Creating Accessible Presentations: Images, Graphics, and Videos

March 30, 2023

Megan Sellmer, Melody Shih, and Tobe Duggan

Land Acknowledgment

“Our presenters today come from across this land, living and working in what we now know as Canada. We respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples and will continue to honour the commitments to self-determination and sovereignty we have made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples. We respectfully ask for you all to take a moment to acknowledge the lands on which you reside.”

General Considerations when Using Media in Presentations

• Use good quailty media
• High resolution
• Large font size
• Sans serif font
• Good colour contrast

Images, Charts, and Tables

This section discusses the importance of describing images, charts, and tables.

Describing Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps, and Tables

• If your presentation has images (simple and complex), you must add alternative text (alt text).
• Alt text is a textual description of an image for people who can’t see the image (blind/deafblind).
• Screen readers will read an image’s alt text if it is available.

Why Add Alternative Text

• If alt text is not added, screen reader users will be excluded from accessing the full meaning of your images.
• If you do not add alt text to your images, screen readers may read:
• Auto-generated alt text
• The image’s file name.
• Nothing at all.

Creating Alternative Text

• Do not include the phrase “This is an image/graphic of…” in your alt text.
• Screen readers will announce that it is graphic.
• If there is text within an image, write it in the alt text.
• Your alt text should not include information available in the surrounding text.
• Write for your audience.
• Use present tense and action verbs.

Creating Alternative Text: Inclusive Descriptions

• Use inclusive language in your descriptions.
• Describe the physical characteristics of people in images.
• Descriptions should be objective and free from censorship.
• People who use screen readers should receive equal access to the information conveyed in images.

PowerPoint: Describing Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps, and Tables

• Right-click on the image or graphic.
• Select “View Alt Text”
• A text box pops up on the right side of the window.
• Edit or add the alt text.

Google Slides: Describing Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps, and Tables

• Right-click on the image.
• Select “Alt text” from the drop-down menu.
• A popup appears.
• Add the title and description for the image.

Keynote: Describing Images

• Click on the image.
• On the right toolbar, select the “Image” tab.
• Add the description.

Describing Complex Images

• If your presentation has complex images, you need to include longer descriptions.
• A complex image includes:
• Graphs
• Tables
• Infographics
• Maps

What are Long Descriptions

• A Long Description is a detailed text description of an image that can be several paragraphs long.
• They describe all the information readers need to know to understand complex images.
• Long descriptions are used in conjunction with alt text.
• Add a link to the long descriptions, using informative hyperlinks, in your presentation.
• They should be included in the supporting documents.

Creating Long Descriptions

• Write descriptions with a clear structure, working from the general to the specific:
• Describe the overall image.
• Break the image up into chunks of content and describe each separately in a logical order.
• You should repeat the alt text in the long description to refer to the image used in your presentation.
• Follow the tips for creating alt text above.

Captions, Audio Descriptions, and Transcripts

This section discusses how to make audio-visual materials accessible.

Captions/Subtitles

• Captions/subtitles are a text version of the audio users need to understand the content.
• It includes:
• The speech in the audio.
• The background noise and sound effects.
• Captions/subtitles created by programs and not a person should always be edited.

Creating/Adding Subtitles in YouTube

• On YouTube, select “Upload videos” to add your recording.
• Once YouTube has processed the video (which can take a day or so), click on the “Subtitles” menu option.
• Select the video title that you would like to edit the subtitles of.
• Click on “Duplicated and Edit” to access the subtitles.
• You can then edit the captions on YouTube or download them to your computer.

Audio Descriptions

• Add Audio Descriptions to videos if there are undescribed visual information users need to understand the content.
• Audio descriptions provide context to persons who are blind and have low vision.
• They describe any visual information needed to understand the content, including text displayed in the video.
• It is also known as described video or video descriptions.

Creating Audio Descriptions

• Audio descriptions should be concise.
• Aim to be objective, so only describe what you see in the video.
• Describe the physical characteristics of people in the video.
• Do not censor your audio descriptions.
• Consider the video context to decide what is important to describe.

How to Add Audio Descriptions

• Integrate them into your video script by describing aloud what you are doing when recording.
• In post-production:
• Add the audio description between characters speaking.
• In YouDescribe (YouDescribe.org)
• This website lets you pause the video and quickly describe the action of the previous scene.

Transcripts

• Provide transcripts of any audio-visual content you use in your presentations.
• You can create transcripts by downloading and editing the subtitles you created on YouTube!

Demonstrations

• Join Tobe and Melody as they demonstrate how inaccessible images, graphs, and videos can be.

Thank You!

• Thank you for attending the third webinar in the “Creating Accessible Presentations” series.
• The next webinar is ”Hands-on Practice” on April 6 at 2:00 pm EST/11:00 pm PST.
• Questions?

References

WAI Making Events Accessible: Checklist for meetings, conferences, training, and presentations that are remote/virtual, in-person, or hybrid.

WebAim Accessible PowerPoint Presentation

Microsoft: Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities.

Create accessible documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Pages, Numbers, or Keynote.

Google Docs: Make your document or presentation more accessible.

Presenter Toolkit by Rebecca Shortt.

Virtual Presentation Accessibility Guidelines by the America Anthropological Association.  

Guide to Image Descriptions by Accessible Publishing