Accessibility in PowerPoint
Welcome to Part 3 of our “Accessibility in Office Applications” blog series! This week we’re exploring Accessible Best Practices and Accessibility Features of Microsoft PowerPoint!
Accessible Best Practices in PowerPoint
Remember: these are in addition to the Accessible Best Practices in Office Applications – Part 1 of this blog series!
Headings
In PowerPoint, think of the slide titles as headings. Each slide needs to have a title, and each title needs to be unique!
But, what if a slide truly doesn’t need a title? For example: a slide with the image of a broken bone. Wouldn’t it be redundant to use a title such as “Picture of a Broken Bone”? …maybe. But not to a screen reader! A screen reader reads out slide titles to allow a user to navigate the slides to find information. Without a (unique) slide title, how would a screen reader user know what is on that slide, and if it’s the slide they are looking for?
In the above example, you would give the slide a title, perhaps even “Picture of a Broken Bone”, but you could “hide” that slide title!
Additional information on Slide Titles in PowerPoint
Text
Everything else we’ve talked about in terms of text applies to slides in PowerPoint (font styles, colors, use of italics, all caps, etc…). But there is one additional Accessible Best Practice:
The 6×7 rule! No more than 6 words per line of text, and no more than 7 lines per slide.
Keep information on your slides simple, clear, and concise! They should be bullet points of information, not entire sentences or thoughts.
Oh! and increase that font size! 30pt minimum.
Links
How to present links in PowerPoint is a bit of a controversial topic! We’ve said before that links need to have meaningful text, they need to explain where the link would take someone. But, during the live presentation, how accessible is that (meaningful) link up on a screen?
Here’s what we suggest:
- Use meaningful links in the slides (slides shown during the presentation) – odds are an entire website address is going to break the 6×7 rule
- Include full website addresses (and info on what the link is going to) on reference slides at the end of the presentation
- Share a copy of the presentation with participants, or at the very least, the reference slides with the links
Accessibility Features in PowerPoint
Dictation
Dictate text! That is, speak and have your computer type for you! This works both for text on slides, as well as text in the notes section.
Learn more about Dictation in PowerPoint
Editor
An advanced version of spelling and grammar check that also edits for clarity, conciseness and formality!
Remember, we want to use language that is simple, clear and concise. Editor can help!
Learn what Editor can check for in PowerPoint presentations
Keyboard Shortcuts
Learn about keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint presentations
Speaker Coach
Speaker Coach is a feature in PowerPoint that lets you practice your presentation, and provides you with feedback for improvement!
Check out this previous Tech Tips blog post on Speaker Coach