Making Google Slides Accessible: Layout and Reading Order

This post explores the essential steps to set up an accessible presentation in Google Slides: Choosing the right slide layout and controlling the reading order. Making your presentation accessible is crucial, and it starts with using the right techniques. Let’s dive right in!

Video Guide

Choosing the Right Slide Layout

When you create a new Google Slides presentation, you’ll notice that the default template provides a slide layout with spaces for a title and subtitle. This layout is ideal for maintaining accessibility. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Add a title: Give your presentation a clear and informative title. For example, “How to Make Accessible Google Slides – By Shawn Jordison.”
2. Layout selection: Google Slides offers various built-in layout options. Choose one that suits your content. Avoid adding your own text boxes, as they can disrupt accessibility and cause issues for screen readers.

Controlling the Reading Order in Google Slides

Ensuring the correct reading order of elements on your slide is vital for accessibility. Google Slides provides limited options for this, but here’s how you can manage it:

1. Right-click objects: To control the reading order, right-click on the objects you’ve added to your slide.
2. Order options: You’ll see options like “Bring to Front,” “Bring Forward,” “Send Backward,” and “Send to Back.” These options allow you to adjust the stacking order of elements.
3. Testing the reading order: The best way to check the reading order within Google Slides is by selecting the slide thumbnail and pressing the tab key on your keyboard. This will navigate you through the elements in the order they will be read.
4. Adjusting the order: By using the order options, you can ensure that your content is read in the desired sequence.

Google Slides Accessibility Challenges

Despite the importance of accessibility, Google Slides still has some limitations when it comes to accessibility features. It’s essential to be aware of these challenges:

1. Limited reading order options: As mentioned earlier, Google Slides provides only a few options to control the reading order. This can be limiting for users aiming for highly customized accessibility.
2. Native product accessibility: Google is continually working on improving accessibility features in its products, but there may still be limitations and challenges for those creating accessible content.

Let me be your champion for inclusion. I offer tailored solutions (and self-paced courses!) to ensure your documents meet and exceed compliance expectations. For more detailed insights, tutorials, and in-depth discussions on accessibility and related topics, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel: The Accessibility Guy on YouTube. Subscribe for regular updates!