Tip of the Day

Include captions when using audio or video clips and materials.

Printer Friendly |  -A  A  A+ 

The Accessible Virtual Campus

PowerPoint

An audience watching a Powerpoint presentation.
PowerPoint™ presentations are a basic tool of communication, presentation and teaching. How does a visually impaired person fully understand what you are presenting? Or how does a deaf individual know about sound clips? In preparing a presentation in this format one needs to know more than how to use the software to get one's ideas across. One must also attend to the accessibility needs of diverse audiences.
Media & Materials
Internal link

EqTD AUDIT

Use this AUDIT to evaluate the accessibility and usability of non-text graphics in a variety of media.

 

 

R2D2 Center at UW-Milwaukee

(Excel Document) EqTD AUDIT

(Word Document) EqTD Manual

Internal link

In-line EqTD AUDIT

Here is the AUDIT to use to evaluate the accessibility of in-line text characters that need to be treated as graphic elements for accessibility e.g. subscript,  ampersand, foreign letters.

 

 

R2D2 Center at UW-Milwaukee

(Excel Document) In-line EqTD AUDIT

(Word Document) In-line EqTD AUDIT Manual (Version 1.3)

Internal link

EqTD's for Graphic Elements - Why & Where

Equivalent text descriptions (EqTD's) are extremely important and can be tricky. Here you will find a set of EqTD related documents that detail processes, purposes and levels of complexity.  The origin of providing alternative text for graphic elements and a brief review of the R2D2 standard are included.

 

R2D2 Center at UW-Milwaukee

(Word Document) Equivalent Text Descriptions - Why and Where

Internal link

Writing EqTDs Posterette

The essential "bare-bones" of what needs to be in an equivalent text description and where the EqTD is placed in the document. Whenever you create a document, electronic or paper, any non-text element (picture, graph, "eye-candy") is not accessible to many individuals.

R2D2 Center at UW-Milwaukee

(Word Document) Writing EqTD's Posterette

External link

Accessible PowerPoint

From Microsoft.  Ten documents that include not only "how", but also "why".

Microsoft

External link

Accessible Tables

One part of his comprehensive tutorial, these pages discuss the complexities of tables and how to make them accessible.

Jim Thatcher

External link

Color

Everything you would want to know about color and accessibility. While this page was prepared for web accessibility, these issues also are relevant for print, poster, Power Point, etc. materials.

University of Minnesota Duluth

External link

Conferences on IT in Higher Education

EDUCAUSE offers several opportunities throughout the year for learning and training for IT Professionals in higher education.

EDUCAUSE

External link

Creating Video and Multimedia Products That Are Accessible to People with Sensory Impairments

Provides rationale, guidelines and web links to assure that multimedia content is accessible for students with hearing or vision impairments.

Burgstahler, S - Washington University DO-IT

External link

Effective Color Contrast

Nifty web page with 3 general guidelines for making effective color choices that work for everyone when designing.

Lighthouse International

External link

Guidelines for Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

Considers three aspects of a PowerPoint presentaion that must be considered; the actual verbal presentation, the handouts, and any materials that will be placed on a web site. 

Association for Education of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)

External link

NCAM/Media Access Generator (MAGpie)

Free software authoring tool for making multimedia accessible to persons with disabilities.

National Center for Accessible Media

External link

NCDAE Tips and Tools: Microsoft PowerPoint

Fact sheet intended as a discussion of accessibility and Microsoft PowerPoint..  Good discussion of accessibility issues.  Recommends use of HTML.

National Center on Disability and Access to Education

External link

PowerPoint Accessibility

Frequently recommended on other UDE websites.

WebAIM

External link

Tutorial for Creating Accessible Power Point (sic) Presentations

In depth discussion of topic with screen shots.

Center on Education and Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

External link

Virtual508.com Accessible Web Publishing Wizard

Multiple websites still state. "Developed by the University of Illinois, is a free add-on that converts PowerPoint slides into accessible HTML pages. It creates a simple menu and up to three different versions of the presentation:

  1. Text-Only (no text formatting, colors, or graphics).
  2. Text-Mostly (text formatting and colors, but no graphics).
  3. Graphics (an image of each slide as it appears in the original presentation).

However, it is no longer free.  This is where it is available for purchase. 

It is ironic that an instrument developed for accessibility is only available for use on PC Windows operating systems. 

LK4 Technology Corporation, Inc.

External link

Web Best Practices Overview

Web Best Practices Overview:  This group, lead by Jon Gunderson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, convenes regularly "to develop best practices for web development using HTML, CSS, Javascript and Adobe PDF." Information about joining, issues and topics for discussion are found at this website.

Assistive Technology in Higher Education Network (ATHENS)

External link

Web Design References: Accessibility

Very comprehensive listing of resources for about 40 topics related to web accessibility. In addition to comprehensive information of web design accessibility, this page has links to more than 50 (!) links about writing alternative text. That should be enough to get you started.

University of Minnesota Duluth, Information Technology Systems & Services

Media & Materials

It took me several years of struggling with the heavy door to my building, sometimes having to wait until a person stronger came along, to realize that the door was an accessibility problem, not only for me, but for others as well. And I did not notice, until one of my students pointed it out, that the lack of signs that could be read from a distance at my university forced people with mobility impairments to expend a lot of energy unnecessarily, searching for rooms and offices. Although I have encountered this difficulty myself on days when walking was exhausting to me, I interpreted it, automatically, as a problem arising from my illness (as I did with the door), rather than as a problem arising from the built environment having been created for too narrow a range of people and situations.

Susan Wendell, author of
The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability