Presentations

Built-in slide layouts have content placeholders (the boxes you use to type text) that automatically make sure that the reading order works for everyone.

Video: Apply a Slide Layout

• Creates order in your presentation.
• Allows screen reader users to easily navigate the presentation, and to know what slide they are on.
• Select the Title content placeholder and type in a title that is different from all other titles in your presentation.

Video: Unique Slide Titles

• Using strong color contrast allows people with low vision to see your content easier.
• See Checking for Color Contrast for examples and tips on appropriate color contrast.
• To check contrast, use the WebAIM contrast checker.

Highest Contrast

Complementary colors (those opposite each other on the color wheel) provide the highest color contrast, making them ideal for text and graphics color.

Lowest Contrast

Analogous colors (those next to each other on the color wheel) provide the lowest contrast and should be avoided.

• Use a larger size (18 pt+) sans serif font.
• Justified text is more difficult to read because of the extra space between words.
• Adjust the text and alignment by going to the Home tab and changing the font type, font size, and the alignment as needed.

Screen readers scan for links, so informative link text is helpful.

Helpful hint: Use the title of the page as the linked text.

To add a hyperlink:

• Select the text or image.
• From the Insert tab, select Link.
• In the Insert Hyperlink box, paste the URL address in the Address box.
• Click OK.

Video: Add a Hyperlink to a Slide

Screen readers scan for links, so informative link text is helpful.

Helpful hint: Use the title of the page as the linked text.

Add or edit alt text:

• Select an image, drawing, or graphic.
• Right click > Alt text.
• Enter a description.
• Click OK.

Video: Improve Image Accessibility in PowerPoint

Closed captioning is also required for pre-recorded multimedia that contains audio. There are several ways to caption multimedia:

• How to Request Captioning from a Vendor
• Multimedia (See DIY Captioning Sections)

If videos are used in your presentation, audio description (narration added to the soundtrack) will be required for any important visual details that are not verbally described in the video soundtrack.

Follow the instructions in Multimedia – Creating Accessible Videos to make sure your videos are accessible.

• Use tables for presenting data, not for changing the visual layout of the page.
• Include a header row (rather than starting with data in the first row) because screen readers automatically read the first row as a heading row.
• Screen readers also use header row information to identify rows and columns.
• Using tables and headers in PowerPoint can help you create an accessible table in your presentation.

Reading order is very important to those who use screen readers because it ensures that the user receives the information in the order you intended. PowerPoint automatically defaults to the order in which you insert boxes on your slide.

Use the instructions listed in Set the Reading Order of PowerPoint Slide Contents to help you set or rearrange the reading order of your slides.

Choose from pre-defined themes rather than creating your own. If you purchase or download additional themes, request accessibility information from the designers.

Make sure you select a theme that has good contrast and does not contain busy backgrounds, which make text difficult to read.

Set the language for screen readers to read the presentation.

Choose Language & Region from the File > Advanced menu. Choose the language for the presentation.

Use pre-defined slide layouts rather than creating your own.

Click Add Slide and choose an appropriate layout from the drop-down list.

If you want to customize slides, including font and size, colors, etc. make changes to the Master Slides rather than to individual slides.

Click View and Edit Master Slides. Click Edit Master Slides from the dialogue box.

Choose the slide layout you want to edit, and use Keynote’s formatting tools to edit the slide. If you edit text formats and want all text of that type to have the new format, click Update next to the style name.

Use a unique title for each slide. This is easy to see in Outline View.

From the toolbar, click View and then Outline.

Body text should be included in the outline view too.

Add Alt Text to each image, chart, or graph in your presentation.

Click on the image, click Format on the toolbar, then click Image. In the Description field, enter the alt text for the image.

Include extended descriptions on the slide itself.

Make sure any tables you use are accessible.

Select the table. In the Format pane, click on Table. Indicate how many columns and rows contain headers in the table.

Keynote does not have an accessibility checking feature. You could export it to another format (PowerPoint, PDF, HTML) and check its accessibility using PowerPoint’s accessibility checker, Acrobat’s accessibility checker, or the WebAIM Wave accessibility checker (HTML).

Choose Export To from the file menu and select the format you want to use to check the presentation’s accessibility.

• Avoid animations and slide transitions. These are difficult for screen readers.
• Avoid automatic slide transitions. These are difficult for screen readers and other assistive technologies.
• Avoid using text boxes not pre-defined in the theme.
• Provide captions for videos included in a presentation.
• Use a color scheme with a sharp contrast between text and background.
• Make sure text is not too small, especially if the presentation will be displayed on a projector.
• Do not use color as the only way to convey information.