As campus efforts continue to meet Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, the digital accessibility team is providing weekly articles on how to create accessible content.
This week focuses on creating accessible Google Slide presentations.
Accessible Google Slides presentations
A great presentation is about more than just visuals; it’s about ensuring every member of your audience can follow along. Use these five strategies to create inclusive and professional slide decks.
1. Start with standard layouts
It is tempting to start with a blank slide and add text boxes wherever they look best. However, screen readers rely on the underlying "template" to know what order to read the content.
- Use themes: Select a pre-existing theme and use the "New Slide" dropdown to pick a layout.
- Modify via master slides: If you want to change the font or color for the whole deck, go to Slide > Edit Theme. Changes made here will update all slides while maintaining a logical reading order.
2. Give every slide a unique title
Assistive technology uses slide titles to help users navigate and skip to specific sections.
Avoid having multiple slides with the same name. If you have a lot of content on one topic, use labels like "Research Findings (1 of 3)" or "Research Findings (Continued)."
3. Check the "reading order"
If you add extra images or text boxes to a slide, they might be read out of order by a screen reader.
- The tab test: Click on the background of a slide and start pressing the Tab key. The order in which the boxes are highlighted is the order a screen reader will read them.
- How to fix: To move an item earlier in the reading order, right-click it and select Order > Send to Back. To move it later, select Order > Bring to Front.
4. Text and visual clarity
- Font Size: Use at least 24 pt for body text and larger for headings.
- Fonts: Stick to screen-friendly fonts like Arial, Verdana or Montserrat.
- Alt text: Just like in Docs, right-click images and select Alt Text to provide a description for those who cannot see the visual.
5. Use Grackle Slides for the final check
Note that the accessibility checker for Slides is a separate add-on from the one used for Docs.
- Go to Extensions > Grackle Slides > Launch.
- Grackle will flag missing titles, missing alt text and un-tagged table headers.
- It also allows you to mark purely decorative images as "artifacts" so screen readers know to ignore them, reducing "noise" for the user.
A Note on sharing
If you plan to export your presentation as a PDF to share on a website or via email, remember that accessibility settings don't always carry over perfectly. Always open the final PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro and run its built-in Accessibility Checker before hitting "send."
Professional development and support
To further assist the campus community, the Digital Accessibility team is available to visit departments, offices, or student groups for training or discussion.
Additional learning opportunities include:
- Accessibility tutorials on creating and checking accessible documents
- The asynchronous “Access: A Quest Toward Inclusion” course
- SUNY Access for All webinar series
- 2026 Winter breakout workshop recordings through CELT
- Digital Accessibility website resources
Staying informed
Additional updates on campus accessibility efforts and Title II implementation will continue to be shared through Oswego Today and occasional campus emails.
Creating an inclusive digital environment is a shared responsibility. Thank you for your attention to this important initiative and for helping ensure that SUNY Oswego remains a welcoming, accessible community for all.
–- Submitted by members of the Digital Accessibility Steering Committee and the Workgroup on Accessibility Practices who can be reached at accessibilitypractices@oswego.edu