Universally Designed PowerPoints 101

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Universally Designed PowerPoints 101

• Kirsten Behling, Suffolk University
• Lance Hidy, Northern Essex Community College

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Why add UD strategies to your PPT?

• PPTs alone are NOT good teaching tools.
• If a PPT is not done correctly, you risk loosing
  the student before you get to the 5th slide.
• PPT slides can be difficult to access by a
  diverse learner, including those with
  disabilities.
• Adding UD strategies to PPT will help the
  students stay engaged and the instructor to stay
  on track.

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Quick Tips for Adding UD Strategies to your PPT
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1. Background Colors

• Dark background, light fonts
• Avoid backgrounds with flashy colors or patterns
• Avoid flashy transitions

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1. How do I choose the background color?

• Click on the Design tab.
• Choose a simple background that is dark with a
  lighter font.
• Click on Background Styles.
• Click on Hide Background Graphics.

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2. Fonts

• Arial
• Verenda
• New Time Roman
• Garamond

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2. How do I change the font type?

• Click on the Home tab.
• Click on the Select tab and choose Select
  All.
• Click on the Design Tab.
• Click on the Fonts tab and choose one of the
  following to automatically change all of your
  fonts
• Office Classic
• Office Classic 2
• Aspect

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3. Font Sizes

• For a class of less than 25 students, the
  smallest font size should be 20pt.
• For a class of 26 to 50 students, the smallest
  font size should be 28pt.
• For a class of 51 or more students, the smallest
  font size should be 36pt.

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3. How do I change the font size?

• Click on the Home tab.
• Click on the Select tab and choose Select
  All.
• Click on the font size menu and select the size
  you want.
• This method will change the font size of
  everything in your document. In order to change
  individual font sizes, highlight the text you
  want to change and choose a font size.

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4. Pictures, Graphs and Charts

• Only put one to two pictures on a slide at a
  time.
• You MUST label the pictures.
• Make sure that the picture contrast enough with
  the background of the slide.
• Describe the picture in class.

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4. How do I label a picture, graph or chart?

• Describe each picture, graph or chart in one
  concise sentence.
• Put the description of the picture in the notes
  section of the presentation.
• Use an alt-tag. Right click on the picture and
  select size and position. Choose the
  Alt-tag tab and enter a description of the
  picture.
• Describe the picture in class.

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5. How much text is too much text?

• Too many words on a slide will leave students
  confused and uninterested.
• Limit the text on your slide, avoid paragraphs
  with more than two sentences.
• Limit the number of bullet points you have to no
  more than 6/slide.
• Bullet points are a good way to reduce text-heavy
  slides. Bullet points should be short reminders
  for you and key works for students.

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5. How do I add bullets to my slide?

• Highlight the text that you want to bullet or
  just begin bulleting.
• Choose the home tab.
• Click on the bullets options
• You may choose between bullets and numbered
  lists.
• Choose the type of bullet or numbers that you
  want to use.
• You can also customize your bullets.

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6. Videos in PowerPoint

• You can show videos in PowerPoint if.
• You tell the student where they can access the
  video
• Provide captions for the video or a written
  transcript of the video in the notes section.

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6. How do I caption my videos?

• If your video is uncaptioned and you would like
  to do it yourself, please visit this tutorial for
  more information.
• The Tutorial can be found at http//www.eeonline.
  org/content/view/15/28/. By clicking on this link
  you will be taken directly to the tutorial.

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7. Hyperlinks in PPT

• Links are a great way to take students to videos,
  online applications or other documents.
• When adding a link make sure to tell the student
  where it will take them either in the slide
  itself, or in the notes section.

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7. Inserting hyperlinks into PPT slides?

• Highlight the text you want hyperlinked.
• Hit Control K.
• Choose where you would like the Hyperlink to go
  to
• A webpage
• A place in this document
• Another document
• An email

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8. Saving PowerPoints in Accessible Formats

• Saving your PPT presentation as a PPT is the
  first thing you should do.
• BUT, you should also consider saving your PPT as
  an HTML file. This method has been proven to be
  the most accessible for students with
  disabilities.

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8. How do I save a PPT presentation as an HTML
file?

• Click on your main menu.
• Choose File.
• Choose Save As.
• Choose Other Formats.
• In the new window, change the Save as type to
  Webpage.

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10. How do I make my slides more engaging?

• Original

• With UD strategies

Instead of overwhelming students with a lot of
information, break each important piece of
information into many different slides. Take
advantage of the PPT tools to create graphs and
charts.
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10. How do I make my slides more engaging?

• Original

• With UD strategies

Use Glyph charts, pictures and logos to help
explain a concept, rather than a lot of
potentially confusing text.
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10. PowerPoint UD Presenter Strategies

• Avoid reading the slide word for word
• Do not use pronouns on the slides
• Use the slides as a guide to keep on track, not
  for your entire lecture
• Post your slides an hour before class, so
  students have the option of deciding whether or
  not to print them
• Others?

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For more information on UD PowerPoints please go
to the UCD website (www.universalcoursedesing.org)
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