Skip to Main Content


Accessibility Guidance for Digital Information

This guide presents a variety of information on how to improve accessibility in digital communications and physical spaces.

Keep in Mind

Visual presentations such as PowerPoints primarily require evaluation for visual clarity, though if there are audio or video components to the presentation, these too need to be considered in light of accessibility. Following are characteristics to be aware of for a slide that mixes text and image, coupled with links to assistance in making these accessible.

  • Color contrast
  • Font design and size
    • Use accessible fonts
    • Use semantic markup (e.g., change the style to Heading 1, Heading 2, etc., rather than simply formatting text)
    • Base font size, though not mandated, should be 16px or more; design should support text resizing
  • Alternate text for images (see info on Writing Clear Alternative Text in the LibGuides section of this guide)
  • Clarity and brevity of language

PowerPoint

Accessibility Check: PowerPoint

The PowerPoint software has an internal accessibility checker. At any point while you build your presentation, you can check aspects of its accessibility by finding the Review menu and then choosing Check Accessibility in the top ribbon:

This will bring up an Accessibility pane on the right side of the slide. The pane will indicate where likely problem areas are, and by right-clicking on any indications, you can see what the error is and be offered avenues to fix it.

A view of a PP slide with the Accessibility pane open on the right. The Accessibility pane indicates several instances of missing alt text.

It's worth noting that the accessibility check does not always identify problems accurately. For example, in the screenshot above, PowerPoint wants to add alt text to the group of headers on the right, even though each header is text, not image, and should be readable by a screen reader.

 

Resources: Techniques and Best Practices for Accessibility in PowerPoint

from Microsoft: Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible ...

from the General Services Administration (administers Section 508): Create Accessible Presentations

Google Slides

Accessibility Check: Google Slides

Google Slides also has an accessibility checker. You will find it under the Tools menu:

This menu item gives you the option to turn on screen reader support, which then adds another menu heading, Accessibility:

For information on how to use the Google Slides accessibility options, go here.

Content Accessibility

Accessible Diagrams and Charts

Charts, graphs, and other kinds of figures have more layers of information than illustrative or decorative images do. You'll need to address both the description of the figure, which can be done with alt text, and the information that the figure represents, which may require an additional step, such as a readable data table.

How To Create Accessible Diagrams For Low Vision This site was created by a visually impaired person, and it both explains and demonstrates web content made for low vision. 

Another take, from Accessibility.com: How to Create Accessible Infographics and Data Visualizations

From Seattle's CityUniversity: Accessibility Practices for Charts, Graphs, Tables, and Infographics

 

Making Primary Sources (Historical Documents) Accessible

Perkins School for the Blind has excellent advice. How to Make Historic Documents Accessible for Low Vision

This paper explores a range of challenges and solutions for low vision, including tools and techniques for reading analog text: Visual Accessibility: A Challenge for Low-Vision Research (Gordon Legge)