Accessible slide decks can be used and understood by everyone. They have an accessible visual style, text descriptions of images, and good document structure.
You can make slides accessible by following best practices when creating them, using accessibility tools to find and fix issues, or reusing templates with accessible design
- Learn more in Presentations and Slides Accessibility Basic Training (U-M Canvas)
- Use Grackle tools for Google Slides
- Review instructions to make your slides more accessible (Google)
- Review instructions to make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities (Microsoft)
Slide Titles
- Give each slide a unique, descriptive title
- Most Google templates and layouts include a main textbox for title by default
- Title a slide in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Formatting
- Choose fonts that are easier to read, such as simple sans serif fonts
- Use 18pt or larger font sizes
- Create lists with built-in formatting
- Lists in Slides (Google)
- Lists in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
- Use enough color contrast between text and background colors
- U-M brand colors
- Color contrast in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Images
- Add alternative text to images
- Alt text in Slides (Google)
- Alt text in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Tables
- Avoid tables if possible and keep them simple
Reading Order
Some people may navigate your presentation with assistive technology, such as a keyboard or screen reader. It’s important that items in your slides are in a logical order. Reading order moves from Back to Front.
- Adjust reading order by arranging objects in Slides (Google)
- Check reading order with accessibility tool in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
- Set the reading order in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Checker
- Use an accessibility checker to find and fix issues
Templates
- Create or use accessible templates for common document types
- U-M templates
- Create templates in PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Save and Share
Slide decks can be shared in their original format (PPT, Google Slides) to preserve all accessibility information. If necessary to export as PDF, take additional steps to preserve accessibility features.
- PowerPoint
- Use File > Save as Adobe PDF, not save from the Print menu (Learn more in Microsoft's instructions to save an accessible PDF)
- Optional: use the Adobe Acrobat Add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint, select Create PDF and select options to customize your PDF
- In Google Slides
Training
Learn more about accessibility for slide decks and best practices for giving presentations.