Creating Accessible Presentations

Best Practices for Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

For external-facing or internal-facing presentations, use pre-built presentation templates available for download in Image Relay. These templates are on-brand and structured to be accessible. All CoB public-facing materials should follow the city’s Branding Guidelines.
For internal-facing presentations only, the use of built-in slide layouts is also available in the Home tab. These layouts are structured to be accessible and help screen readers navigate slide content logically.
Avoid manually placing text boxes or objects outside of the designated layout areas.

Images, Graphics, and Shapes: Right-click on the element, select Edit Alt Text, and provide a concise description of what is presented and what it is portraying. If the element is decorative, mark it as “decorative” or “artifact”. Screen readers cannot skip alt text so limiting non-substantive visual elements' alt text is more productive for users requiring screen readers.
Charts and Graphs: Provide Alt Text summarizing the key information. Also, ensure the underlying data is available in a table, included in the speaker notes, or can be linked to in another source.

Use descriptive hyperlink text, such as "Visit the Accessibility Guide" instead of "Click Here."
Test all hyperlinks to ensure they work correctly.

Add key details or alternative descriptions in the Speaker Notes section to support users who may rely on assistive technologies.

Use the Arrange → Selection Pane tool in the Home tab to check and adjust the reading order of slide elements. Screen readers read content in the order it appears in the Selection Pane.

Use PowerPoint’s built-in Accessibility Checker (Review tab → Check Accessibility) to identify and resolve accessibility issues.

Custom Layouts: Avoid creating custom slide layouts without ensuring they are on-brand or accessible.
Overlapping Content: Avoid overlapping text boxes or images, as this can disrupt screen readers.
Color-Only Indicators: Don’t use color alone to convey meaning (e.g., red text for "bad" or green for "good"). Add text labels or symbols.
Overloaded Slides: Avoid too much information or graphics onto a single slide. Use the same font size for slide body content throughout.

Skipping Tags: Ensure that the PDF retains accessibility tags during conversion:
- Go to File → Save As → PDF, then click Options and ensure "Document structure tags for accessibility" is checked.
Flattened PDFs: Avoid exporting to a flattened PDF (image-only format), which makes the content unreadable for screen readers. Any image cannot have flat text to be accessible. If you are uploading an image into your presentation and plan to convert it to a PDF, do not have text overlayed on your image. Add text to alt text descriptions, as a caption, in the speaker notes, or in the main body of your presentation.
Loss of Alt Text: Double-check that Alt Text for images and graphics remains intact after conversion.
Unverified PDF: Always re-test the converted PDF using the PDF reader’s accessibility tool (e.g. Adobe Acrobat’s Accessibility Checker.)

Avoid Animations and Transitions: Avoid excessive animations or transitions, as they can distract users or cause issues for those with sensory sensitivities.
Provide a Text-Only Version: Consider offering a text-only version of the presentation for users who may prefer a simpler format.
Submit a Design Service Request: When in doubt, submit a design service request to ensure your public-facing presentation is on-brand and accessible, and ready for publication online.