Overview
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to individuals with disabilities. The law (29 U.S.C. § 794 (d)) applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology.
Under Section 508, agencies must provide disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to access available to others. The United States Access Board discusses the Section 508 law and its responsibility for developing accessibility standards for EIT to incorporate into regulations that govern Federal procurement practices in more depth.
Section508.gov
The GSA Section 508.gov website provides guidance, tools, and resources for Section 508 procurements with the ultimate goal of ensuring equal participation for people with disabilities by improving Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility. This website aggregates all relevant federal guidance, checklists, and testing information for creating and maintaining accessible documents in various popular electronic formats, including Word, PDF, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Resources to Create and Maintain Accessible Microsoft PowerPoints
Use the following resources aggregated by Section508.gov to make your Microsoft (MS) PowerPoints accessible and 508 compliant.
Microsoft PowerPoint 2016
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 Authoring and Testing Guide (MS Word, March 2019)
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 Testing Checklist (MS Word, March 2019)
Older Versions of Microsoft PowerPoint
- PowerPoint 2013 Accessibility Checklist – Developed by SSA
- How to Make Your PowerPoint 2010 Presentations 508-Compliant – Developed by HHS/CMS (December 2014)
- Section 508 Quick Reference Guide – MS PowerPoint 2010 – Developed by HHS/CMS (November 2013)
- PowerPoint Document 508 Checklist – Developed by HHS (March 2013)
Find additional, related resources at the Section508.gov website.
Reflection
- Use the checklists and testing documents to assess your current PowerPoint presentations. Are your PowerPoints accessible? How can they be improved?
- How can you incorporate what you’ve learned into your next PowerPoint presentation? Will you do anything differently?
Will this page be updated soon? I’m using MS Powerpoint 2016, and that is not covered on this page. And, we’ll all likely be using Office 365 soon. Thanks!
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Thanks for the reminder @lvella – the new guidance for MS Powerpoint 2016 can be found here: https://www.section508.gov/create/presentations. We’ll update this resource to reflect this!