Accessible PowerPoint (implementation guide)
The PowerPoint Accessibility Implementation Guide serves as support for the PowerPoint Accessibility Checklist. The order of the aspects and the structure according to categories are the same.
Each aspect is divided into three sections in the implementation guide:
Under the heading "What is meant by this?" you will find a detailed description of the aspect to be ticked off. The section "Why is it important?" describes which barriers you are removing with the respective aspect and for which groups of people this is essential. Finally, under the heading "How can I implement/check this?" you will find detailed instructions on how to implement or check the respective aspect.
4. Text
4.6. Paragraphs
Paragraphs are not created with tabs or soft line breaks, but with paragraph breaks (i.e. there are no blank lines in the document).
What is meant by this?
A new paragraph in a presentation should be created with a paragraph break instead of a tab or a soft line break. A paragraph break is a function that is used to end a paragraph and start a new paragraph on the next line. A paragraph break is used to start a new paragraph without inserting additional line spacing between the two paragraphs.
Why is it important?
It is important to avoid the use of soft line breaks and to use paragraph breaks instead. Recipients with screen readers navigate from paragraph to paragraph within texts and have the beginnings read out to them in order to grasp the content of the paragraph. If a soft line break is used to separate paragraphs, the screen reader does not recognise this as a new paragraph and "New line" or "Blank line" is read out, which can disrupt the reading flow.
This can make the text unnecessarily long and confusing for recipients who use a screen reader or voice output. It can also make the content of the presentation more difficult to grasp, as the connection between the paragraphs is distorted. Instead of blank lines, paragraph spacing should therefore be used to structure the text. Paragraph spacing adds additional space between paragraphs without causing unnecessary breakdowns when lecturing.
How can I implement/check it?
Line breaks are activated by default in PowerPoint. To check paragraphs anyway, you can follow the steps below:
- Click on the text field in which you want to check the paragraph.
- In the window that opens, search for "Format text effects" and click on the "Text box" icon (it looks like a book).
- Now check whether there is a tick in front of the "Wrap text in form" field.
- If there is no tick, tick the box and close the menu.
By highlighting paragraphs, you can quickly check that all paragraphs in your text are formatted consistently and that there are no errors or inconsistencies.