Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

Why Accessible PowerPoints Matter

PowerPoint is still a digital document, which means the same accessibility rules apply as Word, Excel and PDFs. When slides are inaccessible, screen reader users, magnifier users, voice recognition users and colleagues with cognitive impairments lose access to essential information.

Top 16 Tips for Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

• Use a minimum font size of 18pt — as smaller text impacts magnifier users and reduces readability.
• Use accessible fonts — Arial(preferred), Aptos, Calibri, Verdana, Tahoma and other recommended fonts improve readability for dyslexic and low‑vision users.
• Keep font type and colour consistent — inconsistent formatting makes content harder to read and navigate.
• Left‑align all text — central alignment or justifiied makes the content harder to read.
• Use paragraph spacing instead of empty lines — this improves readability and supports assistive tech.
• Use 1.5 line spacing — recommended for readability and clarity.
• DO not use italics and underline
• Never use images of text — unless they are decorative only; images of text exclude screen reader and magnifier users and prevent high contrast mode working properly.
• Use the Slide Master for all decorative content — it’s the only place where decorative images can be marked up correctly.
• Ensure every slide has a unique descriptive title — identical title names prevent meaningful navigation for screen reader users.
• Use built‑in slide layouts — they contain the correct reading order and title placeholders.
• Never add random text boxes — they can break reading order and confuse assistive technology.
• Check reading order on every slide A common accessibility failure.
• Avoid background images — they interfere with readability and are ignored by screen readers.
• Never put meaningful text in background images — screen readers cannot access background content.
• Ensure good colour contrast — backgrounds or background images must not interfere with foreground text.

Who Benefits

Accessible PowerPoints support blind users, magnifier users, colour‑blind users, voice‑control users, dyslexic readers and colleagues with cognitive impairments. The course notes emphasise that “everyone has a legal right to equal access to information” and inaccessible slides can negatively impact people’s lives.