PowerPoint Layout and Navigation
Note: There is a "Back" link at the bottom of this page that takes you back to the PowerPoint Description and Lesson Links web page.
PowerPoint 2010 and earlier comes up with a blank slide page, when you start the program. If you are using PowerPoint 2013, it comes up with a variety of pre-made templates that you can arrow through and select--if you want a simple blank PowerPoint slide page, hit the Escape key one time and you will be placed on the blank slide page.
There are three main areas which are displayed on a blank PowerPoint slide page. These ares are: The ribbon at the top, going left-to-right, completely across the width of the PowerPoint screen. The thumbnail area going down the left side of the PowerPoint screen. The main slide of the PowerPoint file you have open. The ribbon has a generic nine tabs, going from left-to-right in the following order: File, Home, Insert, Design, Transitions, Animations, Slide Show, Review, View. The File tab is also referred to as the "Back Stage View," and can be accessed with Alt f. When you press Alt f to go to the File menu, items go down a list, including but not limited to Open, Save, Save As, and Print. While you can use the Alf f save for a PowerPoint, hitting the F12 key brings up a more standard "Save As" dialogue box.
To move between the main three areas of a PowerPoint, use the following commands: F6 moves you forward from one area to the next (ribbon, left side thumbnail view, and actual slide you are working on). Shift F6 moves you backwards through the main three areas. Control Sift Tab switches between the thumbnail pane and the outline view pane. When you press Control Shift and hit the Tab key you are taken from a thumbnail view on the left side, to an outline view on the left side. Press Control Shift and hit the Tab key a second time to return to the thumbnail view.
To move through the tabs on the ribbon, hit the Alt key one time. Next, right arrow to move across the tabs, going left-to-right, or left arrow to move backward from right-to-left. You will need to hit the Tab key, listen, hit the Tab key, listen, repeatedly to move through the tabs of the ribbon. Next, arrow to the Home tab of the ribbon, down arrow one time, and then Tab your way through the ribbon items for Home to find out what is there. Now, move to the Insert tab of the ribbon, down arrow one time, and Tab your way through the items to see what is there. Do this same thing for the other tabs of the PowerPoint ribbon to become familiar with what items there are, and where they are located.
The PowerPoint slide generally consists of two or more areas which can have text that you type in, or items that you insert. Much like a Word document, you can add background colors, format the text, and even change the fonts.
Try the following activities to do simple navigation through the main ares of PowerPoint.
1. Hit the Windows key one time.
2. Type "powerpoint" (without the quotes).
3. Hit the Enter key one time. If you come up in "backstage/template view, hit the Escape key one time and you will be in a blank PowerPoint slide.
4. Hit the F6 key, listen.
5. Hit the F6 key a second time and listen.
6. Hit the F6 key a third time and listen. Do this until you are very familiar with what you hear, and are able to move to one of the areas quickly and accurately.
7. Press and hold down the Shift key and hit the F6 key, and listen.
8. Press and hold down the Shift key and hit the F6 key a second time, and listen.
9. Press and hold down the Shift key and hit the F6 key a third time, and listen.
Do this until you are very familiar with what you hear, and are able to move to one of the areas quickly and accurately.
10. Press and hold down the Alt key and hit the F4 key to close the PowerPoint program.
1. Hit the Windows key one time.
2. Type "powerpoint" (without the quotes).
3. Hit the Enter key one time. If you come up in "backstage/template view, hit the Escape key one time and you will be in a blank PowerPoint slide.
4. Press and hold down the Control key and hit the letter m three times to make three new slides.
5. Press Control Shift Tab either altogether, or hold Control Shift keys and hit the Tab key to bring up the "Outline View." Listen to what your screen reader says.
6. Press Control Shift Tab either altogether, or hold Control Shift keys and hit the Tab key to bring up the "Thumbnail View." Listen to what your screen reader says.
7. Press Control Shift Tab either altogether, or hold Control Shift keys and hit the Tab key to bring up the "Outline View." Listen to what your screen reader says. Do this again-and-again until you are quick and accurate, and know which view you are in.
8. Hit the F6 key again-and-again until you arrive at the thumbnail or outline view.
9. Down and up arrow through the slides in the thumbnail or outline view. Listen to your screen reader to become familiar with what is said.
10. Move to the thumbnail or outline view, down arrow to a slide, and hit F6 one time to move into the actual slide where you can edit.
11. Press Shift F6 to move from the slide you are on back to the thumbnail or outline view.
12. Down arrow to a different slide.
13. Hit the F6 key one time and you are ready to edit in the slide.
14. Do steps 10 through 13 above until you are quick and accurate.
15. Press Alt F4 (do not save) to close the PowerPoint program.
1. Hit the Windows key one time.
2. Type "powerpoint" (without the quotes).
3. Hit the Enter key one time. If you come up in "backstage/template view, hit the Escape key one time and you will be in a blank PowerPoint slide.
4. Hit the Alt key one time.
5. Hit the right arrow key one time and listen to what the screen reader says.
6. Hit the right arrow key a second time and listen to what the screen reader says. Do this again-and-again until you cycle back to the tab you started on.
7. Hit the left arrow key one time and listen to what the screen reader says.
8. Hit the left arrow key one time and listen to what the screen reader says. Do this again-and-again until you cycle back to the tab you started on.
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 above until you are quick and accurate.
10. Press Alt F4 to close the PowerPoint program.
1. Hit the Windows key one time.
2. Type "powerpoint" (without the quotes).
3. Hit the Enter key one time. If you come up in "backstage/template view, hit the Escape key one time and you will be in a blank PowerPoint slide.
4. Hit the Alt key one time.
5. Right arrow to the Home tab of the ribbon, if you are not already on it.
6. Down arrow one time.
7. Hit the Tab key one time and listen to your screen reader.
8. Hit the Tab key a second time and listen to your screen reader. Do this again-and-again to move through and learn what items are on the Home tab of the PowerPoint ribbon.
9. Hit the Escape key two times to be sure you have left the ribbon area.
10. Hit the Alt key one time.
11. Right arrow to the Insert tab of the PowerPoint ribbon.
12. Down arrow one time.
13. Hit the Tab key one time and listen to your screen reader.
14. Hit the Tab key a second time and listen to your screen reader. Do this again-and-again to move through and learn what items are on the Insert tab of the PowerPoint ribbon.
15. Hit the Escape key two times to be sure you have left the PowerPoint ribbon area.
16. Do the steps above to explore all of the other tabs of the PowerPoint ribbon. Practice until you are familiar, quick and accurate.
1. Hit the Windows key one time.
2. Type "powerpoint" (without the quotes).
3. Hit the Enter key one time. If you come up in "backstage/template view, hit the Escape key one time and you will be in a blank PowerPoint slide.
4. There are two methods for accessing the File menu: 1. Press Alt f, or 2. Hit the Alt key and left or right arrow until you hear "File," and then down arrow.
5. Move to the File menu and down arrow through the items. Do this until you cycle back to the item you started with.
6. Down arrow to the "New" menu item.
7. Hit the Tab key one time and you are in an edit box where you can type a category name for a pre-made PowerPoint template.
8. Down arrow through the links under the edit box.
9. Hit the Tab key three times and you will be in an area of general background templates, each of which has a specific setup and background coloring scheme..
10. Shift Tab back to the edit box and type in a search item, such as "Business" (without the quotes).
11. Hit the Enter key one time and wait about one minute. A group of template thumbnail images with titles come up.
12. Down arrow and right arrow through the rows and columns of thumbnail templates for the "Business" search.
13. Hit the Enter key one, possibly two times to have the template you selected come up. Wait a minute or two for the template to load. At this time, "Open" and "Save" items are not going to be covered.
14. Press Alt F4 to close the PowerPoint program. Do not save the file.