Accessible PowerPoint presentations
Microsoft PowerPoint has many built-in features to help make your documents and presentations accessible. A few small changes to the way you work can make a huge difference to your users. Here are our top tips on making your PowerPoints accessible.
Accessible PowerPoint templates
To help you from the start, you can use an accessible template. Many of the standard PowerPoint templates aren’t accessible. Microsoft has pulled together a selection of the most popular accessible PowerPoint templates to get you started.
Slide titles
Include titles on every slide. Templates come with title sections as standard, make sure you don’t remove them. People using screen readers rely on these titles to find the information they need. Make sure the titles clearly explain what the slide is about.
A clear PowerPoint title explaining what the page is about
Colour contrast
When using colours as text or background, they must have sufficient colour contrast for people with vision impairments.
Use the Web Aim colour contrast checker to check if you have sufficient contrast. You should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. To get the hex colour code, open the colour palette, click on ‘more colours’ and go to the second tab called ‘custom’ – it is the number with # in front of it.
Insufficient colour contrast in a PowerPoint, confirmed in the WebAimContrast Checker
You can also use Colorsafe to help you find an accessible colour palette for your document. Read more about colour contrast.
Fonts
Use a large, easy-to-read font. For presentations, 18 point or larger is usually a good starting point, although larger text is often better where possible.
Choose clear, easy-to-read fonts such as Aptos, Calibri, Arial, Verdana or Tahoma. Don’t use any cursive or decorative fonts and avoid using italics or underlining in your formatting.
Inaccessible fonts can be much more difficult to read, as it can be hard to distinguish between different letters and characters. Read more about fonts.
Alternative text
Alternative text, often referred to as alt text, is a short description of an image that can be read aloud by screen readers. Make sure every image has alt text or is marked as decorative where appropriate. Decorative images are skipped by screen readers, so this is useful for things like lines, borders and other decorative graphics.
To add alt text in PowerPoint, right-click on the image and select ‘view alt text’. Avoid using the ‘generate alt text for me’ feature as it is rarely useful.
Adding alt text in PowerPoint
Reading order
The content on your slides needs to be in the correct reading order. A screen reader reads the content on a screen aloud for people who are blind or have sight loss. The reading order tells the screen reader which order to read the content on a slide. You can view and edit the reading order by going to Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane.
The number next to each object shows the order it will be read. Objects without a number are marked as decorative, so screen readers will skip them. Drag the objects up or down to change the order.
The Reading Order Pane in PowerPoint
Descriptive links
Screen reader users often navigate a page or document using links. The screen reader will read out the links on the page, but not the text surrounding it. Link text needs to clearly say where the link is going, rather than just saying ‘click here’, which means nothing to the user. Instead, you should provide short text to describe where the link is going, which should make sense when taken out of context.
Instead of:
“To view our latest research, click here.”
Write:
"View our latest research."
PowerPoint accessibility checker
PowerPoint has a built-in accessibility checker. It should be used whether you’re doing a presentation or creating a document. The Accessibility Checker explains why each issue matters and provides guidance on how to fix it.
Find the checker under Review > Check Accessibility. This will highlight any issues and how to fix them.
The Accessibility Checker is a great place to start, but it does not find every accessibility issue. For example, it cannot tell if an image contains text, whether you’ve added headings in the correct place or if the content is easy to understand.
The accessibility checker in PowerPoint
Accessible PDFs
If you're sharing your presentation as a PDF, make sure you export it using PowerPoint's PDF export or Adobe PDF while preserving accessibility information.
To save as a PDF, select File > Save As Adobe PDF. This will ensure any of the accessibility work you have done is carried over to the PDF.
Always test the PDF afterwards, as some accessibility issues may still need fixing.
Subtitles for presentations
PowerPoint can automatically transcribe what you say during your presentation and display it as live captions on screen. To set this up, go to Slide Show > Subtitle Settings. You can also choose where the captions appear on the screen. Make sure the captions use sufficient colour contrast and are large enough to read easily without covering your slide content.
Subtitles during a PowerPoint presentations
Describe important visuals
If your slides include charts, diagrams or images, describe the important information aloud during your presentation. Don't assume everyone can see what is on the screen.
If you plan to share the presentation afterwards, add this information to the speaker notes. This can provide additional context for people who access the presentation later using a screen reader.
