Skip to Page Content | Navigation for Module


Navigation for Module 3: Powerpoint
Page 5 of 25

  1. *Introduction
  2. *Tools You Need
  3. *Methods to Put Online
    1. "Save as Webpage" in PPT
    2. * "Save as RTF" in PPT
    3. Cut-and-Paste Method
    4. Third Party Tools
  4. *Make Webpage Method
  5. *Save Slides as Images
  6. *Template of Webpage
  7. *Title Slide
  8. *Bullet-List Slide
  9. *Multiple Column Slide
  10. *Embedded Video Slide
  11. *Table Slide
  12. *Image Slide
  13. *Drawing Shapes Slide
  14. *Notes Slide
  15. *Chart Slide
  16. *Non-Outline Text Slide
  17. *Sound Slide
  18. *Animation Slide
  19. *Publish to Blackboard
  20. *Publish to WebCT
  21. *Resources

Using "Save as RTF" in PowerPoint Method

As discussed in Methods to Put Online, there are six methods for putting a PowerPoint presentation online. Although the "Make Webpage Method" is recommended to achieve an accessible web-based presentation, another option is to use "Save as RTF" in the PowerPoint program.

Rich Text Format (RTF) is a file format used by WordPad and Microsoft Word that preserves text formatting (size, color, bold, bullet-list etc.) and allows for graphics to be inserted. The PowerPoint program has an option to "Save as RTF" an existing PowerPoint presentation.

Drawbacks of the "Save As RTF" in PowerPoint Method

The resulting Rich Text Format file does not contain all the information from the PowerPoint presentation. This is because text that was added using the "Text Box" tool and non-textual elements (i.e. graphics, tables, video, audio) are unable to be converted. To be accessible, all the information from the PowerPoint presentation must be in the resulting file. Therefore, the Rich Text Format file will need to be compared to the original PowerPoint presentation and a textual equivalent of non-textual elements plus any "missing text" information will need to be manually added.

To convert a PowerPoint presentation into Rich Text Format:

  1. Create folders to organize the files.
  2. Use the "Save as RTF" in PowerPoint.
  3. View the resulting Rich Text Format file.

Create Folders to Organize Files

It is recommended that you create one common folder, also known as a directory into which you place all the files associated with the PowerPoint presentation.

To create a folder:

  1. Go to the location on your computer where you want to create the folder. For this example, go to the desktop of your computer and select "My Documents."
     
  2. A new window called "My Documents" is displayed. Select "File" then "New" and then "Folder."
     
  3. A folder called "New Folder" is created; rename the folder with a descriptive name. For this example, name the folder "Mod3_PPT_RichText."

    Tip: File names containing spaces are not supported by many browsers. If a file name contains more than one word, use an underscore ( _ ) in place of the space or put the words together, capitalizing only the first letter of each additional word (even if the word is an acronym).
  4. Into the folder you created, copy the PowerPoint presentation that you want in Rich Text Format. For this example, download the sample PowerPoint presentation, HCI (.ppt, 184 KB) into the folder, "Mod3_PPT_RichText."

A PowerPoint presentation may be associated with other files, such as images or audio. To provide further organization, files of the same type should be grouped into their own folder within the common folder; this is called a subfolder, also known as a subdirectory.

To create a sub-folder:

  1. Select the folder where you want to place the sub-folder. For this example, go to the desktop of your computer, select "My Documents" then "Mod3_PPT_RichText."
     
  2. A new window called "Mod3_PPT_RichText" is displayed. Select "File" then "New" and then "Folder."
     
  3. A subfolder called "New Folder" is created; rename the subfolder with a descriptive name. For this example, no subfolder is needed; select "Cancel."
     

Use the "Save as RTF" in PowerPoint

The PowerPoint program has an option to save a PowerPoint presentation in. Rich Text Format (RTF); this format preserves the text formatting (size, color, bold, bullet-list etc.) and allows for graphics to be inserted.

To use the "Save as RTF" in PowerPoint:

  1. Open your PowerPoint program.
     
  2. Go to the "File" menu and select "Open."
     
  3. An "Open" dialog box appears; browse to the location of the PowerPoint presentation that you want to convert. For this example, open the sample presentation (HCI.ppt) within the "Mod3_PPT_RichText" folder of "My Documents."
     
  4. Select "Open" to close the window and load the selected PowerPoint presentation.
     
  5. Go to the "File" menu and then select "Save As".
     
  6. A new window called "Save As" is displayed; browse to the desired location. For this example, go to "My Documents" and select the "Mod3_PPT_RichText" folder.
     
  7. In the "Save as type" dropdown box, select the "Outline/RTF (*.rtf)" option (see Image 51)


    Description of Image 51: Select "Outline/RTF (*.rtf)" to save a PowerPoint in Rich Text Format

  8. In the "File name" text box, enter the name of the file. For this example, use "richtext_HCIppt.rtf" as the name.

    Tip: File names containing spaces are not supported by many browsers. If a file name contains more than one word, use an underscore ( _ ) in place of the space or put the words together, capitalizing only the first letter of each additional word (even if the word is an acronym).

  9. Select "Save" to close the window and return to the PowerPoint program.
     
  10. The name of the file will appear in the title bar.

View the Resulting Rich Text Format File

A word processing application (i.e. Microsoft Word, WordPad) must be used to view and edit a file in rich text format.

Tip: The Rich Text Format file also needs to be accessible. For more information, read Module 6 of this tutorial, Making Word Accessible.

To view a Rich Text Format file:

  1. Open your preferred text word processing application. For this example, Microsoft Word will be used. To open Microsoft Word, go to your "Start" menu then select "Programs" and then "Microsoft Office Word 2003"
     
  2. Go to the "File" menu and select "Open."
     
  3. An "Open" dialog box appears; browse to the location of the file that you want to view. For this example, select the file (richtext_HCIppt.rtf) in the "Mod3_PPT_RichText" folder of "My Documents".
     
  4. Select "Open" to close the window and view the selected file in your word processing applications. For this example, view the file of the sample PowerPoint (HCI.ppt) converted to Rich Text Format. (see Image 52).


    Description of Image 52: Portion of Sample PowerPoint presentation converted to Rich Text Format

In the end, the "Save as RTF" Method may not be the best solution for making a PowerPoint accessible

The next page will discuss how to "Cut-and-Paste" the outline of an existing PowerPoint presentation to create a Word or text file.

Top of Page arrow up
       Page 5
Next Page Next
Page 6:
Cut-and-Paste Method


 
-- END OF PAGE