Why create accessible slides?
It is the right thing to do. Accessibility is equal access and making sure people can access the content you create. By creating accessible slides your audience can fully engage with and learn from your content.
PowerPoint has built-in slide designs that contain placeholders for text, videos, pictures, and more. They also contain all the formatting, such as theme colors, fonts, and effects. To make sure that your slides are accessible, the built-in layouts are designed so that the reading order is the same for people who see and people who use technology such as screen readers.
From the "View" tab, select "Normal."
In the Thumbnail pane, Right-click and select "New Slide."
In the "Design" tab, expand the Themes gallery. Select the slide layout that you want. PowerPoint automatically applies this layout to the new slide.
Apply Accessible Design
- Avoid using all capital letters.
- Choose a San Serif font that is larger than 18 points.
- Ensure embedded or linked media is accessible.
- Confirm slide order is consistent with how you intend the slide to be read by others.
- Review the following article to learn more about How to change the reading order in PowerPoint.
- Remember to add a unique title to each slide.
- Include ample white space between sentences.
- Use bold font to emphasize rather than using excessive italics and underlines.
- Use accessible templates. Go to the Branded Assets site and select the Southern New Hampshire PowerPoint.
- Run the Accessibility Checker.
- Review the following article to learn more about How to make your PowerPoint accessible
If you have not yet inserted the SNHU-Branded PowerPoint Deck, go to the Branded Assets site and select the Southern New Hampshire PowerPoint.
Additional Resources
- How to Create Accessible PowerPoints - WebAIM Help
- Video tutorial: How to Video for Using Built-In Accessible Slide Designs in PowerPoint (00:01:07)
- Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities - Microsoft Support
- Microsoft PowerPoint Video Accessibility Training - Microsoft Support
- SNHU Accessibility and Assistive Technology Resources