Alternative text (or alt tags?) for graphics in PowerPoint X?

[Wm. Beasley]

We're working with making PPT files accessible for visually impaired
users, and for that purpose need to provide "alt" tags for each of our
graphics. In Windows PPT, right-clicking the graphic in question
brings up a "Format Picture" dialog box with a Web tab; choosing the
Web tab allows us to type in the needed alternative text for the
picture.

In Mac PowerPoint X, control-clicking the graphic brings up the same
"format picture" dialog box -- _without_ the Web tab (and apparently
without any way to type in the alternative text).

How do we get the "alt" tags attached to our graphics in Mac
PowerPoint X?

Wm. Beasley
Cleveland State University (Ohio)

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Can't help with the Mac end of things, but out of curiosity, have you found
that adding the "web text" is of any value?
That is, have you found that PowerPoint, either version, will use it for
anything?

It's been my experience that it won't, that's why I ask. Or rather, the
web/alt text may appear in the html you publish from PPT but it never seems
to appear in the browser. I'd be very interested in knowing if you've had
better results.


--

Steve Rindsberg PPT MVP
PPTLive ( http://www.pptlive.com ) Featured Speaker
PPTools: http://www.pptools.com
PPT FAQ: http://www.pptfaq.com

 

[Jim Gordon]

Hi William,

Unfortunately you have to hand-code the alt tags after you save the
presentation.

The way to get the ability to put in alt tags is to use the Feedback option
on the Help menu and request the feature. The more requests the more likely
the feature is to be implemented.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
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[Wm. Beasley]

We find that JAWS text reader software (used by many visually impaired
individuals) does pick up the tags and pronounce them aloud (from
within the PPT file, not necessarily from within a Web browser). This
is significant for us because one method of making PPT presentations
accessible -- provided they're not too complex -- is to provide the
alternative text tags for graphics in the PPT file and then make the
file available for download. Students running JAWS and PowerPoint
together can then hear the equivalent of what fully sighted students
would see. Converting the PPT files into fully accessible HTML is
harder, and we're currently evaluating several different methods of
accomplishing that one.

WmB.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

We find that JAWS text reader software (used by many visually impaired
individuals) does pick up the tags and pronounce them aloud (from
within the PPT file, not necessarily from within a Web browser). This
is significant for us because one method of making PPT presentations
accessible -- provided they're not too complex -- is to provide the
alternative text tags for graphics in the PPT file and then make the
file available for download. Students running JAWS and PowerPoint
together can then hear the equivalent of what fully sighted students
would see. Converting the PPT files into fully accessible HTML is
harder, and we're currently evaluating several different methods of
accomplishing that one.

Thanks for the summary. I didn't realize that JAWS could see the alt text
in PPT files; I've never had a chance to watch it try to "eat" PowerPoint,
in fact. I'm not surprised it doesn't work with the alt tags in PPT-made
html - I've not been able to get the alt tags to appear in my browser
either.

You might want to have a look at our PPT2HTML demo (
www.rdpslides.com/ppt2html/ )
(PC only, I'm afraid)