Accessibility - How to use the PowerPoint accessibility checker

When you make your PowerPoint presentations accessible, you provide your content to everyone, allowing people of all abilities to read and use it. PowerPoint presentations are often quite visual, and if you design your slides with accessibility in mind, everyone including people with disabilities will be able to interpret them more easily.  

Accessibility Checker is a free tool available in PowerPoint on Windows, Office for the web or Mac and other Microsoft Office applications to help guarantee that your Office files are accessible. It identifies most accessibility issues and explains why each could be a barrier to access for people with disabilities. It also provides advice on how to fix each problem.  

Step-by-step instructions 

1. On the ribbon, select the Review tab 
   
   
2. Select Check Accessibility. 
   
   
3. Review your results. A list of errors, warnings, and tips are displayed with how-to-fix recommendations for each. Visit Rules for the Accessibility Checker for more information. 
    
4. Fix recommendations with ease: To easily address accessibility errors and warnings, select an issue to open the Recommended Actions list. You can apply a one-click fix by selecting an action or select the arrow button next to an action for more options.
   

Common errors 

• Missing alt text - Adding alternative text to graphics benefits people who are blind or have low vision. Those individuals can use screen readers to hear text that describes the graphics read aloud. 
• Missing table header – People who are blind, have low vision, or have cognitive disabilities may use screen readers to navigate tables for a better understanding of data. Table header rows inform users about associated data cells within the table to make the data more meaningful. 
• Missing slide title - Users can benefit from slide titles to navigate through a presentation, including discovering and selecting a specific slide to go to right away. Slide titles should also be unique and not repeated. 
• Insufficient color contrast – For people with colorblindness and low vision, text color that does not have enough contrast when compared to the background color can be difficult to read.  More people will be able to see and use your presentation if the contrast between the text and the background is high. Visit WebAIM Contrast Checker for more information.