Grackle Slides - Step by Step Guide

Presentation title is required

Your presentation title typically defaults to the Google Slides name, but you can confirm and edit your presentation title if needed. 

1. Open Grackle Slides.
2. Select Presentation title is required.
3. Select Edit Title.

Document language should be specified 

Your document’s language will most likely be predetermined. If you need to change your document’s language: 

1. Select File in the top menu.
2. Select Language.
3. Choose your desired language from the list.

A slide should have a title 

If your slide does not have a title element, you will need to add one. 

1. Right-click the slide that does not have a title. 
2. Select Apply Layout.
3. Select a layout with a "Title" element. Some examples include “Title Slide”, “Title and Body”, “Title and Two Columns”, “Title Only”, and “Title and Content”. 

Note: You may need to reformat your slide to accommodate the new Title element. 

Slide title should be unique

Having unique slide titles makes it easier for folks to navigate your content. Make sure each slide title is different. 

A slide should not be empty 

Empty slides can make it more difficult for some users to navigate your content. Make sure that each slide in your presentation has content. 

Learn more about tables. 

Tables should be tagged and described

Google Slides does not have a mechanism to add columns or row headers to a table, so these must be added with Grackle Slides. 

It is best practice to only use tables for tabular data, not for page layout. 

To tag a table: 

1. Open Grackle Slides.
2. Select Tables should be tagged and described.
3. Select TAG.
4. In the pop-up window, mark header and column rows appropriately, or mark the table as a layout table. 
5. Select Update. 

The use of merged cells is not recommended 

Make sure that you don’t have any merged cells in your table. Merged cells make it more difficult to interpret information.

The use of empty cells is not recommended

Make sure that all of your table cells have content. Empty cells can make tables more difficult to navigate and interpret data. 

Learn more about alt text. 

Images should have alternative text 

Images that provide meaning must have alt text. You can add alt text by: 

1. Select the image that is being flagged. 
2. Select Image Options. 
3. Select Alt Text.
4. Enter your alt text into the Description text field. 

Elements should have alternative text 

Images that provide meaning must have alt text. You can add alt text by: 

1. Select the image that is being flagged. 
2. Select Image Options. 
3. Select Alt Text.
4. Enter your alt text into the Description text field. 

Text boxes should not be empty 

Sometimes extra text boxes are left in a presentation on accident. Make sure to remove any text boxes that do not have content. 

Lists should not be broken apart 

Learn more about accessible lists.

Unordered lists (typically seen as bullet-point lists) should have an “unordered list” tag applied.

Order lists (typically seen as numbered lists) should have an “ordered list” tag applied. 

Tag lists by: 

1. Select the text you want in your list. 
2. In the toolbar, select Bulleted list or Numbered list.

If a list is broken apart, you will need to reformat your list to recombine it. 

Fine print should be avoided 

Use easy to read sans serif fonts, such as Arial, Calibri, Verdana etc. Make sure your font size is at least 24 points (or, better yet, 28 points).

High color contrast should be used 

Learn more about color and color contrast.

To meet WCAG 2.0 AA requirements:

• Large text must have 3:1 contrast (text to background)

• Small text must meet 4.5:1 contrast (text to background) 

In-line style changes may lack clear meaning 

If you are styling your text to add meaning, you can add alt text by: 

1. Open Grackle Slides.  
2. Select In-line style changes may lack clear meaning.
3. Select +TAG.
4. In the pop-up window, add alternative text in the description text box, or select Mark as artifact. 

Empty trailing lines could be removed 

“Trailing lines” are extra text lines that appear after your written content. These are typically added on accident when content authors are editing text. 

You can remove them by: 

1. Select Empty trailing lines could be removed
2. Select Paragraph. Grackle will direct you to the text box with an empty trailing line. 
3. Select the textbox with the empty trailing line. 
4. Backspace until the empty trailing line has been removed.