MS PowerPoint Chapter 1: Text and Fonts

Instructions

Section 1.1: Fonts

Microsoft PowerPoint gives you hundreds of different fonts to choose from. Many of them are accessible to use, but others should be avoided. You should always choose fonts that are easy to read and are not very fancy. To change fonts,

Go to the Home tab.
In the Font section, click the Font dropdown box.
Finally, choose the font you would like.

While these fonts look more interesting, they are very hard to read for some users.

List of Harder to Read Fonts Including, Algerian, Freestyle script, Jokerman, Old English Text, and Script MT Bold.

These fonts are very easy to read. There are many fonts like them available in Microsoft PowerPoint, but when choosing a new font, try to find one that is similar to these and is easy to read.

List of easy to read fonts, including , Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Times New Roman, and Verdana

Section 1.2: Font Size

To keep things simple and easy to read, make sure the font is over 18 points in size.

To change your font size, go to the Home Tab.
In the font section, select the font size button and select the size font you want.

Section 1.3: Capitalization

Screen readers do not recognize capitalized letters, so there is no point to relying on capital letters to emphasize text.

This example shows unnecessary capitalization in letters. Screen readers will not emphasize the text even when it is in all caps.

A list of topics covered on a science exam typed in all caps.

This example shows a new way to show the important content. Screen readers will read the (covered) label and tell the reader that it will be on the test.

A list of topics covered on a science exam with no unneeded capital letters and the word covered is next to the subjects in the exam

Section 1.4: Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, and Underlined Text

Screen readers by default do not recognize text that is bold, italic, strikethrough, or underlined. The text will be read as normal text. There are settings available in NVDA to make the text be read as bold, italic or underlined, but very few people change these settings. A good rule is to use bold text, italics, or underlined text sparingly.

This example only shows the text bolded. The screen reader will not read the bold text and understand how its important.

A list of students who made the audition with their names in bold text with a second queue included with John and Justin getting a callback

This example shows the text bolded and has an addition queue. The “(callback)” queue will be read by screen readers, and it will be easier for a reader to understand the content.

A list of students who made the audition with their names in bold text

This is an example that is difficult to read, has way too many things bolded and italicized. The underlining also distracts readers and can make it harder to understand.

This example uses bold, italics, and underlining text sparingly. Only change the important words. This will make the content easier to read.

Section 1.5: Highlighting

When highlighting, it is important to be sure it is not the only way to convey meaning. Screen readers will not recognize the highlighted text as highlighted text. So it will only read it as normal text. This will be confusing to someone with visual disabilities.

This example only highlights the text and does not provide an additional queue for a screen reader to tell the reader that the highlighted text means something.

A list of students who made the audition with John McCune and Justin Rose's names highlighted without a second queue

This example gives a second queue for the screen reader to read. This will help a reader understand the meaning and context behind a highlighted text.

A list of students with John McCune and Justin Rose's names highlighted with a second queue for a callback

Section 1.6: NVDA Settings for Text

When a screen reader reads text with strikethrough, the text will be read like normal text. So when you use strikethrough, be sure to modify the settings in the screen readers. This will allow the screen reader to tell the reader of any bold, italic, strikethrough, or underlined text.

In NVDA, go to the Preference Tab, the click Document Formatting.
Select the Font Attributes check box in the pop up box.
In JAWS, you can examine the font attributes at the cursor, including whether or not there is strikethrough, by pressing INSERT + F.

Section 1.7: Symbols and Special Characters

You can use many different symbols and special characters. However, they must always be communicated in regular text as well. This must be done so the screen readers will read the symbol properly to the reader. Here is a list of 17 symbols and special characters that are good to use.

The AT Symbol
The Ampersand
Slash
Copyright
Registered
Trademark
Paragraph
US Dollar
Euro
British Pound
Japanese Yen
Percent
Bullet
Degrees
One Half
One Fourth
Three Fourths

Section 1.8: Creating Symbols

To create symbols,

Go to the Insert Tab.
Go to the Symbols section and click Symbol.
A dropdown menu will appear, click more symbols to get a wider variety of symbols to choose from.

Examples of Using Symbols

Symbol dialogue box with dozens of available symbols to use

This example only shows the symbols and fails to explain to the readers what the symbols mean. Screen readers will not read the symbol without an additional queue.

This example shows two ways to type in information and give the same outcomes for readers. You can just type it in text. Another way is to type the symbols, then type in the text in parenthesis. Both ways give readers and screen readers an easier understanding of the information provided.

Two ways of showing proper use of symbols and special characters. Option 1 is text only, Option 2 is symbols with text.