Agent: PowerPoint Accessibility

powerpoint-accessibility - Microsoft PowerPoint (PPTX) Accessibility

Scans Microsoft PowerPoint presentations for accessibility issues. Uses the scan_office_document MCP tool to parse PPTX files and check for slide titles, reading order, alt text on images, table structure, audio/video descriptions, and use of speaker notes.

When to Use It

• Reviewing presentations before sharing or presenting
• Checking slide templates for accessibility compliance
• Auditing PPTX files for procurement or public distribution
• Preparing presentations that will be available as shared documents

What It Catches

Expand - 11 PowerPoint accessibility rules (PPTX-E001 - PPTX-W005)

Rule	Severity	Description
PPTX-E001	Error	Slides without titles
PPTX-E002	Error	Images without alt text
PPTX-E003	Error	Missing reading order definitions
PPTX-E004	Error	Tables without header rows
PPTX-E005	Error	Audio/video without descriptions
PPTX-E006	Error	Missing presentation language
PPTX-W001	Warning	Multiple slides with identical titles
PPTX-W002	Warning	Small font sizes below 18pt for slides
PPTX-W003	Warning	Excessive text on single slides
PPTX-W004	Warning	Missing speaker notes
PPTX-W005	Warning	Slide transitions without user control

Example Prompts

Show example prompts

/powerpoint-accessibility scan presentation.pptx for accessibility
@powerpoint-accessibility review the company deck template
@powerpoint-accessibility check all slide decks in assets/

How to Launch It

In Claude Code (terminal):

/powerpoint-accessibility scan company-overview.pptx
/powerpoint-accessibility review the training materials deck
/powerpoint-accessibility check all .pptx files in /presentations

In GitHub Copilot Chat:

@powerpoint-accessibility scan company-overview.pptx
@powerpoint-accessibility audit the onboarding slide deck

Via the prompt picker: Select audit-single-document and enter the .pptx file path.

Via document-accessibility-wizard: For batch auditing entire presentation libraries, use the wizard with the folder scan mode.

Step-by-Step: What a Scan Session Looks Like

You say:

/powerpoint-accessibility scan annual-review.pptx

What the agent does:

1. Parses the PPTX file using the scan_office_document MCP tool. PPTX files are ZIP archives containing one XML file per slide plus slide layouts, masters, and media relationships. The agent processes every slide.

2. Runs all 11 accessibility rules across every slide. For example:

   • Checks each <p:sp> title placeholder on every slide (PPTX-E001)
   • Inspects every <p:pic> element for <p:nvPicPr><p:nvPr><a:ph> alt text (PPTX-E002)
   • Reads the slide reading order from <p:spTree> element ordering (PPTX-E003)
   • Checks every <a:tbl> for <a:tr> header row attributes (PPTX-E004)

3. Computes the score using the weighted formula.

4. Returns findings with exact slide numbers. Here is a real example:

PPTX-E001 [Error] - High Confidence
Slide without a title
Location: Slide 7 ("Our Team" section divider)
Remediation: Add a title text box to the slide and style it with the Title placeholder
from the slide layout. If the slide is intentionally a section divider with only a visual
heading, use the built-in Title placeholder - screen readers use it to announce the
slide when navigating by slide list.

5. Presents the score, grade, and remediation priority list.

Understanding Your Results

Score Interpretation

Score	Grade	What it means
90-100	A	Excellent - safe to share or publish
75-89	B	Good - some warnings before external distribution
50-74	C	Needs work - multiple errors blocking AT users
25-49	D	Poor - significant navigation and content barriers
0-24	F	Failing - largely inaccessible with screen readers

What to Fix First

1. PPTX-E001 (Slides without titles) - Screen reader users navigate presentations by slide title. An untitled slide is a navigation dead end.
2. PPTX-E002 (Images without alt text) - Slides are often image-heavy. Every undescribed image is a content gap for blind and low-vision attendees.
3. PPTX-E003 (Missing reading order) - PowerPoint's reading order is separate from visual layout. When not explicitly set, the reading order defaults to creation order, which is often wrong.
4. PPTX-E006 (Missing language) - Screen reader pronunciation depends on the language setting. Without it, text-to-speech may mispronounce content.
5. PPTX-W002 (Font size below 18pt) - Presentations require larger text than documents because viewers typically see them at a distance. Sub-18pt body text is a real barrier for low-vision users.

Reading Order: The PowerPoint-Specific Challenge

Reading order (PPTX-E003) is the most common PowerPoint accessibility issue and the hardest to diagnose visually. The order in which elements appear on a slide does not determine the order screen readers read them. That order is set in the Selection Pane (Home -> Arrange -> Selection Pane). The agent detects when this order appears to be the default creation order rather than a logical content order, flagging slides where automated tooling cannot confirm the order is correct.

Connections

Connect to	When
document-accessibility-wizard	For batch audits of entire presentation libraries with cross-deck analysis and scoring
office-scan-config	To adjust rule thresholds, e.g., raising the minimum font size threshold or disabling PPTX-W004 speaker notes for internal-only decks
word-accessibility	When auditing mixed Office document sets that include both documents and presentations
pdf-accessibility	Presentations exported as PDF need a separate PDF/UA audit