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Making Accessible Presentations in Powerpoint 2003

Video Tutorial Video Tutorial

New presentation started in Microsoft Powerpoint 2003.

Writing your Microsoft Powerpoint 2003 presentations in the Outline view and in proper accessibility design while also adding metadata to the end of your presentation makes them accessible to screen-readers and users with disabilities.

  1. To write accessible presentations in Microsoft Powerpoint 2003, make sure you are in the Normal view and click the Outline tab at the left of the screen.
Title of slide typed out.
  1. Type in the title of your presentation.

Subtitle created.
  1. Then type return + tab to denote to a subtitle (or paragraph if not on the title page).

New slide created.
  1. To start another slide, type control + enter.

Slide showing 'Use simple language' is accessible but 'Do not use sententious or convoluted language' is not.
  1. Make sure to use simple language and correct spelling and grammar so that everyone can understand the meaning of each slide whether they have a learning disability or have English as a second language.

  • CSS means Central Security Service and Cascading Style Sheets
  • DCL means Dermatologic Cosmetic Laboratories and digital command language
  • HRT means Hampton Roads Transit and hormone replacement therapy
  • MTG means meeting and mortgage
  • MLA means Modern Language Association and Medical Library Association

  1. Try to avoid abbreviations so that a user doesn't mistake one abbreviation for another. Here are but a few examples of confusing abbreviations.


  • Good typefaces = Helvetica
  • Bad typefaces = Times New Roman
  1. Use only san serif typefaces like Futura, Helvetica, or Verdana.

  1. Make sure all of your text is big enough to be seen from the back of your class or from users with seeing impairments. This varies depending on where you present.

Comparison between a good and bad slide background.
  1. Try to use light colored text on dark colored backgrounds with as much contrast between the two as possible. Also, if you are going to use a textured background, use subtle textures that are not too busy. This dark grey background works fine; however, the light colored one with a lot of little lines are bad.

Options tool selected from the Tools button.
  1. When you are done making your presentation, enter in its properties so that screen readers can say what the slide show is before it gets opened. Under Tools, click on the Options link.

Options Window, Save tab selected.
  1. In the Save tab of the Options window, check the Prompt for files properties box. This will make the Presentation Properties window open every time you save a project.

Presentation Properties Window, Summary tab selected.
  1. Now when you have saved, the Presentation Properties window opens up asking for the project's metadata. In the Summary tab, type the applicable information of your presentation into its specific box, and then click OK.