Exporting Accessible PDFs from PowerPoint 365

Ensuring slide deck accessibility

PowerPoint presentations converted to PDF are commonly used for sharing presentations after meetings, for reports, or as handouts. Before exporting to PDF, your presentation must be accessible in PowerPoint first.

📚 Prerequisites: PowerPoint accessibility fundamentals

This lesson assumes you've already made your PowerPoint presentation accessible. If you need to learn or review PowerPoint accessibility basics, see:

Checking reading order before export

Reading order issues in PowerPoint will carry over to the exported PDF. Do a final verification of reading order on any complex slides before exporting.

Reading order guidance

For detailed instructions on checking and fixing reading order, see Reading Order & Navigation in Module 3.

Final Accessibility Assistant review

Before exporting to PDF, run PowerPoint's Accessibility Assistant one final time to address any remaining issues (Review tab > Check Accessibility).

Accessibility Assistant guidance

For detailed information about using the Accessibility Assistant, see Global M365 Document Techniques.

Exporting to PDF with accessibility tags

PowerPoint offers multiple ways to create PDFs. The method you choose makes a significant difference in accessibility.

Recommended method: Export to PDF

This is the most reliable method for accessible PDFs from PowerPoint 365 for Windows.

  1. Click File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document
  2. Click Create PDF/XPS
  3. Choose where to save your file and enter a filename
  4. Important: Click the Options button
  5. In the Options dialog, verify these settings:
    • "Document structure tags for accessibility" is checked (this is critical)
    • Choose what to publish: "All" slides or a range
    • Choose whether to include hidden slides
    • Ensure "Publish what" is set to "Slides" (not handouts or notes)
  6. Click OK
  7. Click Publish

Alternative method: Save As PDF

This method also works reliably:

  1. Click File > Save As
  2. Choose where to save your file
  3. In the "Save as type" dropdown, select PDF (*.pdf)
  4. Important: Click the Options button
  5. In the Options dialog, verify "Document structure tags for accessibility" is checked
  6. Click OK, then Save

Critical: Avoid "Print to PDF"

Never use "Print to PDF" – This creates an image-based PDF without any accessibility features. The resulting PDF will be:

  • Completely inaccessible to screen readers
  • Missing all tags and structure
  • Unable to be navigated by keyboard
  • Non-compliant with accessibility requirements

Always use Save As or Create PDF/XPS with tags enabled.

Setting PDF options

In the Options dialog, consider these settings:

  • Slides: Choose which slides to include
  • Publish what: "Slides" (not "Handouts" or "Notes Pages" unless specifically needed)
  • Frame slides: Generally leave unchecked for cleaner output
  • Include hidden slides: Only if needed

After exporting

Open your PDF and do a quick check:

  1. Open in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free version) or your preferred PDF reader
  2. Try keyboard navigation – press Tab to move between content
  3. Test with screen reader software if available (Narrator is built into Windows)
  4. Check File > Properties to see if document title and language are set
  5. If available, use the Accessibility Checker in Adobe Acrobat Pro for detailed analysis

Essential tips for accessible PowerPoint PDFs

PDF export-specific considerations

  • Animations don't carry over to PDF: Ensure content makes sense without animations
  • Transitions are ignored: PDF shows static slides only
  • Speaker notes aren't included: Put essential information on slides or in a separate document
  • Links work in PDFs: Hyperlinks on slides remain functional in most PDF readers
  • Document properties transfer: PDF title and metadata come from presentation properties

Key takeaway

PDF accessibility starts in PowerPoint. Focus on proper slide structure, meaningful titles, alt text, and reading order during PowerPoint creation. Then use the correct export method ("Save As PDF" with document structure tags) to preserve that accessibility in the final PDF.

Remember: This lesson focused on the export process. For comprehensive PowerPoint accessibility training, complete Module 3 – PowerPoint Accessibility Techniques.

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