An app that reads alt-text from pptx

A slide from one of Caroline's presentations. It needs alt-text, in this case "A schematic of scanning paper, with a pile of paper, a scanner, an old-fashioned computer and a big storage box.'
A slide from one of Caroline’s presentations. If you can’t see the image, you need alt-text to describe it.

We think that it’s really important to make PowerPoint presentations accessible. And that means: writing alt-text for all the images.

The Accessible-Powerpoint app by Joe Lanman is a handy little tool that reads a file in .pptx format,  extracts all the alt-text, and gives you a slide-by-slide report on what it finds.

If you’ve ever clicked, clicked, clicked through a long set of slides, checking the alt-text on each image one by one: you’ll love this app. Especially as it’s free to use.

We’d also like to thank Peter Flynn for his help in cracking the .pptx format.

The app reports on what it finds on each slide

The app opens with a single button to upload a file.

It only understands .pptx format. If you try anything else, it won’t work.

There’s a short pause, and then you get a report with what it finds on each slide.

I gave it a deck with just two slides: both of them look just like the one in the image above. The first slide is typical of the sort of thing that flummoxes an accessibility checker: there’s alt-text on the slide, but it’s useless for anyone reading with a screen reader. The second slide also has alt-text, but this one has a description of the image.

Slide 1 Something missing from this schematic? Image credit: Caroline Jarrett http://www.formsthatwork.com/files/Articles/DataCaptureCosts.pdf Images Id 5 Name Content Placeholder 4 File image2.gif Description schematic.gif Slide 2 Something missing from this schematic? Image credit: Caroline Jarrett http://www.formsthatwork.com/files/Articles/DataCaptureCosts.pdf Images Id 5 Name Content Placeholder 4 File image2.gif Description A schematic of scanning paper, with a pile of paper, a scanner, an old-fashioned computer and a big storage box.
An example of a report from the app

Request for extra help

This app is a completely volunteer effort. If you spot some improvements and would like to make them, please get in touch: extra help would be welcome.