Guidelines for Inclusive Presentations

This page provides presenters with guidelines for designing and giving inclusive and accessible presentations. If you will be presenting on behalf of Wild Animal Initiative or at a Wild Animal Initiative event, please read the entirety of this page and incorporate the recommendations below into your presentation to the best of your ability. If you have any questions or concerns about any of the guidelines below, please do not hesitate to contact the event coordinator.

General guidelines

Provide captioning or transcriptions for audio-visual content.
Avoid flashing lights or graphics throughout the presentation.
Avoid unnecessary background music or noise.
Always use slides to pair an oral presentation with visual cues.
Always use the microphone, even if you don’t think you need it.
Describe any pictures or graphics for audience members who cannot see them. For help with creating meaningful descriptions, please see Harvard University's guide.
Provide a break around 60 to 90 minutes into the presentation, if the presentation will be longer than that.
During the question and answer portion, take the first question from a woman or a person of color, as this has been shown to result in more diverse audience participation.

Presentation context matters

When deciding how much and what kind of content to include on your slides, consider the context. Are you presenting on stage in a large auditorium, TED-style? Are you in a conference room with a small screen projector? Are you presenting virtually or just sending out your presentation in an email? Each scenario comes with its own unique considerations. Generally speaking, your guiding question should be, “Is this slide legible for someone sitting in the back of the room?”

Large screen on stage

Your slides should be simple, with minimal content that supports what you are saying, not duplicating it word for word. Slides should convey the main idea, not the details.
Minimum font size is 28pt, and aim for 36-48pt for titles/headlines.

Small screen projector

It’s fine to put more detail on your slides in this setting than you would in a large-screen setting, but be thoughtful. Keep in mind you want your audience to pay attention to what you are saying, not the text on the screen.
Minimum font size is 24pt, and aim for 36-48pt for titles/headlines.

Virtual

Same guidelines as for a small screen setting.
Present with captions when available.
Minimum font size is 18pt, and aim for 36-48pt for titles/headlines.

Email

Your slides can be comprehensive but should maintain simplicity. Make sure the file is accessible via assistive technology like screen readers. For information on how to do so, please refer to UW-Madison’s guide.
Include descriptive alt text on visual elements (photos, charts, logos, etc). Use Harvard University's guide to writing meaningful alt text.
You can probably get away with text as small as 16pt. Viewers can control zoom levels if needed.

Legibility

Using the above font size guidance for your presentation scenario, make sure your text will be readable for everyone.
Ensure there is color contrast between your background and content. You can use a color contrast checker such as WebAim.
Avoid overcrowded slides; use multiple slides to convey additional information.
Choose an easy-to-read font and use it consistently throughout the presentation.
Always use sentence case; never use all caps.

Data visualizations

Data visualizations are a great tool for presenting a lot of information all at once, they alleviate language differences, and they grab a viewer’s attention. The downside is that they can create a challenge for those with visual impairments.

Highcharts.com has an excellent guide for creating accessible data visualizations. The main takeaways are:

Use more than one indicator (i.e. color and pattern).
Provide a text summary of data.
Keep language and visuals as simple as possible.

For presentations that are emailed to the audience:

Interactive visualizations should be accessible via keyboard.
They should be responsive for varying screen sizes.

Color

Choose colors that are easy to distinguish for colorblind individuals.

Always avoid combining red and green.
Use shapes and icons to create distinctions instead of color.
For graphs, apply labels directly instead of using a legend. Alternatively, lines should be distinguished by pattern rather than color.
Use black and white whenever possible. Black and white graphics also print/copy best.
If color is absolutely necessary, [blue and red] or [yellow and orange] can be combined. For specific color-scheme recommendations, use ColorBrewer and choose to only show “colorblind safe” options.
Use a Color Blindness Simulator to see how your content will appear.
For more information about making color-blind-friendly graphics, please see this article by Ivan Kilin (2022).

Inclusive language

Ensure your presentation is welcoming and inclusive of a diverse audience. Avoid using terminology that may be harmful or exclude a particular group. For additional guidance, see the APA’s “Using Inclusive Language in Your Presentations”.

Be mindful of the potential harms of land acknowledgements.
If interested in including a land acknowledgement, please see Native Governance Center's Beyond Land Acknowledgment: A Guide.
Avoid harmful terminology that perpetuates stereotypes or systems of oppression.
Do not assume anyone’s gender identity, sexual preference, survivor status, economic status, background, or health status.
Make sure to refer to people by the pronouns they use. Do not make assumptions about an individual’s pronouns. If you do not know someone’s pronouns, please ask them or address them by their name.
Use gender-neutral pronouns (e.g. they/them) for hypothetical individuals whose gender is irrelevant to the conversation.
Use gender-inclusive language (including in greetings).
Call out and challenge problematic norms and systems of oppression within science or your field.
Be mindful of the groups and cultures that are being represented and privileged in your images.