Disability Services: Faculty/Staff Resources

Microsoft Accessibility Video Trainings

• Outlook
• Word
• PowerPoint
• Excel

Techniques for Word and PowerPoint

• Add alternate text (alt text) to images and objects, this includes SmartArt graphics
• Hyperlink text should be easy to understand
  • Edit the hyperlink so that it contains a title for the link along with the link’s location.
  • Consider including the link for those who are viewing a printed version of the document
• Follow the textbook example when including charts/graphs: describe the concept/reason for the image along with displaying the image
• View more about Microsoft’s Office Accessibility Checker
• Get accessible templates for Office

PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is used by many individuals to highlight key points during a class lecture or a presentation. Since slides are often posted on a website or linked from other documents to be used as handouts, it is essential to make PowerPoint slides accessible.

Quick tips:

• Use of the PowerPoint slide layout templates is the most significant thing you can do to ensure your content is accessible
  • Don’t use Text boxes: Presentation designers often use “Insert Text box” to create a unique slide layout.  This process makes the content contained in the text box inaccessible to many users.
• Title all slides with a unique name
• If a specific slide layout is desired, use the Slide Master Tool to edit slide layout.
• Videos: Open caption any videos you insert into your slides
• Handouts:  Think about extracting the text and creating an outline of your presentation rather than printing the slides (it saves paper!)

 Additional Resources

• Microsoft Office Accessibility Tutorials
• Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker
• Get accessible templates for Office
• WebAIM: PowerPoint Accessibility
• WebAIM: Word Accessibility
• Microsoft Office: Creating accessible PowerPoint Presentations
• Are your PowerPoint Presentations Accessible?
• Take full advantage of accessibility in Office Documents

**These resources were adopted from The University of Arizona