Ending the Silent Discrimination of Inaccessible Slides: UserWay for Microsoft PowerPoint Automates Accessibility

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Sep 19, 2023, 08:00 ET

New solution for slides that speak to everyone takes aim at a notorious barrier in the workplace - presentations.

WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UserWay (TASE: UWAY), a full-service provider of digital accessibility software, announced the launch of UserWay for Microsoft PowerPoint, which makes presentations accessible for people with disabilities, better for teams, and compliant for organizations. UserWay's platform is built for the highest standards set by the ADA, Section 508, PDF/UA, and WCAG 2.1 & 2.2.

When presentations collide with assistive technologies:
With 1.2 billion MS Office users across sectors including business, government and academia, there has been no end-to-end solution to fully support accessible PowerPoint files. Consequently, slides rich with data, content and infographic appear meaningless with no sequenced order when being accessed by screen reader users. The inaccessible slide has become an agent of discrimination by omission.

UserWay for MS PowerPoint allows team members to handle accessibility on the spot, solving the most complicated part of PowerPoint accessibility - creating logical reading sequences, structured headings, with rapid export to an accessible PDF file.

Once installed, the solution works inside of MS PowerPoint as an integrated accessibility toolbar. It scans presentations for accessibility issues, applies automatic fixes, and guides users to solve any remaining issues step by step. It tackles common problems like missing alternative texts for images, color contrast violations, heading structure, inaccessible links, tables, lists and more.

UserWay for MS PowerPoint joins the company's product family for digital documents used by public companies, government agencies, major banks, and telecoms. In August 2023, UserWay for MS Office was shortlisted for the coveted Zero Project 2024 award, with disability inclusion experts from around the world acknowledging the company's impact on inclusive technology.

"Organizations committing to DEI must realize that inaccessible documents pose serious obstacles for people with disabilities. Addressing these barriers is easier than ever. With UserWay for MS Office, every team member instantly becomes an accessibility champion, authoring deliverables that align with organizational GRC policies," said Allon Mason, UserWay CEO.

"Prioritizing accessibility from the start is more cost-effective than fixing it later – and fosters an inclusive culture," said Shirley Cohen-Schwartz, head of UserWay for MS Office, which includes UserWay for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

About UserWay

UserWay is a global digital accessibility leader committed to enabling the fundamental human right of digital inclusion. UserWay solutions are trusted by millions of websites globally to increase usability for users of different abilities. Al-powered technologies, combined with human-in-the-loop processes, help websites, apps, and digital documents more readily achieve compliance with accessibility regulations, such as the ADA, Section 508, AODA and EAA, and internationally recognized standards such as WCAG 2.1 AA, WCAG 2.2, and EN 301 549.

UserWay Contact:
Sophia Tupolev-Luz
VP Communications
[email protected]
www.userway.org

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SOURCE UserWay