Add Alt Text
Add an alt text to all visual objects (this includes images, graphics, shapes, icons, 3D models, SmartArt, charts, cameos, and groups of several elements) in your presentation or mark them as decorative if they are not relevant to the content. You can find out how to add an alt text in Add Alt Text or Mark Object as Decorative. You can find instructions on writing alternative texts in the axesWord article How do I create suitable alternative texts for figures?. How to create groups is described in the next section below.
All objects mentioned above are output as a figure (<Figure> tag) in the Logical Document Structure during PDF export with axesSlide. Texts within a visual object or group cannot be read by Assistive Technologies. As a result, people who cannot perceive visual information can not access the information in a chart or SmartArt, for example. It is therefore important to add a descriptive alt text to objects and groups that contains all relevant text and visual information.
Do not insert plain text as an image but as normal text. If a graphic contains text, it must be entered in the alt text.
Exception for shapes with text: If you have written text in a shape and not entered an alternative text, only the plain text is exported to the logical document structure. However, if you have given the shape with text an alt text, it is exported as a figure with alt text. The text itself should then be repeated in the alt text, as it becomes a figure together with the shape.
Create Groups
If you have created a graphic from several individual elements, you should combine them into a group. This allows Assistive Technologies to recognize the graphic as a single illustration and you can add an alt text to the entire group.
How to create a group: Select all elements of the graphic by holding down the Shift key and clicking on each associated element. Right-click on one of the selected elements. In the context menu, go to the Group entry and click on the Group entry in the menu that pops up.
How to ungroup a group: Select the group and right-click on it. In the context menu, go to the Group entry again and click on the Ungroup entry in the menu that pops up. Please note: If you have added an alt text to a group, this will be lost.