Accessibility in PowerPoint

PowerPoint is widely used at UC for creating presentations such as lectures, workshops, meetings, and events. This page links to Microsoft’s own accessibility instructions for PowerPoint and highlights key checks to use whenever you create or revise slide decks.

Microsoft Step-by-Step Support

Because PowerPoint is updated frequently, the step‑by‑step “how‑to” instructions live in Microsoft’s own documentation. Use those as your main reference, and rely on the UC tips and checklists on this page to support common use cases and questions you are likely to encounter.

PowerPoint Accessibility

Tips For Using PowerPoint at UC

These tips reflect how PowerPoint is commonly used at UC and where people most often need to build in accessibility or have questions:

  • If a slide deck will be presented to students, staff, or the public, design it accessibly from the outset instead of trying to retrofit it later.
  • Use built-in slide layouts rather than placing text boxes and objects manually; this helps ensure a logical reading order.
  • If you share slides as files (PowerPoint or PDF), make sure the deck itself is accessible before exporting or posting.
  • Use the Accessibility Checker in PowerPoint as a routine part of your editing process, not just a one-time task.
  • When presenting live, describe key visuals and read out important text or data that appears on the slides.

Applying this to Your Content

What you need to focus on in PowerPoint depends on the kind of presentation you are creating. Use your existing checks and then deepen your work with the Core Concepts that match your content.

For presentations like lectures, workshops, overviews, or committee reports that move through topics or sections, focus on:

  • Titles & Headings – to make slide titles clear, descriptive, and logically ordered.
  • Navigation & Order – to ensure slides follow a meaningful sequence and screen readers follow the correct reading order on each slide.
  • Copy Formatting – to keep fonts, spacing, and emphasis readable and consistent across slides.
  • Hyperlinks – to make link text meaningful on its own.

For presentations that rely on charts, tables, diagrams, screenshots, or infographics, focus on:

  • Alt Text – to describe images, charts, diagrams, and icons.
  • Color Contrast – to make sure text and important visuals are readable against the slide background.
  • Navigation & Order – to ensure tables, charts, and other content are read in a logical sequence by assistive technologies.
  • Hyperlinks – if you are linking to data sources, reports, or related materials.

For slide decks you plan to export to PDF, share as PowerPoint files, or post in Canvas or on the web, focus on:

  • Titles & Headings and Navigation & Order – so structure and reading order carry through when exporting or sharing.
  • Alt Text and Color Contrast – because these remain critical in PDFs, shared slides, Canvas pages, and recorded presentations.
  • Hyperlinks – so links still make sense when the slides are viewed outside the live presentation or in different contexts.