Creating an accessible presentation that everyone understands despite their abilities is vital to communication. Whether you’re creating a slide deck for a corporate meeting, a keynote speech at a conference, or an academic presentation, it’s crucial to ensure that your message is accessible. Ensuring that people can access your message requires a unique set of techniques. So, which are these techniques?
This article will take you through simple but great techniques for creating inclusive presentations for all audiences. Let’s explore.
Use Simple Language
Clear language entails communicating your ideas in a way that’s easier to understand and reducing the use of complex language or jargon that will confuse some people. To build a good relationship with your audience, use diversity and inclusion slides that cover everyone regardless of their inability. Short and simply written sentences show that you respect and care for your audience and want them to relate to the information you teach them.
When designing your presentations, write brief information on the slides that you will explain verbally. Brief information in bullets is easier for the audience than paragraphs of information. Remember, some of your audience might be inexperienced in your subject area. So, ensure you convey your message clearly and precisely to make it easier for everyone to grasp. Just get it right, even if it means using Slidepeak presentation agency.
Use Visuals to Strengthen Presentation
Describing your content in visuals makes it accessible and understandable. While some people understand content written in paragraphs well, others understand something well when it’s described using visuals and diagrams. Diversity and inclusion presentations are key when preparing your decks, so no one will feel left out. Breaking long blocks of words with images enables people with reading disabilities to understand well. Besides, there is a way that images make an audience feel connected to the presenter more intuitively.
High-quality visuals such as charts help your viewers understand complex concepts. Moreover, visuals can make your exhibition more memorable and engaging. However, ensure you use images that are easy to understand and relevant to whatever you are presenting. Using visuals that are out of topic won’t be good as it will make your audience detract from the topic and forget what you had presented earlier.
The best part is that using presentations that have visuals can give you an edge in reaching people with different inabilities. For instance, using 3D models can benefit visually impaired people, while using frequency charts or sound waves can benefit those with hearing impairment.
Use High Contrast Colors
Ever been to a meeting where you didn’t get a hint of what they presented due to the text color brightness? It’s annoying, right? Using high-contrast colors when designing your deck is key in targeting and benefiting people with visual impairments. These are colors that are notably different from each other, and their contrast ratio is significant. Using these colors helps improve your presentation’s readability for people with low vision.
When preparing your deck, it’s vital to consider the difference between background and foreground colors. The foreground color should be brighter than the background color, so visually impaired people can read your presentation. Make your content stand out to every individual in your audience regardless of their sitting position.
Use Alternative (Alt) Text for Pictures
The alt text describes a picture’s content that screen readers read aloud. What’s the worth of an attractive picture that people who can’t see it won’t understand? Incorporating alternative text for all your pictures is imperative when creating your slideshow. Ensure the text is relevant, descriptive, and summarizes the picture’s content.
When composing alt text, consider the image’s purpose and how it relates to the presentation’s content. For instance, if the picture is a graph illustrating data, the text should explain the data presented in the graph. On the other hand, if the picture is a photograph of a person, the text should describe the person and what they are doing.
Use Closed Captions for Videos
Closed captions are text representations of a video’s audio content. Closed captions are an essential accessibility feature that can greatly improve the accessibility of your presentation. Ensure your captions match what’s being said in the video for the inclusion moment presentation. Moreover, they should synchronize with the video as the audio they represent.
The captions should be easy to read and understandable. Closed captions benefit people who don’t understand the spoken language or those in noisy places and ensure everyone participates in your presentation.
Use Accessible Fonts
Accessible fonts are fonts that are understandable for all individuals. A key consideration when choosing fonts it’s the size. For example, Sans-serif fonts like Calibri, Verdana, or Arial are easier to read than Georgia or Times New Roman. Also, avoid using text shadows which can be challenging for people with dyslexia.
When selecting your fonts, consider using bold, italic, and underlined formatting to emphasize key points. However, use them moderately to avoid difficult-to-read text. Besides, ensure sufficient contrast between the text and the background to improve the readability of your diversity and inclusion presentation PPT.
Use Proper Structure
When information is structured correctly, it’s easier for an audience to understand and get the message. In addition, a good structure helps you as a presenter to be confident, stay relevant, and avoid going silent, thinking of what to say when presenting.
One critical component of a proper structure is using headings and subheadings to organize content. Headings provide a hierarchical structure that enables users to understand the relationships between different content sections within the slides. They also help users navigate the presentation more easily using assistive technology such as a screen reader.
Another important consideration when using proper structure is ensuring that content is presented logically and consistently. It includes the ordering of slides, as well as the ordering of content within individual slides. Again, you should present information in a way that is easy to follow and understand, with a clear flow from one topic to the next.
Bottom Line
Designing for accessibility is an essential consideration when creating presentations. By implementing the tips outlined in this article, you can create presentations that are inclusive and accessible to all audiences. Presentations that are consistent where everyone will get the main points and agenda of your exhibition.
Also read: 6 Powerful Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills
