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Re: PowerPoint Accessibility

for

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Dec 12, 2013 5:51PM

Jon,

>Since MS developed it in 2011, I’m not sure that this has changed at all.
not to my knowledge.

>technically does including a PowerPoint require the use of an extra more
accessible alternative to compensate for the lack of an accessible plugin?
If not, what should agencies include as an accessible plugin?
Remember 508 is not only for "people who use screen readers." So we include
MS' PowerPoint viewer covers the basic layer, and people with mobility
impairments, although I forget if you can activate links via the keyboard.
Recognizing that the viewer is not compliant and what else should be done
is not appropriate for this list. Only the agency Section 508 Coordinator
can/should make this [policy] decision. Some agencies supply a compliant
slide deck in another format such as in HTML or PDF.

--
Ryan E. Benson


On Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 6:41 PM, Jonathan Metz
< <EMAIL REMOVED> >wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> I have seen a lot of US government agencies posting PowerPoints as stand
> alone documents. I’ve always been under the impression that PowerPoints
> were by and large largely inaccessible unless a user has a copy of
> PowerPoint available (and even then it’s pretty inaccessible). An old
> article on WebAim has said that the PowerPoint Viewer is useless to screen
> reader users. Since MS developed it in 2011, I’m not sure that this has
> changed at all.
>
> Since Section 508 requires the inclusion of a link to an accessible plugin
> to access the powerpoint, technically does including a PowerPoint require
> the use of an extra more accessible alternative to compensate for the lack
> of an accessible plugin? If not, what should agencies include as an
> accessible plugin?
>
> Thanks for the feedback,
>
> Jon Metz
> > > >