How to
Create Accessible PowerPoint Presentations from Scratch
These directions will be useful for people just beginning
to make their PowerPoint presentation:
1. Open your Microsoft Power Point program (from the Start menu choose
“Programs” and then “Microsoft Power Point”).
2. These actions will display the program in your screen with the next window
in the middle that asks you about the type of presentation you want to
use.Choose a "blank presentation" and click "OK" (figure 1)
Figure 1: Pop up window giving you
options for presentation format.
3. When you click “OK”, a window showing you the Auto Layout
options will be displayed in your screen. (figure 2) Choose the third auto
layout of the third line. This auto layout is a blank slide with only a header.
Click "OK"
Figure 2: "New Slide" window
showing the options for auto layout format for a new PowerPoint
presentation.
A blank slide with a header only will be displayed on your screen. Using the
slide you have now on your screen, let’s go over some formatting elements
that you will need to make your presentation accessible.
Within PowerPoint there are different views. For making accessible
presentations, the Normal View icon located at the bottom left of the screen
should be always used. (figure 3)
Figure
3: Location of normal view icon.
4. Click on the Normal View icon located as indicated in the figure above.
When working in a Normal View, the screen will show three pane areas: the
outline pane, the slide pane and the notes pane. (figure 4)
Figure 4: The three
sections of a PowerPoint slide: outline pane, slide and notes pane.
The outline pane, shows your presentation text withoud any graphics. The slide
pane shows how each individual slide of your presentation looks like. The notes
pane shows the author's notes. You can graphically see these three areas on the
graphic above.
5. Write in the “Click to add title” area of the slide:
“This is an example of how to create accessible PowerPoint presentations.”
Your screen should look like figure 5.
Figure 5: PowerPoint slide
that shows text in slide and same text on outline section.
From the graphic above observe that the text written by you on the slide
automatically appears on the outline too.
When a slide contains an image, graphic, logo or flow chart, those images
are inaccessible for people using assistive technology, such as screen readers.
All these non-text images will not be seen (i.e. not read aloud) since the
graphical information is a “blank space” for the screen reader. To
prevent screen readers from skipping information conveyed by images or
graphics, you need to describe the image or graphic in theNotes Pane.
How to write notes in the Notes Pane:
1. Point your mouse to the bottom part of your PowerPoint slide where it says:
“Click to add notes.”
2. Click with the mouse in that section and start typing. What you type will
depend of the purpose of the graphic that you are adding. (see our “Descriptive Text Tutorial”).The
notes should clearly convey what you want the user to get out of the image. If
the graphical information on the slide is purely decorative, you do not have to
mention it. If there is a logo, let the user know the logo is there and what
the logo is.
Example of a PowerPoint that includes some graphical information. (figure
6)
Figure 6: PowerPoint slide that shows:
text and 1 graphic in slide, text in outline section and notes in the notes
pane area.
From this accessible slide that contains an image and some text seen in a
Normal View you can observe that:
· the slide shows all the information on the slide,
· the outline shows only the text information of your slide.
· written notes in the notes pane describe the image contained on this slide.
And that’s it! Following these easy steps will help you to create accessible
PowerPoint presentations when started from scratch.
Note: When you create PowerPoint presentations using design templates (e.g.
stylish backgrounds and/or colors), be sure to use colors with enough contrast
that people with color blindness or low vision have access to all of the
information in the presentation. More information on effective color contrast
For advanced PowerPoint presentations that use multimedia (e.g. streaming video
that presents images and uses speech), captioned text will be required to make
the information available to deaf and hard of hearing persons. If some visual
information presented is not described orally, but is important for
understanding the information, it should also be described in the caption. If
captioning is not possible, you should provide a written transcript of the
video.
Now, to be able to post your PowerPoint presentation online, you need to
follow the steps described in the second PowerPoint Tutorial, “How to Make PowerPoint Presentations to Publish on the
Web.”
Reviewing the steps to create PowerPoint presentations from scratch:
1. When you start a PowerPoint presentation or insert a new slide, always
choose the frame structure (auto layout) that best fits your purpose. By
choosing one of the auto layouts (with the exception of the blank page), you
will automatically generate an outline of the slide. The text you enter
directly in the slide will appear automatically in the outline, too.
Suggestions of use of an Autolayout:
Auto layout 1) Title and subtitle
Auto layout 2) Title and some bullets
Auto layout 3) Title and two columns of bullets
Auto layout 4) Title and a table.
Auto layout 5) Title, bullets and 1 graphical image.
Auto layout 6) Title, graphic and bullets
Auto layout 7) Title and flow chart
Auto layout 8) Title and a graphic.
Auto layout 9) Title and bullets and a picture
Auto layout 10) Title, a picture and bullets
Auto layout 11) Title
Auto layout 12) Mainly graphics. All the information contained in this specific
type of layout should be described in the notes pane.
2. Select the Normal view icon (click on it).
3. Type the information in your slide and confirm that the information is
also displayed in the outline section. Use simple language that the users can
understand easily. It is also a good idea to write the information using a good
amount of white space (i.e. no crowded) for sound design and for visual
clearness. (see our "Descriptive Text Tutorial")
4. If graphical information is used on the slide (e.g. images, pictures,
logos, figures, charts, tables and logos), describe them in the notes pane
section. Images that are decorative do not need to be described. An
image’s description will depend on the purpose of the graphical
information presented.
Other general recommendations:
a) Use sans-serif font for your presentations, such as Arial, the font type
used for this handout. The use of fonts such as Times New Roman creates false
cues for people with low vision, creating confusion in the correct
identification of letters.
b) Use a good amount of blank space in your presentation.
Congratulations! You’ve learn how to Make an Accessible PowerPoint
presentation from Scratch. Now please take our PowerPoint test your knowledge # 1.
To be able to post your PowerPoint presentation on the Web, you need to follow
the steps described on the PowerPoint section called How to Make
PowerPoint Presentations Accessible to Publish on the Web.