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Re: Incorrect reading behaviour by JAWS and NVDA for thesame PPT slide.

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From: Karen McCall
Date: Mar 14, 2023 6:05AM

There are two things you can do to prevent JAWS from reading the "eye candy" on the slide masters.

1. Mark all graphics on the slide master as "decorative".
2. Use the Selection Pane or Reading Order Pane...preferably the Reading Order Pane since it allows you to add Alt Text or mark as decorative as you go...to ensure the logical reading order on the slide when in Normal slide view.

I've tested this with JAWS and if the graphics on the slide master are marked as decorative, I don't hear them in slide show view which is what I think you are calling reding view? If they aren't marked as decorative, I hear the Alt Text.

A third thing to do is to order the last items on the slide and/or slide master so that the first thing you come across AFTER the main content is the slide number. After the slide number, add any copyright, date or other information including repeating logos on the slide canvas. This way, when we come across the slide number, we can skip to the next slide without having to re the repetitive information on every slide.

I would say that this is a bug in JAWS. We shouldn't hear anything that is on the slide master in terms of graphics. We use slide masters to create the background bling and eye candy along with some visual effects that create the slide template. None of the information, including bordered placeholders, fill and other information should be available in Normal or Slide Show view...only in Slide Master view. We still have access to it, we just need to go into Slide Master view. When I teach accessible PowerPoint, we spend a lot of time in Slide Master view so that it is a familiar place to "visit".

Cheers, Karen