Making Google Slides Accessible: A Step-by-Step Faculty Guide
Use meaningful slide structure and alternatives in Google Slides, then test reading order, media, sharing and exported files in the actual student environment.
A Google Slides presentation needs understandable content and usable navigation in the format students receive. Authoring guidance helps, but the shared deck, HTML view and exported PDF are separate outputs to assess.
Structure the slides
Use supported layouts and meaningful titles. Inspect object order rather than assuming visual position determines the reading sequence. Keep relationships simple enough to follow, including table labels and any grouped objects.
Explain visual information
Add meaningful alternatives to informative graphics and use the available treatment for decorative content appropriately. Review automatically generated text against the actual source. Complex charts and diagrams may need a longer accessible explanation. Use descriptive links, sufficient contrast and text alongside color.
Review media
Slides can display automatic live captions where enabled, but caption accuracy and availability need checking. A recording requires its own reviewed synchronized track. Necessary visual descriptions and audio-only alternatives are separate considerations.
Test delivery
Follow Google's accessibility guidance and current screen-reader instructions for the deployed environment. Confirm permissions and test student access. Google's HTML presentation view can be useful for some readers; evaluate its actual content and controls. Publishing to the web can change the audience, so use authorized sharing settings.
A downloaded PDF needs inspection of tags, order, descriptions and preserved content. A checker or a few minutes of visual review cannot establish that every student task works.
Keep the original and inspect the actual saved output. Combine relevant automated checks with manual review of meaning, reading order, navigation and content preservation. Test important student tasks with the intended reader and assistive technologies. A clean checker report alone does not establish conformance.
Aelira Team
•Accessibility EngineersThe Aelira team is building beta accessibility tools for higher education. Institutions can evaluate selected checks and partial fixes on their own files, with human review required before publication.
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