Slide decks are like any other document in that they need to be accessible. 

You'll save time if you design your slides in PowerPoint and Google Slides with accessibility in mind. Happily, doing so entails using the same pillars of accessibility mentioned in our article on general accessibility best practices.

In addition to making sure the pillars of accessibility are addressed, you should also follow these key practices:

Control the Reading Order

Unlike a Word doc or web page that inherently reads top-to-bottom, a screen reader on a slide reads text boxes and objects based on the order in which items were created. If you add a text box after your main content, a screen reader might read it first or last, regardless of where it sits visually.

• PowerPoint: Use the Selection Pane (Home > Select > Selection Pane). Screen readers read objects from bottom to top in this list. Reorder them so the title is at the very bottom, followed by body text, then visuals.
• Google Slides: Tab through your slide elements. The order in which the focus indicator highlight moves when pressing Tab is the exact order a screen reader will read the slide. Reorder items using Arrange > Order (Bring Forward / Send Backward).

Use Built-In Slide Layouts over Custom Text Boxes

Built-in placeholders in slide layouts carry built-in structural tags that assist assistive technologies.

• Best Practice: Always start from a built-in template layout (e.g., "Title and Body") rather than a blank slide. Avoid inserting standalone text boxes, as their content may not be read correctly.
• Pro Tip: If you need to customize layouts, edit the Slide Master (PowerPoint) or Theme Builder (Google Slides). This embeds the accessibility structure across all slides using that layout.

Employ Unique Slide Titles

Screen reader users often navigate presentation decks by jumping through a list of slide titles to find what they need. If five slides in a row are titled "Project Update," the user loses context.

• Make Titles Unique: Fill in the title placeholder and append numbers or subtopics if a topic spans multiple slides (e.g., "Market Trends (1 of 3)", "Market Trends (2 of 3)").
• Hidden Titles: If you visually prefer a slide without text clutter, you can add a title placeholder and hide it off-canvas (or hide the visual layer while preserving screen reader tags in PowerPoint).

Group Shapes and Complex Diagrams

Slide decks frequently feature flowcharts, SmartArt, and multi-shape diagrams. To a screen reader, 10 separate shapes look like 10 disjointed text blocks with no contextual relationship.

• Group Objects: Combine related shapes into a single object (Ctrl+G or Cmd+G).
• Single Alt Text: Add a single, comprehensive alt text description to the grouped object explaining the flowchart or relationship, rather than labeling individual arrows and boxes separately.

Run the Accessibility Checker

PowerPoint has a built-in Accessibility Checker that can identify many common accessibility issues.

• How To: Go to Review > Check Accessibility. Review the results and follow the recommendations.