Accessibility Case Study
By Rachel Guise, PPS Editor
A longstanding client in the nursing and health science field approached PPS for help creating PowerPoint presentations that met both ADA and 508 compliancy standards for ancillary presentations that accompany their textbooks. The company is committed to students and their needs and to providing content that is accessible for all students and educators.
To help our client, we first created a compliant PowerPoint template. The template follows compliancy guidelines, such as using one of the recommended fonts, no background images, and correct colors.
We then converted the client’s supplied presentations to follow the guidelines, taking great care to read the material so that it would make sense when read through a screen reader. At this point, we check the styling of abbreviations. For example, WWII would be read as “W W I I” but should be read as “World War Two.” For tables, we carefully decided if the material would best be read in the table format or set as an image.
Another service we provided was writing alt-text for the ADA and 508 compliant PowerPoint presentations. Alt-text is important because it provides access to images on screen for people with visual disabilities through screen readers and provides access to transcripts for audio for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. To make a figure compatible with a screen reader, a description of the image is embedded with the purpose of clarifying the material on the slide while avoiding repeating any information that is already stated in the slide content.
Finally, as we do with all of our work, we quality checked our products before delivering them. First, we checked that none of the original text has been omitted or repeated in our final presentations. Next, we did a final check of the formatting per the compliancy standards. Lastly, we listened to the presentations using a screen reader. During this check, we listened to such things as slide reading order, sense of content, and incorrect breaks. We also take into consideration that there are different versions of screen readers and keep that in mind with our edits.
PPS continues working with other clients toward making their content ADA and 508 compliant, using not only PowerPoint but also Adobe, Word, and online platforms.
Thank you to F.A. Davis for being a partner with Progressive Publishing Services and allowing our team help meet your publishing goals.