Presentations

Any presentation slides you plan to distribute electronically must be accessible. If you are making a presentation that will only be presented live and not sent out or distributed as slides afterwards, you do not need to worry about the digital accessibility. 

Best practices/quick overview:

• When creating the presentation, add alt text, use titles on slides, and format for accessibility. Instructions for making your presentation accessible are here. 

• Use the VCE presentation template as a starting point. Do not add elements (like additional text boxes) to slides at random--choose the slide template that fits your content and use it as intended. Yes, this does limit your creativity.

• Do not convert the presentation to a PDF (unless you are willing/able to remediate it, own Adobe Acrobat, etc.)--instead send it out as a .pptx file. Yes, this does mean people can edit your presentation. Unfortunately this is our best suggestion for creating a Title II compliant file. This applies for any style of PDF you export your slides to (e.g. 1 slide per page, 6 slides per page, etc.)--you will need to remediate the PDF no matter what.

• You can restrict editing on your PowerPoint file to prevent editing.

Specific guidelines and tutorials:

Slide design

• Use built-in slide themes/templates 

• Use the VCE built template that can be downloaded from the Intranet 

• Use Slide Master for consistent layout (View > Master > Slide Master) 

• Keep slides simple (less text is more) 

• Use clean, simple backgrounds, no text over images 

• Control animation speed 

Fonts & Text 

• Use at least 24-point font size 

• Use our Brand font Epilogue 

• If it’s not available, use simple sans-serif fonts (Arial, Aptos, Helvetica) 

• Avoid excessive use of ALL CAPS, this can mix up screen readers 

• Ensure good line and paragraph spacing 

• Use unique slide titles 

Images & Visuals 

• Limit number of images per slide 

• Avoid overly complex charts/graphs 

• Use simple, clear visuals 

• Add alt text to all images  

• YouTube Example of editing alt text on an individual image 

• Do not use text in an image as this can be difficult to read 

Color & Contrast 

• Use high contrast color combinations 

• Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning 

• Avoid images with embedded text 

• Use a contrast checker tool 

• webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker 

Media & Links 

• Use descriptive, meaningful links 

• Ensure videos have captions 

• Provide transcripts for audio content 

• Use QR codes with accessible links 

Virtual Presentation Accessibility (Zoom) 

• Enable real-time captions 

• Provide sign language interpreters when possible 

• Include the VCE ADA accommodation request statement when marketing all programs 

Final Accessibility Checks 

• Run accessibility checker on files 

• Share materials in advance in accessible formats 

• Do not export your slides as a PDF, distribute your presentation in the original format, Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides 

Video or Web Resources 

• LinkedIn Learning PowerPoint Essential Training “Create accessible presentations”  

• Toolbox Tip: Check Accessibility in PowerPoint on YouTube 

• TLOS MS 365 Accessibility Checker 

• TLOS Google Product Accessibility Checker Grackle