Slide layouts are very important in order to ensure that slides have the correct heading structure and reading order.

Use the College's branded templates

If you are creating presentations for Imperial business then you must ensure you always use the latest College PowerPoint templatesThese templates have been designed to meet the College's branding guidelines in terms of logo use, colour palette and fonts. The templates also use recommended font sizes for the various heading styles, and background colours in order to meet accessibility standards.

The templates also feature a number of different layouts for different types of slide content.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Checking and changing the reading order on a slide

Once you have created your slides it is good practice to check the reading order (also known as z-order) of the content. This will determine the order in which a screen reader reads your content. It is essential to get this right to ensure that screen reader users can understand your content. 

If you have used proper slide layouts then it should mean that the reading order is correct, but is still worth checking.

1. Click on Arrange on your Home tab.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. Select Selection Pane.

You will then see the order in which a screen reader would read the content. It reads from the bottom of the list upwards. You can move items by simply clicking on them and dragging to the correct position.