Module 1: Creating the Presentation’s Layout Design and Establishing the Logical Reading Order

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Voice Over (VO): Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice, AED-COP.

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VO: You are watching how to author and test Microsoft PowerPoint presentations for accessibility.

VO: This is module one, creating the presentation's layout design and establishing the logical reading order.

VO: This video is one in a series showing how to make a PowerPoint presentation section 508 conformant.

VO: When designing a PowerPoint presentation, it is important to consider the following best practices.

VO: One, create a presentation with a simple and clean slide layout. The slides layout not only defines the content structure, but it also establishes the logical reading order for assistive technology.

VO: Slides with a complex layout can make it difficult for individuals to understand how each section of content relates to one another.

VO: For assistants in creating a presentation with a clean slide layout design, select Design from the PowerPoint ribbon to preview presentation themes and select a theme that best suits your content.

VO: Once you have chosen a theme, you can customize the theme by selecting the Format Background icon from the design ribbon.

VO: If none of these themes meet your needs, select View then Slide Master from the PowerPoint ribbon to customize individual slide backgrounds and layouts.

VO: Two, avoid using colored or patterned backgrounds that make it difficult to read the content on the slide.

VO: When using background colors that are similar to the foreground, content might blend into the background.

VO: Similarly, patterned backgrounds might obscure foreground content. For more information on creating a presentation with a strong color contrast, go to Module 2, ensure the contrast ratio between text and backgrounds is sufficient.

VO: Three, use a font that is easy to read. When possible, avoid using script style fonts such as Blackadder Italic, Bauhaus 93, and Brush Script and T.

VO: Script style fonts can cause eye fatigue. Additionally, script style fonts are challenging for some individuals with cognitive disabilities or visual impairments to read.

VO: Four, while creating an accessible PowerPoint, the following conditions must be considered.

VO: The answers to all the conditions should be yes or an A. If a no response is selected, the issue must be resolved before the document can be considered accessible.

VO: Each of these conditions can be tested visually by examining the document's layout design and logical reading order.

VO: The Section 508 basic checklist for Microsoft PowerPoint can be found at www.section508.gov/create/presentations.

VO: One of the most important parts of creating an accessible PowerPoint presentation is the proper use of slide layouts.

VO: Used correctly, these will ensure information on the slides have the correct heading structure and reading order.

VO: By default, a screen reader will read the slide title first, followed by other content and elements defined in the slide layout.

VO: Then, it will read any additional content on the slide in the order it was added to the slide. Objects such as text, pictures, and tables in PowerPoint slides must be placed corresponding to the visual reading order to ensure assistive technology reads the slide content in a logical manner.

VO: Most slide layouts include a slide title, usually at the top of the slide. They also contain one or more placeholder areas where you add content like lists, images, and tables to each slide.

VO: The title will be presented as a heading to screen reader users and will be the first thing read on each slide.

VO: Placing a descriptive title on each slide will make it much easier for screen reader users to read and navigate the presentation.

VO: Although you can change the layout of a slide at any time, it is usually easiest to choose your layout when creating a new slide.

VO: You can add a new slide from the Home or Insert tab. If you choose the new slide icon, PowerPoint will usually create a new slide with the same layout as the currently selected slide.

VO: You can also select the slide layout when creating a new slide. In Windows, select either the small arrow or the text new slide right below the icon and a menu will drop down with all of the available slide layouts.

VO: Select one of these options to create a new slide with this layout. To change the slide layout of an existing slide, select the slide you would like to change.

VO: On the Home tab, select Layout. Choose the desired layout from the drop down.

VO: This new layout will be applied to the selected slide and PowerPoint will try to move the slide contents to the correct place in the new layout.

VO: If you're moving from one pre-built layout to another, this usually works fairly well. However, if you apply a slide layout to a slide that wasn't structured correctly in the first place, for example, pictures and text boxes added to a blank slide, it may take some work like cutting, pasting, and deleting unnecessary boxes to apply the correct layout.

VO: It is possible to make changes to all slides within a presentation, like changing the text size of all slide titles.

VO: You can also make changes to a specific slide layout or even create new custom layouts. All of these changes are possible within the SlideMaster view.

VO: These views allow you to create accessible layouts that meet the needs of the presentation while maintaining a proper heading structure and reading order.

VO: To open SlideMaster, select the View tab, then SlideMaster. The different layouts that are available in the presentation will be displayed in the left-hand sidebar.

VO: The first slide in the sidebar is the Master Layout. Changes made to the Master Layout will usually be applied to every slide in the presentation.

VO: Below this Master Layout are the different individual layouts. Changes made to one of these will be applied to every slide that uses this layout.

VO: To create a new slide layout, select Insert Layout, and then Rename to give the new layout a descriptive name.

VO: From here, you can begin to make edits, such as inserting placeholder objects and changing the size and position of objects on the slide.

VO: When adding objects to a slide, use the Selection pane to arrange the visual layout to follow the intended reading order.

VO: Navigate to the Selection pane by selecting the Home tab, then Drawing, Arrange, and Selection pane.

VO: The Selection pane will appear in the right-hand sidebar. The pane will show every object on the slide.

VO: Highlighting an object in the pane will also highlight it in the slide. The reading order for elements in this page is bottom to top.

VO: At first, this may seem illogical, but it helps to think of these objects as layers on a slide. The first object on the slide will be read first.

VO: If another object is added to the page on top of this first object, it will be read next by the screen reader, and will also cover the first object visually.

VO: To reorder an object, simply click and drag. PowerPoint also has up and down arrow buttons that can be used to reorder items.

VO: Note, the Arrange drop-down menus also includes options to reorder a single object. This will change the visual position on the page as well as the reading order.

VO: Bring to Front moves an item to the top layer, meaning it will be read last by the screen reader.

VO: When to back moves an item to the bottom layer, it will be read first by a screen reader. Bring forward moves an item up one layer, or later in the reading order.

VO: Send backward moves an item down one layer, or earlier in the reading order. If you use these options, be sure to check the selection pane to ensure the reading order makes sense.

VO: To the right of each item is an icon that looks like an eye. Clicking on this icon will hide the object visually in the slide, but it will still be read by a screen reader.

VO: To test for accessibility, open the "Selection Pane". The first object on the slide will display at the bottom of the selection pane.

VO: Starting from the bottom and moving to the top, select each object to view the reading order on the slide.

VO: Does the selection of each object match the visual reading order on the slide? If not, the document fails this test.

VO: In this example, the title of the slide is located above the subtitle. This example is not accessible, because the reading order does not match the visual layout of the slide.

VO: In this example, the reading order of all objects on the slide matches the visual layout. This example is considered accessible.

VO: Thank you for watching Module 1. You are encouraged to watch the other modules in this video series, and revisit modules to gain a mastery of the information provided.

VO: To learn more about Section 508, visit www.section508.gov. This video is a product of the Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice, Chief Information Officers' Council, and the Federal Aviation Administration.