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Put the content in your PowerPoint slides in the intended reading order so the screen readers read it correctly for users with a vision or reading disability.

Create slides with proper reading order

  1. On the Home tab, select New Slide.

  2. Select any pre-existing slide layout.

  3. Add your slide content. Make sure that you don't delete or rearrange the default slide elements.

Group objects

If you have complex diagrams or illustrations made of many objects, group the objects into logical units. That way, the screen-reader user can read the grouped units rather than all of the individual objects in them. With grouped units, you'll only need to order the grouped units and not all of the objects in them.

  1. Select Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane.

  2. In the Reading Order pane, to select multiple objects, press and hold Ctrl and then click each object you want to include in the group.

  3. To group the selected objects, press Ctrl+G.

  4. To add alt text to the group, double-click the group name, type a description for the group, and then press Enter.

Modify the reading order

If you need a custom slide or you've modified the pre-existing slide layout, you can change the object reading order to match the visual layout order. Objects are read from top to bottom order.

  1. Select Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane.

  2. In the Reading Order pane, to change the reading order, rearrange the objects in the list. Do one of the following:

    • Drag an object to a new location.

    • Select an object and then select  The Move Up button in the Reading Order pane in PowerPoint. (Move Up) or  The Move Down button in the Reading Order pane in PowerPoint. (Move Down).

      Tip: If an object is not important for understanding the meaning of the slide, unselect the item checkbox to exclude it.

  3. To double-check the order, read the objects in the Reading Order pane from top to bottom.

See also

Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities

Download free, pre-built templates

Save, back up, and recover a file in Microsoft Office

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PowerPoint for Windows training

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