Why does reading order matter?
Visual layout and the order followed by a screen reader are not always the same. Reading order determines the sequence in which a screen reader presents the objects on a slide. If the order is illogical, people who use screen readers may have difficulty following the slide’s meaning. Microsoft recommends arranging objects according to the list in the Reading Order pane: Make slides easier to read by using the Reading Order pane.
This process arranges the objects on a particular slide; by itself, it does not check or fix all accessibility issues in a presentation. The menu paths below are steps from Microsoft’s PowerPoint guidance. If menu names or available options look different, check the PowerPoint help for your version.
Before you start
Assess the slide content in the order a listener needs to follow its meaning. What relationship do you want them to make between the title, explanation, visual, and conclusion? For each item, decide:
- Should it be read? Text and visuals needed to understand the message should remain in the reading order.
- Does it need a description? You do not need to write separate alt text for text boxes and shapes that contain text. For other objects, add the necessary description or review the existing one.
- Should it be grouped? If there are many related shapes or drawing elements, grouping them into logical units may be appropriate.
If you are unsure whether an object conveys meaning, do not mark it as decorative right away. First consider whether it is needed to understand the slide’s message.
Open the Reading Order pane
Open the presentation and go to Review > Check Accessibility. Microsoft’s guidance for the Reading Order pane instructs you to open the Check reading order category in the Warnings section of the check, find the relevant slide, and select Verify object order from the drop-down menu next to the slide number. This command opens the Reading Order pane.
Microsoft’s video guidance also provides the path Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane to access the pane. If these options do not appear in your version of PowerPoint, check the current Microsoft guidance for your version rather than trying to match menu names to steps for another product. Since these two official guides show different access steps, follow the options you see on screen.
Objects in the pane are listed in the order a screen reader will read them. Items with order numbers are included in the reading order; items marked as decorative have no number.
Change the order of objects
In the pane, select one or more items you want to move. Drag the selection up or down in the list, or use the Move Up or Move Down button. To select multiple items, hold down Ctrl and click the items. Arrange the order to make the slide’s meaning easier to follow; do not assume there is one required sequence.
After making a change, check the slide’s appearance too. Changing the order of overlapping objects in particular can affect how the slide looks. If the result is not what you want, press Ctrl+Z to undo the change.
Consider grouping related objects
If a diagram or drawing consists of many objects, grouping related items into meaningful units can allow a screen reader user to hear the group rather than each small item. In the pane, select the items to group using Ctrl; on the ribbon, choose whichever option is available: Format > Group > Group or Arrange > Group > Group. Once the group is created, the Reading Order pane shows the group instead of the individual objects. Add descriptive alt text to the group.
Consider animations before grouping: Microsoft warns that animation effects may not be preserved after you group objects. Check the result of the change for objects that use animation.
Edit alt text and decorative items
In the Reading Order pane, a warning icon appears next to an item that needs alt text. Select the item, then click it again to open the text editing area; write a description of the object’s meaning and context, then press Enter. If alt text has been automatically generated in Microsoft 365, do not accept the description as is: review it and edit it if needed. Remove comments added by the automatic description, such as “Description automatically generated.”
To mark an object that provides only visual interest and conveys no information as decorative, clear the checkbox for the object in the pane. The object remains on the slide but is removed from the reading order; check that its order number disappears. Do not use this option to skip informative charts, icons, or labels.
Example: Set the order for a results slide
Hypothetical example: A slide titled “Campaign results” contains a short concluding sentence, a three-column chart, period labels, and a decorative color band in the corner. The chart is below the title, and the concluding sentence is to the right of the chart.
You want the listener to understand the topic first, then the data, and finally the interpretation. In the Reading Order pane, you can arrange the flow as follows: slide title → text explaining what the chart shows → chart or descriptive group → concluding sentence. If the period labels are separate objects, consider whether they are needed to understand the chart. If they are, keep them in the order or group them in a way that makes their relationship clear. If the color band is purely decorative, mark it as decorative. The chart’s alt text should explain what the chart shows; it should not assert a new conclusion that is not in the slide.
The arrangement in this example is a choice about the intended narrative order, not a fixed rule for every slide. For a separate topic on chart types, see the guide to reversing the order of a PowerPoint bar chart; for slides with tables, see the article on improving accessibility in presentation tables.
Final check and frequently asked questions
Review the Reading Order list from top to bottom. Does the order make the slide’s message easier to follow? Confirm that decorative objects have no order number and that informative visuals have the necessary descriptions. Then, if possible, test the presentation with a screen reader in Slide Show mode. Microsoft’s guide to accessible PowerPoint presentations also recommends checking the reading order with a screen reader: Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible.
If the reading order is wrong, do I need to rearrange the objects on the slide?
No. You can keep the objects’ visual layout and change their order in the Reading Order list. Still, check whether the change affects the appearance, particularly for overlapping objects.
Can I mark every visual as decorative?
No. Remove from the reading order only decorative items that are not needed to understand the slide’s meaning. Keep informative visuals in the order and add the necessary alt text.
Final checklist:
- The reading order follows the slide’s intended narrative flow.
- The alt text for informative visuals has been checked.
- Only items that convey no meaning have been marked as decorative.
- Groups and animations have been checked, and the slide’s appearance has been reviewed again.
- The list has been read from top to bottom and, if possible, the slide has been tested with a screen reader.
