Setting PowerPoint Reading Order for Screen Readers

When presenting a PowerPoint or saving it as a PDF document, the intended reading order of each slide may not be correct, which can cause screen readers to read the slide content out of order and confuse visually-impaired users. Follow these steps to ensure screen readers read your PowerPoint's content in the correct order.

1. On the Review tab, click Check Accessibility. An Accessibility tab is added to the ribbon and is automatically selected. An Accessibility Assistant pane also appears on the right side of the window.
2. In the Accessibility Assistant pane, ensure the Show only issues on current slide toggle is disabled.
3. Review and fix all suggested issues.
4. If the Accessibility Assistant suggests that you check the reading order, click Check Object Order to open the Reading Order pane.
   
   Otherwise, click Reading Order Pane in the Accessibility tab if it is not already selected. The Reading Order pane appears on the right side of the window.
   NOTE: If the Reading Order Pane option is already selected, click the Reading Order icon to the right of the Accessibility Assistant pane.
5. Each element within the selected slide is listed in the Reading Order pane. Select an element, then use the up and down arrows to move the element in the list to ensure all elements are read in the correct order. You may also exclude an element from the reading order by unchecking the box. Repeat for each slide until the reading order in all slides is set as intended.