Accessibility Tip: Make Your PowerPoint Slides Accessible
PowerPoint slides can be a powerful way to support learning and communication. But when slides aren’t designed with accessibility in mind, they can create barriers for users with visual, cognitive, or motor disabilities. This short 2‑minute video provides one example of how inaccessible slides can disrupt the user experience: User Impact of Inaccessible PowerPoints.
Follow these best practices to work toward making your slides accessible:
- Use PowerPoint’s built-in accessibility checker while creating your slides and again before sharing.
- Give each slide a unique, descriptive title.
- Use whitespace intentionally and avoid overcrowding your slides. As a general rule, limit the amount of text on each slide to keep content easy to process. When you need more space, add an additional slide.
- Verify the reading order for every slide. Screen readers follow a specific order, which may not match the visual layout unless you set it.
- Add alternative (alt) text to all meaningful images.
- Ensure sufficient color contrast between foreground and background elements.
- Use concise, descriptive links. Avoid “click here,” instead, use text that describes the destination.
- Use tables only for data – not page layout – and include table headers.
- Make charts and graphs accessible using clear labels, patterns, and shapes.
Learn More and Get Support
For a deeper dive into accessible design – and support with complex images, tables, and advanced layout features – explore MNIT’s Accessible PowerPoint Training. You can also visit our Digital Accessibility webpage for tools, checklists, and best practices to help you create accessible content across formats.
Small accessibility improvements made consistently can have a big impact. Start with a few practices, build them into your workflow, and keep iterating as your skills grow.