Effective Date: 11 August 2026 · Last reviewed: 11 August 2026 · Version: 1.0
We want Slides by Karya to be usable by as many people as possible, including people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, magnification, or other assistive technology.
This statement is deliberately honest about what works and what does not. We would rather tell you where we fall short than claim a level of accessibility we have not earned.
1. The standard we work to
We aim for WCAG 2.1 Level AA. We are partially conformant — some parts of the Service do not yet fully meet that standard, and the significant gaps are listed in §4.
We have not yet commissioned an independent accessibility audit. We are a small team and the assessment below is our own. We will say so plainly here if and when that changes.
2. Two things to consider
Slides by Karya has two distinct audiences, and accessibility means something different for each:
People making decks use the editor — a visual, drag-and-position interface.
People watching decks open a shared link. That audience never signed up for anything, may be much larger than the author, and is the group most often forgotten by presentation tools. If you publish a deck to an audience with accessibility needs, §5 matters to you.
3. What currently works
- Shared deck pages declare their language, so screen readers pronounce content correctly
- Text in decks is real text, not baked into images — it can be read aloud, selected, translated, and resized by the browser
- Colour and contrast are controllable through the theme and design controls
- PowerPoint export preserves image alternative text, so an exported
.pptxcan be made fully accessible in PowerPoint or Keynote - No auto-playing audio, and no flashing content that could trigger seizures
- Sign-in, billing, and account pages use standard form controls
4. Known limitations
We are telling you about these because they are real, not because we intend to leave them.
| Limitation | Effect | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Images in shared decks and web output carry empty alternative text | Screen readers skip them entirely, so image content is lost to blind and low-vision viewers | ⚠️ Known defect — fix in progress. The underlying deck format already supports alternative text and PowerPoint export uses it; the web output does not yet. |
| The editor is a visual drag-and-position canvas | Positioning elements by keyboard alone is limited, and screen reader support in the editing surface is incomplete | Under review |
| Shared decks are presentation surfaces, not documents | Slide content lacks a heading hierarchy and landmark structure, so navigating by headings does not work | Under review |
| No independent audit | Our conformance claim is self-assessed | Planned as we grow |
| Some AI-generated content may lack structure | The AI writes for visual layout, not always for semantic order | Under review |
5. Making your own decks more accessible
If you are publishing to an audience, these help — and some of them work around our limitations above:
- Export to PowerPoint or PDF and share that file where accessibility matters. PowerPoint export carries image alternative text; the web share page does not yet.
- Describe your images in the slide text rather than relying on the image alone to carry meaning
- Keep contrast high between text and background
- Do not rely on colour alone to convey meaning — label the thing as well as colouring it
- Use larger text than looks right on your own monitor; audiences sit further away than you do
- Speak your slides aloud when presenting rather than expecting people to read them
If you are subject to accessibility obligations of your own — a public body, a large employer, an education provider — please read §4 before publishing a share link. Exporting may be the better route for you today.
6. Tell us about a problem
If you hit an accessibility barrier, tell us. It genuinely helps us prioritise.
support@the-karya.com — put Accessibility in the subject line.
Please include what you were trying to do, what happened, and what assistive technology, browser, and device you were using, if you can.
We aim to respond within 5 business days. If we cannot fix something quickly, we will tell you honestly and suggest a workaround.
Need something in a different format? Ask, and we will do what we reasonably can to help.
7. Enforcement
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to raise the matter with a body in your country responsible for equality or accessibility. In the UK that is the Equality Advisory and Support Service; in the EU, the enforcement body designated in your member state. We would rather hear from you first.
8. Review
We review this statement at least annually, and whenever we make a significant change to the editor or the shared deck experience.
Our commitments for the coming period:
- Fix alternative text in web output so images in shared decks are described
- Automatically suggest alternative text for AI-generated images, so decks
- Improve keyboard navigation in the editor
- Commission an independent audit as we grow
to screen readers — the highest-impact item on this list
are accessible by default rather than by diligence
Karya · New Delhi, India support@the-karya.com