Module 4: Presentation Software
All of the principles in the previous section on text documents--headings, links, lists, tables, and color contrast--apply to presentation software like PowerPoint as well. In this section, we'll look at a few ways to ensure that the slide shows we add to our learning materials are as accessible as possible.
Structural (Semantic) Information
Just as with text documents, slide decks contain hidden semantic information that is available to screen readers. In Word, we used the Styles menu to create our header structure; in PowerPoint we'll depend on slide templates and SmartArt to do the same thing.
The most important thing you can do to make your PowerPoint slides accessible is to stick to the built-in templates provided by the software. The master slides are designed to facilitate keyboard navigation, ensure an accurate and logical heading structure, and ensure proper reading order. Keeping the heading structure intact is especially important if you will be exporting your slide deck to pdf format, as the PowerPoint structure will create an accurate "tag tree" in your pdf document. (We'll go into this in more detail in the PDF section of this module).
Slide masters can be accessed via the Layout button on the Home tab.
Additional masters can be created, or existing ones modified, from the Slide Master button on the View tab.
For built-in infographics, the SmartArt menu provides a variety of built-in graphic structures that can have text built into them.
The advantage of using SmartArt instead of creating infographics from scratch is that the text structure is built into them, and will become part of the semantic information in the slide.
Switching to Outline View in your slide deck will show you the semantic structure.