More than Meets the Eye: A Canadian Comparative Study on PowerPoint Use among Post-Secondary Students with and without Disabilities

The present study set out to explore effective teaching techniques using PowerPoint for post-secondary students with disabilities by comparing their views to those of students without disabilities. 284 Canadian post-secondary social science students, 75 of whom self-reported a disability, were surveyed about what aspects of PowerPoint use helps them learn. The good news is that the results indicate many similarities between the views of students with and without disabilities. Although all students felt that having PowerPoint available online was highly desirable, for students with disabilities this was perceived as an important disability accommodation. All students preferred that PowerPoint slides be made available before class in both PowerPoint and PDF formats; however, this was particularly important to students with disabilities. All students preferred that professors walk around some of the time rather than simply stand beside the lectern, that they select slides with good contrast rather than an interesting but busy background template, that they write concepts in full sentences as opposed to key words only, and that PowerPoint images be accompanied by text rather than presenting images only. Overall, our findings show that well-designed PowerPoint slides which incorporate accessibility features (easily included by using the Accessibility Checker feature of PowerPoint) can benefit everyone. Notably, fewer than half (41%) of the students with disabilities had registered with the college to receive disability-related accommodations; therefore, it is important that PowerPoint, as used by professors, be accessible to this large segment of the population of students with disabilities. Informative slides with a clear template and good contrast, along with an engaging presentation style, are likely to benefit everyone. Our findings also show that, contrary to the fears of many educators, students are unlikely to miss class if slides are posted online. Moreover, this is equally true for academically stronger as well as weaker students.