o Ensure that font size and contract is sufficient.
o Do not use color as the only way to convey context. For example, it may be necessary to provide explanations for images or graphs that contain color to display information, describing what the color(s) represent.
o Use simple slide transitions. Avoid automatic slide transitions.
o Use high contrast between background colors and text colors.
o Use simple language.
o Avoid the use of flashing images.
o Check the reading order of text boxes that are not part of the native slide layout as they are usually the last thing read by a screen reader.
o If your slides contain animations, ensure that they are brief and do not distract from the important content on the page.
· Posting to the web
o PPT Format
§ The easiest way of posting the presentation to the web, but requires that users have either the program itself or the correct plug-in, which shows the PowerPoint pages directly in the browser.
§ If the slides contain only simple, standard content with headings and bulleted lists, then they are readily accessible to users with disabilities, including those using assistive technologies such as a screen reader. However, difficulties arise as the complexity of slides increases. The addition of graphics, animations, tables and charts decreases accessibility to PowerPoint users with disabilities.
§ Users who don’t have the PowerPoint program may be able to access the PowerPoint files within the browser plug-in, which is installed automatically in recent versions of Internet ExplorerÔ. However, users of other browsers must locate, download, and install the plug-in, providing one exists for their browser. The plug-in only provides visual access to the slideshow and is not accessible to screen reader users.
o HTML format
§ Another common approach is to use PowerPoint’s built-in web publishing feature, but this method should be avoided as it creates a complex set of frames which results in significant challenges for students with mobility impairments or those using a screen reader. Additionally, the HTML format does not allow for certain elements, such as graphics, video, animation or tables to be presented in an accessible format.
o RTF format
§ A third approach is to export the outline of the presentation into Rich Text Format by saving it as an RTF file or copying/pasting the outline into a word processor. This approach results in an accessible text-only file readily accessible to screen readers. However, it is limited in that the file would not contain tables, graphics, charts, video clips, or animation. These elements would have to be included by way of a narrative or descriptive text.
o PDF format
§ PDF is a good format to choose because of the relatively small files size, no distracting slide transitions, accessibility of a PDF reader, heading structure and other accessibility information remain with the exported file, and additional accessibility information can be added (for example, for tables) in Adobe Acrobat.
Compiled by the LSU Shreveport
Student Development & Counseling Center
797-5365; ADM 220
Student Development & Counseling Center 1 | Page