Evaluating PowerPoint Presentations for Accessibility

Slide Animation

Review the animation to make sure it is not flashing or moving quickly. Ensure that if it plays for longer than 5 seconds, there is a way to pause, stop, or hide it with both the mouse and keyboard.

Color & Contrast

Color

Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning.

• Do a visual check for situations like these, which show examples of the incorrect and correct use of color to convey meaning.

Text Contrast

Ensure appropriate color contrast so that content can be read by people with visual impairments.

• Review WebAIM’s Contrast and Color Accessibility
• Visually inspect the text/background combinations, including images of text (except for logos, photographs, or where the text is incidental).  
• If any look suspiciously low contrast, use the Colour Contrast Analyser or one of the evaluation methods suggested by WebAIM to verify whether the ratio meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
  • 3:1 contrast ratio for text 18-point font (14-point bold) or above.
  • 4.5:1 contrast ratio for text below 18-point font (14-point bold). 

Graphical Contrast

Ensure appropriate color contrast of graphical elements so their meaning can be understood by people with visual impairments. 

• The portions of graphics that are used to convey information (such as lines and bars on graphs, slices of a pie chart, and icons) have at least a 3:1 contrast ratio between itself and the background color.
• Logos, flags, pictures of real-life scenes, and graphics that represent other things (such as screenshots and biological schematic diagrams) are excluded from this requirement.
• Use the Colour Contrast Analyser to verify.
• See the Graphical Objects section of the WAI Understanding Non-Text Contrast page for examples

Images

Meaningful images have alternative text and decorative images are hidden from screen readers. 

• Select the image, pick Picture in the ribbon, select the Alt Text tab, then ensure that the description describes the meaning of the image.  
• If the image is used for style or decoration and does not have any meaning, it does not need Alt Text. Instead, check “Mark as decorative” below the description field.
• If the image is too complex to describe in 140 characters or fewer (graphs, charts, diagrams, etc.), the description needs to be presented in the document, as close to the image as possible. See the University of Washington’s guidance on complex images. 

Images of Text

Real text is used instead of images of text. 

• Visually inspect the document for text that cannot be adjusted using the font settings.
• Unless the image is a logo or is otherwise essential, replace the image of text with real text. 

Tables have logical structure. 

• Visually inspect the table: it should be as simple as possible — no merged or split cells.
• Check to see if the first row is a header row  
  • Select first row, navigate to Table Design and confirm “Header Row” is selected.  
• Check for alt text
  • Select the table, right-click and select “View Alt Text”. Add meaningful alt text if it is missing.

The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text. 

• Review the display text to ensure the hyperlinks have a clear and accurate description of the link destination. Avoid using “click here,” "read more," or “link.”  

Lists are programmatically defined. 

• Lists should be created using the bullet or numbered list features located in the Home ribbon > Paragraph section. 

Flashing Content

No content flashes more than three times per second.

• Verify that videos and moving graphics (e.g., GIFs) do not flash or blink more than three times per second. 

Embedded Video or Audio

Have appropriate text alternatives and audio descriptions.

• See Producing Accessible Video, Audio and Multimedia Content for additional information.