How Grackle Slides Works

Grackle Slides is an add-on that runs in Google Slides. You can install Grackle Slides here.

When opened, it scans all the Slides in the Presentation for accessibility issues.

When the scan finishes, Grackle Slides arranges the document’s elements and structures into 5 categories.

• Sheets
• Tables
• Charts
• Content

These categories can be seen in the user interface on the right side of the screen.

Elements in each are marked as either accessible or inaccessible. Changes are made by selecting and editing these elements in these categories. For example, images should have alt-text.

Slides presentation properties are important for ensuring the document is immediately well structured.

• Presentation title is required
• Document language should be specified

Each slide within the presentation needs the following properties to be accessible.

• A slide should have a title
• Slide title should be unique
• A slide should not be empty

Tables within slides are commonly inaccessible.

They pose a special challenge for screen readers because they present textual or numerical data to be easily referenced visually.

• Tables should be tagged and described
• The use of merged cells is not recommended
• The use of empty cells is not recommended

Grackle checks through Slides Elements to make sure alt-text is present and lists conform to standards.

• Images should have alternative text
• Elements should have alternative text
• Text boxes should not be empty
• Lists should not be broken apart

Grackle scans against and helps resolve two content-related accessibility issues.

• Fine print should be avoided
• High color contrast should be used
• In-line style changes may lack clear meaning
• Empty trailing lines should be removed