12 January 2025 by Mondo2.0

How to Make an Accessible PowerPoint

One of the most widely used tools in the digital age is the slide , a digital page featuring text, images, audio, and video, typically created using Microsoft PowerPoint. We create slides for presentations, events, teaching, tutorials, information, tips, and communications of all kinds.

Many of us who use Microsoft Word to write documents are familiar with the “Review – Editor” feature, which allows you to catch spelling and grammatical errors. However, in my opinion, few of you are aware of PowerPoint ‘s ” Review – Check Accessibility ” feature, which is useful for checking the impact of your presentation/lesson. Or at least that’s what it seems from the PowerPoint presentations out there.

Before going into this feature in more detail, we need to provide you with some essential, simple tips to follow to create an accessible PowerPoint :

  • For your PowerPoint presentations, use clearly legible fonts, preferably large and clearly visible, at least 18 points. The font should also be easily legible, such as Calibri or Verdana; avoid overly elaborate fonts.
  • Use a white background or at least ensure good contrast between text and background.
  • Place your content in an orderly, structured way, without crowding the page . If necessary, you can supplement your presentation with an article, an attachment, or links to other sources or content. It’s not necessary to include everything there is to know about the topic in your slides. You probably won’t even have time to read it all.
  • Use wide line spacing , leave space between lines.
  • In case of very long texts, try to transform them into a bullet list , which is more readable sequentially.
  • Avoid using animations and transitions ; both to make it easier for users with disabilities or visual impairments to view the presentation, and to ensure you have a PDF copy of the presentation. This copy should always be carried with you. If you’re presenting slides on a non-standard screen or computer, it’s best to have a “dual format” to ensure consistency and readability. The unexpected can always happen.
  • Don’t vary the page layout excessively from slide to slide . Maintain consistency in text placement and slide structure from one page to the next. This will avoid requiring a visual revisit of the page at each step. This is particularly important for slides that are explained quickly.

These initial tips already lead to a first, important, conclusion: Simplicity is a goal, a point of arrival.

Give everyone the opportunity to fully understand your presentation or lesson.

Creating overly colorful, crowded slides, with text everywhere that makes it difficult to understand the reading sequence, images, and effects, implies a lack of understanding of the role of PowerPoint, digital spaces, how to use them, and the dynamics of communicating with your audience.

You don’t have to demonstrate your PowerPoint proficiency, nor do you have to utilize all of this tool’s capabilities. Consider the potential presence of people in your audience with limited color perception, contrast perception, narrow field of vision, attention deficit, etc.

Manage images, drawings and multimedia elements better:

  • Insert alt text around images, that is, a simple, concise description. This will be particularly useful for those using a tool that interprets/reads the page. Someone who can’t see the image will still be able to guess what it is.
  • Insert subtitles next to audio or video.
  • Insert a header if it is a table.

But above all, use PowerPoint’s accessibility assistant, accessible via the “Review” menu and the “Check Accessibility” function, follow the instructions and apply the corrections suggested by the assistant.

Among the important features provided by PowerPoint I highlight:

  • “ Reading order check ” is essential both to encourage sequential reading through tools that interpret the page, and also useful for those attending the lesson/explanation/event to acquire the concepts in the correct order.
  • ” Alt Text ” with the option to have PowerPoint add “descriptions” semi-automatically thanks to the integrated image recognition feature. Obviously, it’s necessary to verify the generated descriptions; I recommend reviewing them and then applying the “Approve Alt Text” check/stamp.

But why on earth would a sociology blog like this turn into a tutorial explaining how to make an accessible PowerPoint?

It’s simple: we’re in the early digital era, the early stages; we’re all self-taught. As we learned to use these IT tools on our own, we were overwhelmed by the opportunities and, more importantly, we forgot that there are many different types of users, different audiences.

I’ll tell you more, creating a slideshow full of excesses is a form of digital divide, a gap due to the lack of awareness in using a tool of this type and the consequences determined by its incorrect use.

The creation of a non-inclusive PowerPoint demonstrates an anthropological gap in the digital sphere.

Anyone who creates a PowerPoint that is “not for everyone” is not only “not digitally up to date” but is “digitally behind”.

Want more examples of the digital divide that affect us all?

  • We use email as chat, sending dozens of emails with an “OK,” or a “yes,” or a concise question. Emails, or “letters,” as we once called them, aren’t instant messengers; they’re communication tools that require structured, topic-related content. Why send them in droves?
  • Conversely, in other cases we fill emails with attachments without using cloud space for file sharing, thus unnecessarily slowing down communication.
  • We hold dozens of calls via meeting platforms. These powerful, incredibly useful tools have overwhelmed us since the post-pandemic era. We communicate too much online and very little in person, with obvious setbacks in training, support, and in solving the most complex problems that absolutely require empathy and in-person contact.
  • We feel compelled to react to every beep from our smartphone or personal computer, even if we’re doing something else, even—especially seriously—driving our car. Of all the digital misbehaviors, this one, besides being particularly dangerous, is the one that amazes me the most.

We often talk about the digital divide; the most frequently cited example is that of a ninety-year-old unable to log in using his credentials to book a doctor’s appointment. What if the most widespread misuse were the mass sharing of information? The creation of unnecessarily complex digital documents or communications? Overreactivity?

The first step in the right direction is creating inclusive digital content; question your communication methods, response methods, reaction times, and the amount of information you’re exchanging, especially if this doesn’t allow for the full engagement of all types of users.

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