Making your PowerPoint presentations accessible

TOP TIPS on making your PowerPoint presentations accessible:

An excellent website to view is WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) which provides lots of hints and tips in making accessible presentations.

Basic principles include:

• Minimum point size of 24 for all slide text.
• Keep the layout simple and clear.
• Use the agreed University of Cumbria accessible PowerPoint template or the standard Microsoft templates.
• Give each slide a unique title.
• Use the Notes Field to expand on important points or summarise the key points of visual materials.
• Ensure key content is visible in the Outline View.
• Make sure key images, charts and diagrams have alternative text descriptions.
• Use non-serif fonts (e.g. Helvetica, Arial).
• Ensure tables are accessible.
• Create meaningful hyperlinks.
• Use plain English.
• Make sure there is good contrast between text and background.
• Avoid ‘crowding’ slides with too much information. If lots of information is required, split it across slides (or use the Notes field to provide extra detail).Check the Reading Order of your slides. By default, a screen reader will read the slide title first, followed by other content – in the order it was added. This may not always be in a logical order.
• Use the Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility Checker.