PowerPoint accessibility guide

1. Why a print mindset breaks slides

Two print-era habits cause most PowerPoint accessibility problems. The first is treating each slide as a poster: a visual composition where text is placed by eye, in free-floating boxes, with meaning carried by position, colour and size. The second is treating the deck as a document: cramming slides with detail so the file can be printed and read on its own.

Both assume a sighted reader looking at the whole page at once. Assistive technology does neither. It moves through objects in a fixed sequence and relies on titles, structure and labels. A slide that "reads" perfectly to the eye can be announced as a jumble, and a dense handout slide becomes an exhausting wall of disconnected fragments.

2. Common PowerPoint pitfalls to look for

• Slides with no title, or duplicate titles, so screen reader users cannot tell slides apart.
• Free-floating text boxes drawn onto the canvas instead of using the layout placeholders, which scrambles reading order.
• Reading order set by accident, following the order objects were added rather than the order they should be read.
• Content off the slide on the grey area, which is still read aloud even though nobody sees it.
• Text baked into images, so it cannot be read, resized or recoloured.
• Missing alt text on images, charts, SmartArt and diagrams.
• Poor contrast, especially light text over photos or busy backgrounds.
• Colour as the only cue, for example a green or red status with no label.
• Auto-advancing slides and heavy animation that move faster than some people can read or process.
• Uncaptioned video embedded in the deck.
• Tables pasted as pictures, losing all structure.

3. Slide titles and layouts

Titles and layouts are the backbone of an accessible deck. The relevant criterion is 2.4.2 Page Titled applied at slide level, supported by 1.3.1 Info and Relationships.

• Start each slide from a built-in layout (Home > Layout) so it has proper title and content placeholders.
• Give every slide a unique, descriptive title in the title placeholder. Use View > Outline to scan all titles quickly.
• If a title would clutter the design, keep it but move it off-slide or set it not to display rather than deleting it. It still serves screen reader users.
• Build new content into placeholders rather than drawing fresh boxes, so structure and reading order come for free.

4. Reading order

Reading order is the sequence in which a screen reader announces the objects on a slide. PowerPoint defaults to the order objects were created, which is almost never right. Set it deliberately. The criteria are 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence and 2.4.3 Focus Order.

• Open Home > Arrange > Selection Pane to see every object on the slide.
• The Selection Pane reads from the bottom up: the item at the bottom of the list is announced first. Reorder objects so the list, read bottom to top, matches the order you want.
• Newer versions also expose a dedicated Reading Order pane under Review > Check Accessibility, which reads top to bottom. Use whichever your version offers and confirm the result.
• Tab through the slide in editing view to hear the order a keyboard and screen reader user will experience.

5. Alt text for images and charts

Images, charts, SmartArt and diagrams all need alternative text, governed by 1.1.1 Non-text Content.

• Right-click an object and choose View Alt Text, or use Picture Format > Alt Text.
• Describe what the visual communicates in context, not its appearance.
• Mark purely decorative shapes and backgrounds as decorative.
• For a chart, summarise the message ("Sales grew 30 per cent across the year") and provide the underlying figures in a real table or in the notes.
• Avoid SmartArt for complex information that a screen reader will struggle to convey; a simple list or table is often clearer.

6. Colour, contrast and motion

Presentations are often the worst offenders for contrast and movement. See 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum), 1.4.1 Use of Color and 2.3.1 Three Flashes.

• Keep body text to a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, and large text to at least 3:1. Avoid text over busy photos unless you add a solid panel behind it.
• Never rely on colour alone. Add a label, icon or pattern alongside any colour-coded meaning.
• Use animation sparingly and avoid anything that flashes more than three times a second.
• Avoid automatic slide timings for content people need to read. Let the presenter or reader control the pace.

7. Video, audio and captions

Any time-based media in the deck needs an accessible equivalent, covered by 1.2.2 Captions and 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only.

• Caption embedded video and provide a transcript for audio.
• Do not autoplay media that includes sound.
• If you need Easy Read, audio described or other versions, see alternative formats.

8. Checker and tagged PDF export

Finish with the built-in checker and a clean export.

• Run Review > Check Accessibility and resolve every error and warning, especially missing titles, missing alt text and reading-order flags.
• Remember the checker cannot judge whether alt text is meaningful or whether the reading order makes sense. Confirm those yourself. See manual vs automated testing.
• Export with File > Save As > PDF and open Options to enable Document structure tags for accessibility. Avoid Print to PDF.
• Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro to confirm tags, reading order and title.