Southern New Hampshire University

Using Built-In Accessible Slide Designs in PowerPoint

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Why create accessible slides?

It is the right thing to do. Accessibility is equal access and making sure people can access the content you create. By creating accessible slides your audience can fully engage with and learn from your content.

PowerPoint has built-in slide designs that contain placeholders for text, videos, pictures, and more. They also contain all the formatting, such as theme colors, fonts, and effects. To make sure that your slides are accessible, the built-in layouts are designed so that the reading order is the same for people who see and people who use technology such as screen readers.

From the "View" tab, select "Normal."

On the ribbon, press "View" and then select the "Normal" option.

In the Thumbnail pane, Right-click and select "New Slide."

The drop-down menu for right-clicking on the thumbnail slide.
The design ribbon.

Apply Accessible Design

  • Avoid using all capital letters.  
  • Choose a San Serif font that is larger than 18 points.  
  • Ensure embedded or linked media is accessible.  
  • Confirm slide order is consistent with how you intend the slide to be read by others.  
  • Review the following article to learn more about How to change the reading order in PowerPoint.  
  • Remember to add a unique title to each slide.   
  • Include ample white space between sentences.  
  • Use bold font to emphasize rather than using excessive italics and underlines.   
  • Use accessible templates. Go to the Branded Assets site and select the Southern New Hampshire PowerPoint.  
  • Run the Accessibility Checker.  
  • Review the following article to learn more about How to make your PowerPoint accessible    

If you have not yet inserted the SNHU-Branded PowerPoint Deck, go to the Branded Assets site and select the Southern New Hampshire PowerPoint.  

PowerPoint with the newly selected PowerPoint theme.

Additional Resources

Previous Article Making an Accessible PowerPoint Presentation (Web App)
Next Article PowerPoint Accessibility Checker (macOS)

Accessibility and Assistive Technology

Need More Help? 2
Overviews of Accessibility Settings (Windows and Mac) 2
Employee-Facing Support and Services 3
Web Accessibility Testing 5
Accessible Documents and Emails 13
Text-to-Speech Tools 12
Voice and Speech Recognition Software 6
Color and Contrast 8
Keyboard Accessibility 2
Alternative Text 12
Accessible and Inclusive Environments (Virtual or In-person) 20
Accessible Spreadsheets, Tables, and Charts 10
Accessible Audio, Images, and Video 14
Page Structure 4
Vision Settings 2
Hyperlinks 5
Reading Tools 15
Writing Tools 5
Math Tools 6
Logical Reading Order 2
Tasks and Organization 6
Older Operating Systems 6
Creating Accessible Job Aids in Screensteps 6
Creating Accessible Content in Venngage 1

Other Resources

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