Copyright Curtis D. Edmonds, 2002. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial,

Copyright Curtis D. Edmonds, 2002.

This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

PowerPoint Accessibility for Students with

Disabilities in Online Distance Education

Curtis D. Edmonds

Georgia Institute of Technology

Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center

PowerPoint Accessibility

There are several options available to faculty members to provide PowerPoint content in online distance learning courses.


First, faculty members can simply place a PowerPoint file online for students to download.


Students can download the free PowerPoint viewer from Microsoft.

Students can view the file using a PowerPoint plug-in in their Internet browser.


However, students with visual impairments may have difficulty accessing presentations offered in this way.


Example Improving Atlanta’s Air:

http://environmental.gatech.edu/SAMI/soft_link/update3.ppt






The PowerPoint plug-in presents slides in a JavaScript format that is inaccessible to students with visual disabilities.


Students with visual impairments who have PowerPoint may not be able to access all images or charts in a file.


Alternatively, PowerPoint also allows faculty members to save presentations as web pages.


Example: Yours Is A Very Bad Hotel:

http://www.snopes.com/business/info/badhotel/frame.htm





The web pages use five separate frames to display information, which can be confusing for students with disabilities.

PowerPoint Solutions

There is a quick and easy way to provide online access to PowerPoint presentations for all students.


Example:

http://www.txreviews.com/ppt/navajo3.html




The first step is to save PowerPoint slides as JPEG images.


The second step is to create an HTML page that contains each of the JPEG images.


The third step is to intersperse the text of each slide into the HTML document.


You can use Cascading Style Sheets to make the text hidden within the HTML, but so that people who use screen readers can access it.


Inserting the text allows all users to search the contents of the file for information.


Presentations presented in this manner are easier to navigate than presentations that require multiple clicks.


The Southeast DBTAC is funding a tutorial on PowerPoint accessibility that should be available in 2003.

For More Information

Visit our web site at http://www.sedbtac.org/

Or call your regional DBTAC at (800) 949-4232.

E-mail: [email protected]

http://www.sedbtac.org/



Copyright Curtis D. Edmonds, 2002. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial,

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