Accessibility Program Options in PowerPoint 365 for Windows

The Accessibility tab of the PowerPoint Options dialog box offers several options that will help you create more accessible presentations. The PowerPoint Options dialog box can be accessed as explained in our Options Tab in Backstage View in PowerPoint 365 for Windows tutorial.

Follow these steps to explore various options within the Accessibility tab of the PowerPoint Options dialog box in PowerPoint 365 for Windows:

1. First, click the File menu option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: File menu option
3. Doing so opens Backstage view, as shown in Figure 2, below. Select Options, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
4. 
   Figure 2: Options within Backstage view
5. You can also press the Alt + F > T keyboard sequence. This means you press the Alt + F keyboard shortcut. Then, wait a moment and click T.
6. 

   PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

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   Explore our PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts and Sequences Ebook that is updated for all PowerPoint versions.

2. Either way, you bring up the PowerPoint Options dialog box, as shown in Figure 3, below. Make sure that the Accessibility tab is selected in the left sidebar, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3.
3. 
   Figure 3: Accessibility Options in PowerPoint
4. Options within the Accessibility tab of the PowerPoint Options dialog box are explained below, as marked in Figure 3, above:

   A. Make your document accessible to others

   Although the Accessibility Checker option can always be accessed as needed, enabling the Make your document accessible to others option allows PowerPoint to prompt you in the taskbar as it encounters accessibility issues. Do note the Accessibility: Investigate notification in the taskbar, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 4, below.

   
   Figure 4: Investigate Accessibility notification

   Double-click this notification to bring up the Accessibility task pane, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below.

   
   Figure 5: Accessibility Task pane

   The Accessibility task pane contains the checked option, Keep accessibility checker running while I work, highlighted in green within Figure 5, above. This is the same option marked A in Figure 3, shown previously on this page.

   Summon the Accessibility Task Pane

   If you disable the option to keep the Accessibility checker running all the time, you can still bring up the Accessibility task pane whenever needed. To do so, access the Review tab of the Ribbon, and click the Check Accessibility button, as shown in Figure 6, below.

   
   Figure 6: Check Accessibility

   Doing so brings up two results:

   1. You bring up the Accessibility task pane, as shown in Figure 5, previously on this page.
   2. You also activate the contextual Accessibility tab of the Ribbon, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 7, below.

   
   Figure 7: Accessibility tab of the Ribbon

   Contextual Tab

   The Accessibility tab is a Contextual tab. Contextual tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.

   B. Feedback options

   You can select the Provide feedback with sound option, highlighted in red within Figure 8, below. This option is not selected by default, but enabling the option will play sound effects whenever options in the PowerPoint editing environment change. Do note that this is an Office-wide setting. Any changes made within the PowerPoint Options dialog box will also be reflected in Word, Excel, and other Microsoft Office programs.

   
   Figure 8: Provide feedback with sound

   Additionally, you can choose the type of sound effects that you want to hear. By default, PowerPoint will use Modern sound effects, but if you are a nostalgic old-time Office user, you may want to change the Sound Scheme to Classic, via the drop-down list, as shown highlighted in green within Figure 8, above.

   C. Application display options

   Two of the three options in the area are related to ScreenTips. While Microsoft calls them ScreenTips, you may have them being called tool tips or hover tips elsewhere. That’s because they appear as an overlay when you hover over a command, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 9, below.

   
   Figure 9: ScreenTip in PowerPoint

   You can change the appearance of the ScreenTip by choosing options from the ScreenTip style drop-down list, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 10, below.

   
   Figure 10: ScreenTip style

   These options are explained below:

   Show feature descriptions in ScreenTips

   This is the default option, as shown in Figure 9, above.

   Don’t show feature descriptions in ScreenTips

   Choosing this option shows ScreenTips without descriptions, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 11, below. The keyboard shortcut still shows though.

   
   Figure 11: ScreenTips without descriptions

   Don’t show ScreenTips

   Choosing this option disables ScreenTips altogether.

   The next option, Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips is enabled by default and shows the keyboard shortcut of the command within the ScreenTip. If you deselect this option, you will no longer see the keyboard shortcut in the ScreenTip, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 12, below. Compare with Figures 9 and 11, that show the Ctrl + H keyboard shortcut for the Replace command.

   
   Figure 12: ScreenTip without keyboard shortcut

   No Keyboard Shortcuts for Some Commands?

   Yes, some commands do not show keyboard shortcuts within the ScreenTips, even if this setting is enabled. As shown in Figure 13, below, you can see that the ScreenTip for the Group command, highlighted in red within Figure 13, does not show the Ctrl + G keyboard shortcut.

   
   Figure 13: No keyboard shortcut shown in the ScreenTip

   In other cases, the keyboard shortcut may not show within the ScreenTip because PowerPoint does not have a keyboard shortcut associated with this command.

   Do note that this option to show keyboard shortcuts in ScreenTips is not restricted to PowerPoint alone, and will also influence other Office programs such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and other programs.

   The final option, Show the Start screen when this application starts, shown highlighted in red within Figure 14, below, is not enabled by default. If you enable this option, PowerPoint brings up the Backstage view with options to create new presentations or open existing presentations, rather than opening to a new, blank presentation.

   
   Figure 14: Do not show the Start screen

   Again, this is an Office-wide setting, and the same behavior will be reflected in other Office programs such as Word and Excel.

   D. Automatic Alt Text

   This Automatic Alt Text option, shown highlighted in red within Figure 15, below, is enabled by default and ensures that each image you insert in your slides has some Alt text added. Alt text is necessary for screen readers so that users with visual impairments can understand what each image represents. Now, PowerPoint does an OK job with these automated Alt texts, it is recommended not to disable this option. However, do update or change the Alt text added manually for each image, as needed to make the descriptions more relevant and useful.

   
   Figure 15: Automatic Alt text option