Microsoft PowerPoint

A document's title should match the heading 1 of a document. When a document has a title, screen reading technology will announce the document's title field instead of the document's file name. It is recommended that the document's title field matches the heading 1 of the document. This is helpful when a screen reader user is toggling between programs or pages.

To add a document title:

1. Select the File tab on the ribbon.
2. Select the Info option.
3. In the Properties section, edit the Title attribute by inputting the document's heading 1.

Slide titles act as headings. The title on the title slide would represent the heading 1 of a document. All other slide titles would represent heading 2s. Two or more slide titles should never be the same as it could confuse students using screen readers. Instead, all headings should be unique, descriptive, and purposeful.

If you cannot fit all information on a particular topic on one slide, you should name the headings relatively the same and name the fractional part. For instance: "Plant Cells (1 of 3)," "Plant Cells (2 of 3)," and "Plant Cells (3 of 3)."

This allows screen reader users to navigate back to a slide to find the information they are looking for. If 3 slides all had the same title, they would have to potentially search through all 3 slides to find what they were looking for.

The reading order is essentially an ordered list. A screen reader will read slide elements organized starting from the top of the reading order list.

To adjust the reading order:

1. Select the "Review" tab on the ribbon.
2. In the "Accessibility" section, expand the "Accessibility Check" button.
3. Select the "Reading Order Pane" option. The reading order pane will open.
4. Click and drag the labeled elements. The elements at the top of the list will be read first. Unselect the check box of the element if you want the element to be ignored by assistive technology.

Unfortunately, PowerPoint's color contrast checker does not give adequate results and should not be solely relied on. Normal text must have a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 or greater and large text must have a contrast ratio of 3:1 or greater. All non-text content such as graphs, charts, and such must have a contrast ratio of 3:1 or greater so visual elements are distinguishable from one another.

It is best to manually check your content's color contrast ratio with WebAIM's color contrast checker or Paciello Group's Contrast Analyser.

Document access restriction settings may prevent screen reading technology from having access to a document. Ensure that the document's additional permission settings for users allow users to access content programmatically. Disabling this setting will disallow screen readers from reading the text on the document.

Table captions are not required in all cases. A table caption acts as a heading for a table. This allows a user to find a table easily and understand its purpose. If you reference a table, then a caption would be a good way to refer to it. For instance, the caption "Figure 1: Bookstore Sales" can be referred to as Figure 1.

Adding a figure caption in PowerPoint is as simple as adding a textbox and placing it either above or below the figure. Make sure you check the reading order pane!

Table cell data are meant to have relationships with row or column headers, otherwise the data is relatively meaningless with no context. To indicate that your table has row or column headers, please use the instructions below.

For the web:

1. Select the table and then select the Table Design tab.
2. In the Table Style Options section, select the Header Row, First Column, or Last Column buttons to create table headers for your table.

For the App:

1. Select the table and then select the Table Design tab.
2. In the Table Style Options section, check the Header Row, First Column, or Last Column boxes to create table headers for your table.

Images with educational value should have alternative text. Any content that is not expressed in a text, such as images, graphs, etc., should have a text alternative that conveys the purpose. Only the context-relevant information that you want the user to know should be conveyed in the alternative text. Alternative text should never start with “image of” or “graphic of.” A screen reader will do that for the user by default.

To add alt text to an image in PowerPoint:

1. Select the image so that the "Picture Format" tab becomes available.
2. Select the "Picture Format" tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Accessibility section, select the button labeled "Alt Text." The alt text side panel will open.
4. Use the textbox to input alternative text for the image.

Note: Do not use the button labeled "Generate alt text for me." It is inaccurate and does not provide sufficient alternative text. You must be able to describe any images you provide.

Decorative images contain no additional or educational value pertaining to the information you are presenting. Decorative images should be marked as decorative using the alt text panel.

To mark an image as decorative:

1. Select the image. The Picture Format tab on the ribbon will become available.
2. Select the Picture Format tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Accessibility section, select the button labeled "Alt Text." The Alt Text panel will open.
4. Select the "Mark as Decorative" checkbox.

• Images of text may include logotypes, wordArt, images of historical documents, etc.
• Images of text should have equivalent alternative text unless the text is decorative.
• ESL learners cannot translate images of text if needed.
• There are instances where the alternative text of an image of text does not need to contain every word of the image if it is not relevant to the content. For instance, if providing a screenshot of a webpage, the alt text does not need to cite every word shown in the screenshot. However, if a button design was made in Canva, the alternative text should be equivalent to the text in the image. 

• Audio-only files must be accompanied with an accurate transcript on the document.
• Video-only files must be accompanied with a text description of all significant visuals or text shown in the video.
• Audio and Video files must be contain accurate, syncronized captions and appropriate audio descriptions where necessary.