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Number of posts in this thread: 9 (In chronological order)

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Fri, Jun 01 2012 10:23AM
Subject: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
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Is Windows the only OS that PPTs are accessible on? And are you required to have MS Office & JAWS to hear a slideshow in presentation mode with a screen reader?

I tried Open Office and IBM Lotus Symphony but neither worked in presentation mode. Also the free PPT viewer from MS is not accessible at all.

I also tried MS Office & Keynote on the Mac and those did not work with VoiceOver in presentation mode either. I have also tried reading a PowerPoint sent via email to an iPhone with VoiceOver and while the text was accessible the images, even with alt text, were always garbled. VO would read a bunch of numbers & text for each image that made no sense.

These issues sound like pretty good reasons to avoid using PowerPoint unless you're positive that everyone reading the slideshow will have Windows, MS Office, & JAWS. All of which are not free (or cheap).

Paul J. Adam
Accessibility Evangelist
Deque Systems
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
www.PaulJAdam.com
@pauljadam on Twitter

From: Jared Smith
Date: Fri, Jun 01 2012 11:56AM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on *web*
accessibility, for presentation content online, we first recommend to
use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when PowerPoint must be
used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing accessibility issues in
the PDF provides a much more accessible experience.

Jared

From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Fri, Jun 01 2012 2:36PM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

Well all 'viewer' applications like WordViewer, ExcelViewer or
PPTViewer have never been accessible.
I'd say using an HTML slide presentation is a better choice.
Sailesh



On 6/1/12, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on *web*
> accessibility, for presentation content online, we first recommend to
> use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when PowerPoint must be
> used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing accessibility issues in
> the PDF provides a much more accessible experience.
>
> Jared
> > > >

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Fri, Jun 01 2012 4:43PM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

I agree with Jared. At work we allow PPT files that are accessible to
be posted internally because we know all computers have Office.
However for external files, the PPT must have a HTML/PDF version along
side of them. A plain text or a Word version is not suitable for an
alternate version in our view.

--
Ryan E. Benson


On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on *web*
> accessibility, for presentation content online, we first recommend to
> use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when PowerPoint must be
> used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing accessibility issues in
> the PDF provides a much more accessible experience.
>
> Jared
> > >

From: Mike Moore
Date: Tue, Jun 05 2012 10:40AM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

For conversion of PowerPoint to HTML I recommend looking into LecShare. www.lecshare.com. The software is easy to use and inexpensive, $20 US or free depending on the features that you need.

Sent from my iPad
Mike

On Jun 1, 2012, at 5:43 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> I agree with Jared. At work we allow PPT files that are accessible to
> be posted internally because we know all computers have Office.
> However for external files, the PPT must have a HTML/PDF version along
> side of them. A plain text or a Word version is not suitable for an
> alternate version in our view.
>
> --
> Ryan E. Benson
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
>> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on *web*
>> accessibility, for presentation content online, we first recommend to
>> use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when PowerPoint must be
>> used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing accessibility issues in
>> the PDF provides a much more accessible experience.
>>
>> Jared
>> >> >> > > >

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Tue, Jun 05 2012 10:52AM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

Good recommendation Mike. I've used LecShare before on WindowsXP and it worked well. I was going to try it on Lion to test a PPT for accessibility. It does a good quick automated test. It does not work on Lion though and when I tried on Windows 7 I kept getting error messages. I'd recommend other people try it though for quickly testing and fixing PPTs.

I like Jared's recommendation: "Use anything other than PowerPoint"! If you want Universal Accessibility then HTML is the only way to go. Fixing it in Adobe Acrobat sounds like a pain.


Paul J. Adam
Accessibility Evangelist
Deque Systems
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
www.PaulJAdam.com
@pauljadam on Twitter

On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:40 AM, Mike Moore wrote:

> For conversion of PowerPoint to HTML I recommend looking into LecShare. www.lecshare.com. The software is easy to use and inexpensive, $20 US or free depending on the features that you need.
>
> Sent from my iPad
> Mike
>
> On Jun 1, 2012, at 5:43 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
>> I agree with Jared. At work we allow PPT files that are accessible to
>> be posted internally because we know all computers have Office.
>> However for external files, the PPT must have a HTML/PDF version along
>> side of them. A plain text or a Word version is not suitable for an
>> alternate version in our view.
>>
>> --
>> Ryan E. Benson
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
>>> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on *web*
>>> accessibility, for presentation content online, we first recommend to
>>> use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when PowerPoint must be
>>> used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing accessibility issues in
>>> the PDF provides a much more accessible experience.
>>>
>>> Jared
>>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > > >

From: Mike Moore
Date: Tue, Jun 05 2012 1:39PM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

Actually the conversion from PPT to PDF is pretty simple and easy to clean up in Acrobat Pro. I have to admit that I have not tested PDF on Lion with voice over but it does work well on win 7 with JAWS.

Sent from my iPad
Mike

On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:52 AM, "Paul J. Adam" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Good recommendation Mike. I've used LecShare before on WindowsXP and it worked well. I was going to try it on Lion to test a PPT for accessibility. It does a good quick automated test. It does not work on Lion though and when I tried on Windows 7 I kept getting error messages. I'd recommend other people try it though for quickly testing and fixing PPTs.
>
> I like Jared's recommendation: "Use anything other than PowerPoint"! If you want Universal Accessibility then HTML is the only way to go. Fixing it in Adobe Acrobat sounds like a pain.
>
>
> Paul J. Adam
> Accessibility Evangelist
> Deque Systems
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> www.PaulJAdam.com
> @pauljadam on Twitter
>
> On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:40 AM, Mike Moore wrote:
>
>> For conversion of PowerPoint to HTML I recommend looking into LecShare. www.lecshare.com. The software is easy to use and inexpensive, $20 US or free depending on the features that you need.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>> Mike
>>
>> On Jun 1, 2012, at 5:43 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>
>>> I agree with Jared. At work we allow PPT files that are accessible to
>>> be posted internally because we know all computers have Office.
>>> However for external files, the PPT must have a HTML/PDF version along
>>> side of them. A plain text or a Word version is not suitable for an
>>> alternate version in our view.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ryan E. Benson
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>>> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
>>>> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on *web*
>>>> accessibility, for presentation content online, we first recommend to
>>>> use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when PowerPoint must be
>>>> used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing accessibility issues in
>>>> the PDF provides a much more accessible experience.
>>>>
>>>> Jared
>>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >
> > >

From: Bevi Chagnon
Date: Tue, Jun 05 2012 1:53PM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | Next message →

When I teach MS Office, my section on making accessible PPTs and PDFs is
about 20-30 minutes long.
It's that easy once you know what to do.

1) Use PowerPoint's built in templates.
2) Use the template's slide title placeholder because that translates to a
heading tag in the PDF.
3) Use the template's text, table, and graphic placeholders and they too
will be translated in the correct tags in PDF.
4) Do not add "loose" text and graphic boxes onto an existing slide. These
added items will not be accessible in the PDF (nor in the PPT). Instead,
create or alter an existing slide master and use it to create the slide.
Items on the slide masters are accessible: items added loose to a slide are
not accessible.
5) Add Alt-Text and Actual-Text to graphics as needed, using the same
process as in Word.

Not tough to do. The only drawback I've seen is that we don't have the
ability to create various levels of Headings within a slide, so I think
navigation is not as good as it could be. But then again, these are slides
and the information on each slide should be short, rarely needing secondary
levels of headings.

--Bevi
-----------------------------------------------------
Bevi Chagnon | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers
Print | Web | Acrobat | XML | eBooks | Section 508
-----------------------------------------------------
Classes: www.PubCom.com/classes
Publishing Blog: www.pubcom.com/blog
-----------------------------------------------------
*** It's our 31st Year! ***


-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Mike Moore
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 3:40 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PowerPoint Accessibility Question?

Actually the conversion from PPT to PDF is pretty simple and easy to clean
up in Acrobat Pro. I have to admit that I have not tested PDF on Lion with
voice over but it does work well on win 7 with JAWS.

Sent from my iPad
Mike

On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:52 AM, "Paul J. Adam" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Good recommendation Mike. I've used LecShare before on WindowsXP and it
worked well. I was going to try it on Lion to test a PPT for accessibility.
It does a good quick automated test. It does not work on Lion though and
when I tried on Windows 7 I kept getting error messages. I'd recommend other
people try it though for quickly testing and fixing PPTs.
>
> I like Jared's recommendation: "Use anything other than PowerPoint"! If
you want Universal Accessibility then HTML is the only way to go. Fixing it
in Adobe Acrobat sounds like a pain.
>
>
> Paul J. Adam
> Accessibility Evangelist
> Deque Systems
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> www.PaulJAdam.com
> @pauljadam on Twitter
>
> On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:40 AM, Mike Moore wrote:
>
>> For conversion of PowerPoint to HTML I recommend looking into LecShare.
www.lecshare.com. The software is easy to use and inexpensive, $20 US or
free depending on the features that you need.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>> Mike
>>
>> On Jun 1, 2012, at 5:43 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
>>
>>> I agree with Jared. At work we allow PPT files that are accessible
>>> to be posted internally because we know all computers have Office.
>>> However for external files, the PPT must have a HTML/PDF version
>>> along side of them. A plain text or a Word version is not suitable
>>> for an alternate version in our view.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ryan E. Benson
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>>> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
>>>> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on
>>>> *web* accessibility, for presentation content online, we first
>>>> recommend to use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when
>>>> PowerPoint must be used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing
>>>> accessibility issues in the PDF provides a much more accessible
experience.
>>>>
>>>> Jared
>>>> >>>> >>>> list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>>> >>> >>> list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>> >> >> list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>
> > > list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

From: Karlen Communications
Date: Wed, Jun 06 2012 4:12AM
Subject: Re: PowerPoint Accessibility Question?
← Previous message | No next message

I'd add: When working with the slide master use the Text and Content
placeholders to create your editable areas not shapes or text boxes. You can
create a simple or complex layout that is accessible. When doing this make
sure you use the Selection Pane to order the content on the slide into its
logical reading order for both the PowerPoint document and the resulting
PDF.

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Bevi Chagnon
Sent: June-05-12 3:54 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PowerPoint Accessibility Question?

When I teach MS Office, my section on making accessible PPTs and PDFs is
about 20-30 minutes long.
It's that easy once you know what to do.

1) Use PowerPoint's built in templates.
2) Use the template's slide title placeholder because that translates to a
heading tag in the PDF.
3) Use the template's text, table, and graphic placeholders and they too
will be translated in the correct tags in PDF.
4) Do not add "loose" text and graphic boxes onto an existing slide. These
added items will not be accessible in the PDF (nor in the PPT). Instead,
create or alter an existing slide master and use it to create the slide.
Items on the slide masters are accessible: items added loose to a slide are
not accessible.
5) Add Alt-Text and Actual-Text to graphics as needed, using the same
process as in Word.

Not tough to do. The only drawback I've seen is that we don't have the
ability to create various levels of Headings within a slide, so I think
navigation is not as good as it could be. But then again, these are slides
and the information on each slide should be short, rarely needing secondary
levels of headings.

--Bevi
-----------------------------------------------------
Bevi Chagnon | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers Print | Web |
Acrobat | XML | eBooks | Section 508
-----------------------------------------------------
Classes: www.PubCom.com/classes
Publishing Blog: www.pubcom.com/blog
-----------------------------------------------------
*** It's our 31st Year! ***


-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Mike Moore
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 3:40 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PowerPoint Accessibility Question?

Actually the conversion from PPT to PDF is pretty simple and easy to clean
up in Acrobat Pro. I have to admit that I have not tested PDF on Lion with
voice over but it does work well on win 7 with JAWS.

Sent from my iPad
Mike

On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:52 AM, "Paul J. Adam" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Good recommendation Mike. I've used LecShare before on WindowsXP and
> it
worked well. I was going to try it on Lion to test a PPT for accessibility.
It does a good quick automated test. It does not work on Lion though and
when I tried on Windows 7 I kept getting error messages. I'd recommend other
people try it though for quickly testing and fixing PPTs.
>
> I like Jared's recommendation: "Use anything other than PowerPoint"!
> If
you want Universal Accessibility then HTML is the only way to go. Fixing it
in Adobe Acrobat sounds like a pain.
>
>
> Paul J. Adam
> Accessibility Evangelist
> Deque Systems
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> www.PaulJAdam.com
> @pauljadam on Twitter
>
> On Jun 5, 2012, at 11:40 AM, Mike Moore wrote:
>
>> For conversion of PowerPoint to HTML I recommend looking into LecShare.
www.lecshare.com. The software is easy to use and inexpensive, $20 US or
free depending on the features that you need.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>> Mike
>>
>> On Jun 1, 2012, at 5:43 PM, "Ryan E. Benson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
>>
>>> I agree with Jared. At work we allow PPT files that are accessible
>>> to be posted internally because we know all computers have Office.
>>> However for external files, the PPT must have a HTML/PDF version
>>> along side of them. A plain text or a Word version is not suitable
>>> for an alternate version in our view.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ryan E. Benson
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM, Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>>> By my understanding, your summary of PPT accessibility is spot on.
>>>> Because WebAIM (and prefereably this list content) is focused on
>>>> *web* accessibility, for presentation content online, we first
>>>> recommend to use about anything other than PowerPoint, but when
>>>> PowerPoint must be used, typically exporting it to PDF and fixing
>>>> accessibility issues in the PDF provides a much more accessible
experience.
>>>>
>>>> Jared
>>>> >>>> >>>> list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>>> >>> >>> list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>> >> >> list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>
> > > list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =