How to Use the PowerPoint Accessibility Checker [A Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Sep 27, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 26
Todd, one of our clients, asked us a very specific question while we were building his investor presentation:
"How do I make sure my slides are accessible for everyone, especially someone who might be using a screen reader?"
Our Creative Director answered without missing a beat:
"Use PowerPoint's built-in Accessibility Checker — it's there for a reason."
As a presentation design agency, we work on dozens of accessibility-focused decks every year — especially for organizations that take inclusion seriously. And in the process, we’ve noticed one common challenge: most teams either don’t know the PowerPoint accessibility checker exists, or if they do, they don’t know how to use it correctly.
So in this blog, we’ll show you exactly how to use it — and more importantly, how to not mess it up.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
Why You Should Care About the PowerPoint Accessibility Checker
Let’s be honest — most people don’t think about accessibility until someone points out what's missing. But here’s the thing. Accessibility isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore. It’s a must-have. Whether you're presenting to investors, clients, internal teams, or the public, someone in your audience might be using assistive tech to view your slides. If your content isn’t accessible, you’re essentially locking people out.
Now, you might think, “But our slides are pretty basic. Why would they be a problem?” That’s exactly where most people go wrong.
PowerPoint decks are packed with visual elements — icons, charts, diagrams, text over images. What looks great to a sighted user can turn into a confusing mess for someone using a screen reader or keyboard navigation.
That’s where the PowerPoint Accessibility Checker comes in. It’s not just a helpful tool; it’s your second set of eyes. It scans your presentation and tells you what’s wrong and why it matters. We’ve seen it catch things teams completely miss — like missing alt text, improper reading order, low color contrast, and even skipped slide titles. And these aren’t small errors. They can break your entire message for someone who relies on assistive tools.
From our experience, the Accessibility Checker has saved our clients from making costly, embarrassing mistakes more times than we can count. It doesn’t just keep your presentation compliant — it makes it respectful.
How to Use the PowerPoint Accessibility Checker
We’ve seen a lot of people “use” the PowerPoint accessibility checker the wrong way. They open it, glance at a few red flags, and close it thinking they’ll fix it later. Then they forget. Or they fix the wrong things. Or worse, they assume their presentation is now magically accessible just because the checker said “No issues found.”
That’s not how this works.
The Accessibility Checker is a guide, not a substitute for thinking. So let’s break down how to actually use it the right way — from opening it, to interpreting its feedback, to making meaningful changes.
Step 1: Open the Accessibility Checker
This part’s simple, but it varies slightly depending on your version of PowerPoint.
For Microsoft 365 and PowerPoint 2019 or newer:
Go to the Review tab on the top ribbon.
Click on Check Accessibility.
A side panel will pop up on the right side of your screen labeled Accessibility.
That’s it. The checker starts scanning your slides the moment you open it. No extra clicks needed.
Step 2: Understand the Accessibility Checker Pane
Here’s where people get overwhelmed. The panel shows a list of errors, warnings, and tips. But not all of them are equally urgent, and not all of them apply in every situation.
Let’s decode what you’ll typically see:
Errors are critical. These are things that will absolutely make your content unusable for someone with a disability. For example: missing alt text on images, no slide titles, or elements in the wrong reading order.
Warnings are important but not deal-breakers. These include things like unclear hyperlink text (“click here” instead of “download brochure”) or poor contrast between text and background.
Tips are more like suggestions. They’re helpful, especially if you want to go the extra mile, but they’re not always essential.
Pro Tip: If you're short on time, focus on fixing the errors first. Warnings second. Tips only if you have the capacity.
Step 3: Fix Missing Alt Text — The Right Way
This is hands-down the most common issue we see in decks. Charts, photos, icons, logos — they all need alt text unless they’re purely decorative.
Here’s the shortcut:
Right-click on the image.
Select Edit Alt Text.
Write a short, meaningful description of the image’s purpose.
Don’t just describe what it is. Explain what it means in the context of the slide.
Example:
Weak alt text: “Bar chart showing sales figures.”
Better alt text: “Q2 sales increased by 40% in Europe compared to Q1.”
If the image is decorative (like a background swish or a non-informative icon), check the box that says “Mark as decorative.” That way, screen readers will skip it.
Step 4: Add Slide Titles
This one surprises people. You might have a big headline on the slide, but if it’s in a text box and not in PowerPoint’s actual title placeholder, the Accessibility Checker won’t recognize it as a title.
Here’s what to do:
Go to View > Slide Master.
Make sure each layout includes a title placeholder.
Use that placeholder for your main heading — don’t just delete it and insert a new text box.
This matters because screen readers use slide titles to help users navigate your deck. If your slides have no recognized titles, users can't jump from slide to slide easily. That’s frustrating, especially in large decks.
Step 5: Check Reading Order
This is a silent killer. You can have perfect content, and a screen reader will still read it in the wrong order because of how elements are stacked on the slide.
To fix this:
Go to Home > Arrange > Selection Pane.
The list shows the order in which elements will be read — bottom to top.
Rearrange them so the logical flow of your content makes sense.
Example:
Title should come first.
Then the body text.
Then the chart or image.
Then the caption or source line.
Don’t assume PowerPoint gets this right. It doesn’t. It reads based on layer order, not visual layout.
Step 6: Fix Color Contrast (Without Making It Ugly)
We get it. Brand colors matter. But if your color palette includes soft grays on white, or neon green on black, your content is probably failing contrast checks.
You don’t have to throw your brand guidelines out the window, but you do need to make some adjustments.
PowerPoint won’t always tell you the exact contrast ratio, but it will flag text that’s hard to read. You can use external tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker or Color Contrast Analyzer to test your combinations more precisely.
Quick wins:
Make sure body text is at least 18pt if it’s light-colored.
Avoid using color alone to convey meaning (e.g., red text for “bad,” green for “good”).
Use bold or icons alongside color to improve clarity.
We’ve helped clients create accessible color variants of their brand palette — same tone, better legibility. It’s possible. You don’t have to compromise design for function.
Step 7: Fix Hyperlinks That Say “Click Here”
This one’s easy to fix and incredibly important. Screen readers can pull out links into a list. If all your links say “Click here,” that list becomes useless.
Instead, write descriptive hyperlink text:
Instead of: Click here to view the report
Use: View the 2025 Impact Report
It’s a small change with big impact. Plus, it makes your slides more scannable for everyone — not just those using assistive tech.
Step 8: Repeat the Checker As You Work
This isn’t a one-and-done situation. Every time you add a new chart, photo, or slide, you run the risk of introducing new accessibility issues.
Keep the Accessibility Checker open while you work. Treat it like a live QA assistant.
When you think you're done, give it one final scan. Fix everything that shows up. Then, and only then, pat yourself on the back.
What the Accessibility Checker Doesn’t Catch
Now here’s something we wish more people knew: the PowerPoint accessibility checker is helpful, but not perfect.
It won’t:
Tell you if your alt text is useful — only that it exists.
Flag if your text is too small for low vision users.
Detect awkward layouts that are visually confusing.
Know if your animated sequences make sense when read aloud.
That’s where human judgment comes in. That’s where experience comes in. And if you’re working on a high-stakes presentation — whether it’s for government, healthcare, education, or finance — you need to go beyond just checking boxes.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.