PowerPoint Accessibility

Alternatives

While PowerPoint presentations can work wonders in an in-person classroom, they often fall short in an online setting. Whereas in a physical classroom, PowerPoint presentations can offer a guided tour through a topic or discussion, in an online classroom they often take the learner outside of the learning environment and present the information without providing context.

There are many ways to adapt the content from an existing PowerPoint file, but, ideally the content should be integrated directly into Blackboard. This way, the the content is purpose-built to fit into the course and the learner never has to leave the learning environment. Consult with your campus ID for more information on how to adapt PowerPoint presentations to best fit an online classroom.

Tips

• Content that may be presented perfectly in a PowerPoint presentation in an in-person setting may not work effectively in an online setting.
• Adding a voice-over recording to an existing PowerPoint presentation does not sufficiently remedy any issues that may arise in translating an in-person presentation to an online setting, it can also lead to accessibility issues.

Accessibility

PowerPoint files that are included should be checked to ensure that they are accessible. Run the Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility Checker. It will guide you through making your document accessible.

Tips

• Use built-in slide layouts.
• Compose in Outline view (or check Outline view to make sure all slide text is in Outline view.)
• Add alternative text for images.
• Do not save as a web page.