Creating Accessible MS Word and PowerPoint

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Creating Accessible MS Word and PowerPoint

• Cuyamaca College
• Staff Development Workshop
• Fall 2009

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MS Word
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Use of Headings and Styles

• Use proper headings and styles provided in Ms
  Word

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Headings

• Use provided heading, Do Not skip heading levels,
  Do Not jump from heading 1 to heading 4 because
  you do not like the style.
• You can change the heading styles to fit your
  document

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Fonts

• Fonts should be at least 10 pts, nothing smaller
• Use San Serif fonts
• Arial
• Verdana
• Tahoma
• Avoid decorative fonts Example Brush script

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Images

• Provide Alt Tags for all images
• Right click on image
• Select Size
• Click on Alt Text tab
• Insert description
• Try not to clutter up a page with a lot of images
• Do Not use WordArt or create graphics that
  contain text
• Avoid using flashing or blinking elements
• Provide caption under picture

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Example Image
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Use of Color and Contrast

• Avoid using text and background colors that do
  not provide sufficient contrast.  Example do not
  use white color text on a light blue background
• Use high contrast. Example Black text on white
  background
• Do not convey information or directions with
  color only, Example important information
  highlighted in red or follow the green path

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Hyperlinks

• Make them descriptive, Do Not use
• Click Here
• More
• Etc

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Other

• Use lots of white space, makes document easier to
  read
• Use numbered or bulleted lists
• File Formats
• .docx (Word 2007)
• .doc (Word 97-2003)
• .rtf
• Other format

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Option to MS Word

• Open Office
• http//www.openofficedownload.org/

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MS PowerPoint
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Layouts

• It is best to use one of the predefined layouts
  so that content is accessible
• Start with a blank presentation using the
  Outline View than add your predefined styles
  and/or design

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Text Boxes

• Avoid them at all costs
• Difficult for assistive technology to read them
• Text boxes become graphics when converting to PDF
  or HTML formats

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Images

• Provide Alt Tags for all images
• Right click on image
• Select Size and Position
• Click on Alt Text tab
• Insert description
• Try not to clutter up a page with a lot of images
• Do not use WordArt or create graphics that
  contain text
• Avoid using flashing or blinking elements
• Provide caption under picture

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Images
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Hyperlinks

• Make them descriptive, Do Not use
• Click Here
• More
• Etc

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Audio/Movies

• If using audio in your presentation, you must
  provide an area at the bottom of each slide for
  text captions. Captions must be synchronized
  with the audio being used
• If using a movie clip, the clip must be captioned

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Other

• Use lots of white space, makes document easier to
  read
• Use numbered or bulleted lists
• File Formats
• .pptx (PowerPoint presentation 2007)
• .ppt (PowerPoint presentation 97-2003)
• .ppsx (PowerPoint show 2007)
• .pps (PowerPoint show 97-2003)
• Other format

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Why?

• Because it is the right thing to do
• Able to reach more students
• Able to cross platforms (PC vs. Mac) and versions
  (Office 2000-2003 vs. Office 2007)
• Able to create other formats more easily
• PDFs
• HTML

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Resources

• Best Practices for Creating Accessible
• MS Office Documents by Kathy Kimbal
• Illinois Accessible Web Publishing Wizard for MS
  Office
• Microsoft quick reference card for creating an
  accessible Office document
• WebAim Microsoft Word
• WebAim PowerPoint Accessibility

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The End

• Thank You for coming
• Questions