Get a Clear, Structured View of Your Entire Presentation with Outline View

Start your next presentation with a “content-first” mindset by using Outline View, one of PowerPoint’s most underused features. It’s incredibly useful, especially when it comes to creating accessible, well-structured presentations. Here’s why:

• Accessible by Design: Outline View works well with screen readers and keyboard shortcuts, supporting diverse needs.
• Organize Your Ideas First: Focus on the content of your presentation by hiding visual distractions like images and charts. This will help you establish a clear, logical structure for your presentation before adding in any design elements.
• Make Quick Changes Across Multiple Slides: Revise and reorder sections efficiently in one central location, eliminating the need to navigate slide by slide and saving you time.

Content-First Mindset: Create Your Presentations Faster

Use Outline View for a more intuitive and structured approach to building your presentations:

• Get Started: Go to View > Outline View, press Ctrl + Shift + Tab, or simply click the Normal icon in the bottom-right corner of PowerPoint.
• Always Use Pre-Built Slide Layouts: Select Home Tab > New Slide, then choose a layout (e.g. “Title and Content,” “Title Only,” etc.).
• Type Directly in the Outline Pane: Changes you make in Outline View are instantly reflected in your slides.

Tip! If your text isn’t appearing in Outline View, it may be because you’re using text boxes instead of content placeholders, rendering your slides inaccessible.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to quickly edit your presentation in Outline View:

• Enter: Creates a new slide.
• Tab: Demotes the selected paragraph.
• Shift + Tab: Promotes the selected paragraph.
• Ctrl + A: Selects the text across all slides, allowing you to adjust the font, size, or colour all at once.

Tip! Easily change bullet styles by selecting Home > Paragraph > Bullets or Numbering.

Before you finish, be sure to check your presentation’s reading order. Outline View may not reflect the correct reading order, especially if you have complex slides with multiple objects. You can manually verify and adjust the sequence of these objects by going to Review > Check Accessibility > Reading Order Pane.

If you need assistance or have any questions, please reach out to us through our intake form or contact us directly at EDSC.TI-IT.A11Y.ESDC@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca.

— IT Accessibility Office