Prepare accessible slides and spoken explanations with clear structure, readable content and alternatives for information carried by images or colour.
A presentation should give the audience more than one way to understand the message. Small text, unexplained diagrams and instructions that depend only on colour can exclude people and confuse everyone else. Accessibility begins when you plan the content, not as a final visual check.
Design around one main idea at a time
Give each slide a descriptive title and remove detail that belongs in supporting material. Use readable text and sufficient contrast. Avoid communicating a status through red and green alone; add words or symbols. Put essential information in a logical reading order so the slide remains meaningful when explored with assistive technology.
Describe what the audience needs to know
When showing a chart, explain its pattern and the point it supports instead of saying ‘as you can see’. Provide useful text alternatives for informative images in distributed files. Caption video material and check that any demonstration remains understandable if someone cannot hear the audio clearly.
Test the experience
Share accessible supporting material in advance where appropriate and ask about participation requirements. Rehearse with the actual display size and leave time for questions. A practical review is to explain your argument without relying on the slide's appearance; any missing meaning identifies a place where the spoken explanation or supporting document needs improvement.
Redesign one comparison slide
Choose a practice slide comparing three options and assume the reader cannot distinguish the bar colours. Label the options and values directly, then give the slide a title explaining the comparison question. Prepare a paragraph describing the main result and its limitations. Ask a peer to interpret the text and slide separately and record what each version leaves unclear. This improves the example without establishing that every possible access need is met.
Separate essential explanation from decoration
Adding a lengthy description to every picture can create distraction when an image serves only a decorative purpose. Review whether each element explains an idea, enables an action or repeats information already written. Remove unnecessary material and describe what readers need. Before sharing, inspect the distributed file itself: converting slides into images or another format may change reading order or remove information available in the original version.
Further reading
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative — Making events accessible
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative — Image alternatives
Image: original editorial artwork prepared for the Asas library; it illustrates the topic and does not depict an actual event or student.
