When most of us think about web accessibility, the first things that come to mind are on-site features — image alt text, expandable accordions, keyboard navigation, and the like.
This time, we want to spotlight another topic that tends to fly under the radar for most people, but never escapes the attention of web accessibility experts: presentations.
Presentation accessibility is part of the broader subject of document accessibility. Every document that can be downloaded from a website — including presentations — must be accessible to people with disabilities, or at minimum offer an accessible alternative (in cases where full accessibility isn't technically feasible under the law).
What to Check When Making a Presentation Accessible
PowerPoint presents a real challenge: most of the text on any given slide is designed to work in tandem with accompanying visuals.
For example, it's common practice to include an eye-catching image that reinforces or sharpens the written message.
And that's one of the biggest accessibility pain points in presentations — the deeply symbiotic relationship between text and image.
Anyone who has built presentations in PowerPoint knows that the software is built on layers and element ordering. If you design a presentation without accessibility in mind, the reading order becomes jumbled for assistive technologies.
Let Us Explain
Say you've created a slide with a heading, a few bullet points conveying your key messages, and an image that reinforces the content.
A screen reader reading that slide to a user with a visual impairment relies entirely on the layer order you created — it has no built-in common sense. It simply reads elements in the order they were added to the slide.
If you've arranged the slide only for visual appeal without correcting the layer order, the screen reader might read the body paragraph first, then the heading, jump to the image, and then suddenly read another paragraph out of sequence.
That's why, when making presentations accessible, it's essential to manually reorder the elements on every slide and ensure the screen reader moves through them in the same logical order a sighted viewer would follow.
And of Course — Describing Visual Elements
Just as with web accessibility, making a presentation accessible means going through every image on every slide and adding alternative descriptions.
Here's an important nuance worth emphasizing: unlike a standard website alt text where you simply describe what's shown in the image, in presentations it's best practice to convey the message the image is communicating — not just describe its contents literally.
Presentation images often include charts, graphs, or visual objects that combine data and text. To ensure that someone who cannot see the slide still grasps the full message, your alternative description needs to be as precise and informative as possible.
Talk to Our Experts
Looking for accessibility specialists to guide you through making your website compliant? At User A, we provide a comprehensive service package to ensure your site meets all legal accessibility requirements.
We offer a flat-rate annual accessibility package. With a single yearly fee, you get full site accessibility in line with the law, plus year-round support and guidance. Any change in legislation, any update to your site, anything that requires re-remediation — it's all included.
For any questions or a free consultation, call us or leave a message on our website.