Abstract depiction of a slideshow template with headers and bright colors.

Contributors:Kari Goin Kono, Misty Hamideh, Lindsay Murphy

This guide outlines essential strategies for ensuring your instructional slides meet digital accessibility standards. Learn top priorities, including using built-in slide layouts, adding descriptive alt text, and checking reading order, to create a clear and inclusive learning environment for all students.

Digital accessibility changes for PSU faculty

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to set clear requirements for accessible web content and mobile applications used by public entities, including public universities. The updated rule adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard and sets a compliance deadline of April 24, 2026 for large entities. Learn more about Title II compliance at PSU.

Explore instructional accessibility topics

What are my top priorities for creating accessible slides?

Give every slide a unique title. Every slide needs a descriptive title, even if it’s “Introduction (Continued).” Unique titles help students navigating by a slide list know where they are. Avoid generic titles such as “Slide 1” or “More Information”. For example: instead of “Graph,” use “Trends in Renewable Energy Use (2023-2024).”
Use built-in slide layouts. Use built-in title, subtitle, and content layouts instead of manually adding text boxes whenever possible. Slide templates provided by the software will ensure the content stays in the correct structural “containers.”
Check the reading order. Screen readers read elements in the order they were added, which is often backwards. Use the Selection Pane (PowerPoint) or Tab (Google Sheets) to confirm the order makes sense.
Only use simple tables. Slides can only support a table with one row or column of headers (i.e., a simple table); complex tables (with two or more rows/columns of headers) need to be formatted in Excel or other software. Avoid merging or splitting cells, and don’t forget to add a caption!

What do accessible slides look like?

To illustrate best practices, let’s review a comparison of inaccessible and accessible slide design elements.

Inaccessible slide design

Generic slide titles (e.g., "Slide 1," "More Info")
Manually added text boxes without headings and/or built-in text boxes without content
No alternative text for images
Low contrast text (e.g., light gray on white background)
Dense text with little white space
Confusing navigation order (identified by testing using the Tab key)
URLs displayed instead of descriptive links (e.g., "www.oaiplus.pdx.edu/creating-accessible-course-materials")

Accessible slide design

Unique, descriptive slide titles for easy navigation
Content is placed in built-in title, subtitle, and text boxes, and text layouts with a logical reading order
Alt text added to all images, graphs, and charts
High contrast color schemes (e.g., dark text on a light background)
Adequate white space for readability
Logical reading order confirmed using the Tab key
Descriptive links (e.g., "Creating Accessible Course Materials on OAI+")

What should I do next to make my slides even more accessible?

Improve visual accessibility
- Check color contrast using tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker to ensure sufficient readability.
- Use at least a 24-point font size for body text and a 32-point font for headings.
- Leave sufficient space between sections to reduce visual clutter.
Add structural and contextual support
- Include speaker notes for additional context, especially if slides are shared asynchronously.
- Update your slides to include page numbers to help students navigate and track their location within the content.

Start with a PSU template

Use this ready-to-go template to get started quickly. It’s already set up with accessible structure and formatting.

This slide deck is already available in your Google Slides templates. To use it: Go to Google Slides, select Template Gallery at the top right of the home screen. Be sure to select the Portland State University tab. Alternatively, within an open presentation, select File > New > From template gallery.