PowerPoint and Overheads

How can I make my PowerPoint presentations and overhead transparencies more inclusive and accessible?

PowerPoint (PPT) presentations are a powerful communication tool, but some students may have difficulty reading quickly, seeing clearly or seeing how all the different slides relate to the whole. They can often be inaccessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

These guidelines will assist presenters to provide an inclusive presentation when using PowerPoint or overhead transparencies.

Keep the design simple.

• Is the size of the text font adequate? Use easily read sans serif fonts such as Arial, or Verdana in minimum 24-font.
• Do the colours on the slide contrast clearly? Be mindful of colour contrast issues. In general, use light text on a dark background (yellow on black, white on dark blue, or white on black).
• Do not convey information with color alone.
• Is the slide cluttered? Limit the number of bullet points and total quantity of text per slide. (5 words per bullet, 5-7 bullets per slide)
• Is the information arranged in a systematic manner?
• Is there enough space between the lines?
• Can you represent something in a visual form, ie. graphs, tables, pictures, flow diagrams, rather than using text?

Verbally describe all graphics including tables, charts, and images during the presentation.

• See http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/2001/proceedings/0031alonzo.htm for suggestions on verbal descriptions.

Consider incorporating slide transitions that include sound.

• This allows audience members who are visually impaired or with cognitive impairments to know when you are moving to a new slide.
• With PPT set to Normal View, open the Slide Show menu and select Slide Transition. A Slide Transition pane will appear on the right side of the screen.
• In the Modify transition section, select Sound.

Choose a sound from the select box: "Click", "whoosh", "chime", or "camera" for some good choices. Some of the others might become annoying to the audience.

Make the content accessible

• Is the content free of colloquialisms, slang, jokes, metaphors? Students from a non-English speaking background or those with cognitive processing difficulties may have difficulty understanding the point and interpret the information literally.
• Are the connections between the concepts clear? This can be done by using arrows or lines.
• Is the content engaging? Intersperse the content with problems or questions that require them to do something.
• Can they follow the organisation of the presentation? Have a transparency outlining the organisation of the lecture which can be referred to when moving from point to point.
• Can they understand abstract terms referred to in the presentation? Place the meaning of abstract terms in parentheses beside them.

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