Microsoft Sway is one of my favorite tools for organizing presentations and creating handouts that can be accessed from any device, and I frequently use Sway as a PowerPoint alternative in several of my classes for reading lecture notes. Sway makes it a lot easier for me to customize the appearance of documents to match my reading preferences, and there are several display and accessibility options for Sway that can make it easier for users with low vision to access content in a way that works for them.
Here are my favorite options for creating accessible Microsoft Sway designs for low vision, including options for viewing Sways with large print and strategies for adding display customizations or increasing the font size even more for existing Sways.
What is Microsoft Sway?
Microsoft Sway is a free web application for creating one-page documents, presentations, newsletters, and simple webpages that incorporate multimedia content (text, images, sounds, file attachments, and more). Users can access Sway content directly from the web browser with no downloads needed and customize the appearance of text, with options for downloading Sway content for offline reading as well. While no Microsoft account is needed to view a Sway (unless viewing restrictions are enabled by the author), users are required to log in with a Microsoft account to create and save their own Sways. Additional premium features for Sway are also available for Microsoft 365 subscribers.
As a student with low vision, I convert PowerPoint presentations to Sway so I can read them in a single-column layout within a web browser and remove decorative elements like colored backgrounds or low-contrast color schemes that make it harder to focus on information. Outside of class notes, I have used Sway for a variety of projects over the years, including creating a portfolio, creating take-away documents and resource sheets, and presenting projects for my classes. Every Sway I have created for school has earned at least a 100%!
Related links
- Microsoft Sway homepage
- How I Access PowerPoints with Microsoft Sway
- Organizing a PhD Portfolio With Microsoft Sway
- Creating Take-Away Documents With Microsoft Sway
Display content in a single-column layout with Sway
When vertical scrolling is enabled in the Sway Styles menu (found in the Design tab), all content will be displayed in a single-column layout. Single column layouts display information from top-to-bottom for more straightforward scrolling or line tracking, while double-column layouts (horizontal) display information side-by-side, requiring the reader to read the first column from top-to-bottom before reading text from the next column, which may be used to save space. I personally use and recommend single-column layouts for displaying text with large print.
As part of View settings in Microsoft Sway, viewers have the option to change the layout of a Sway to horizontal, vertical, or slides view without modifying the original Sway file. To ensure that users can change Sway layouts for their own reading preferences, go to More Available Options (ellipses menu) and select Settings for this Sway > View settings > Viewers can change the layout of this Sway. To change the layout of a Sway while viewing it in the web browser, select the Settings icon at the top of the screen and choose a layout option.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Adapting Page Layouts: Math Problems and Low Vision
- How I Take Math Tests With Double Vision
- How To Create An Accessible Formula Sheet
The best Sway content styles for low vision access
Located in the Design tab, Sway’s Styles menu offers thousands of potential design combinations for creating Sway presentations and customizing the appearance of Sway content. While all of the Sway themes have theoretically been designed with readability in mind, some of the themes have background graphics, decorative elements, or bright colors that can make it difficult or impossible for someone with low vision to read on their own. To ensure that users can read both headings and body text in Sway, I recommend using one of the following styles for Sway that do not have background graphics and that make it easy to locate headings:
- Content Style 2
- Variation 2 (serif font)
- Variation 3 (sans serif font)
- Content Style 3
- Variation 39
- Variation 50
- Content Style 4
- Variation 1
- Variation 2 (change default colors)
- Variation 3
- Variation 4 (change default colors)
- Variation 5
- Variation 6
- Content Style 6
- Variation 1
- Variation 3
I do not generally recommend Content Style 1, Content Style 5, or Content Style 7 for low vision accessibility due to the use of background graphics and other decorative elements. However, users can duplicate or export Sways if the creator of the Sway has enabled this option in settings and apply a different content style to their own copy.
Choosing high contrast colors for Microsoft Sway
After choosing a content style, users can further customize colors in Microsoft Sway by selecting the Customize option in the Styles menu. Users can select Sway color palettes from a list or generate a custom color palette based on an image in their Sway. For optimal readability, I recommend having body text appear as either black text on a white background or white text on a black background, as the colored backgrounds may not provide sufficient text contrast.
Related links
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- How To Use Invert Colors With Low Vision
- Choosing Between Light Mode and Dark Mode For Low Vision
- How To Use High Contrast in Windows 11
Reading Sway with Accessibility View
For users that find content styles distracting or that use a screen reader, another option for viewing Sway content is to enable Accessibility View. Accessibility View will display the Sway in a high contrast design with full keyboard functionality and screen reader access to all content. This removes content styles and presents information in a structured view, similar to a Word document, and uses a serif font. To view Sway with Accessibility View, open the More menu (three dots icon) and select Accessibility View.
Another option for displaying Sway with large print is to export Sway as a Word document, which can be done by selecting More > Export > Word. From there, users can view Sway content in Microsoft Word and customize the font styles and font sizes with more precision, while keeping the headings structure intact.
Related links
- Secret Microsoft Office Accessibility Features I Use Every Day
- My Most-Used Keyboard Shortcuts For Academic Writing
Accessible font choices and text size for Microsoft Sway
Unlike other Microsoft applications, Sway has a list of pre-set heading and body text pairings and font sizes on a slider that users can select for their Sway content. This includes options for both serif fonts and sans serif fonts. In general, sans-serif fonts are recommended for accessible text because they can be read easily across a variety of letter sizes, though some people with low vision prefer to use serif fonts; it’s worth noting that Accessibility View uses a serif font in Microsoft Sway, so users can easily switch to a serif font if preferred.
When designing accessible Sways, I recommend using the Arial Nova/Arial Nova font combination for a sans serif font that is easier to read on screens. For audiences that prefer a serif font, Bodoni/Times New Roman is another option to consider.
Font sizes for Microsoft Sway
There are five font size options for Sway documents, though viewers can also use browser zoom to increase the font size of text. Microsoft Sway uses a responsive layout or reflowable layout to display content; if someone uses browser zoom in Sway, the content will automatically adjust to fit their screen, with no horizontal scrolling required. I have used Sway at 300% zoom to enlarge text, though sometimes the Share button will temporarily appear on the screen if I move my mouse.
Here are the Sway font sizes for body text available on the text slider, documented using Web Inspector:
- Smallest: 13 px
- Small: 16 px
- Normal: 17 px
- Large: 19 px
- Largest: 22 px
I always use the largest font on the slider and use browser zoom to enlarge text further using the Ctrl + + shortcut on my keyboard.
Related links
- My Favorite Free Fonts For Print Disabilities
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
- Mainstream eReader Apps and Low Vision Accessibility
Turn off animations in Microsoft Sway
People with visual impairments or vestibular challenges may be sensitive to animations, including those enabled by default in Microsoft Sway. To reduce animations in Sway, go to the Design > Styles > Customize > Animation emphasis and set animation emphasis to subtle to remove transition effects and parallax effects from Sway.
When viewing a Sway, viewers can also turn off animations for Sway by selecting the Settings icon at the top of the Sway and turning off animations. This is something I always do when accessing a Sway I did not create myself.
Related links
Adjust image sizes in Microsoft Sway and add alt text
Even when vertical scrolling is enabled, some pictures with a text box directly underneath will show the text and image side-by-side, or show two images side-by-side if they are shown with equal emphasis. An easy way to fix this and display all content in a single-column layout is to set a higher or lower level of emphasis for the content. This can be done by selecting the item in the Storyline tab and selecting the desired emphasis/size for the item— there are three size options available with corresponding square icons. This strategy is also helpful for enlarging images so they take up more space on the screen, which is helpful for low vision.
To add an image in Microsoft Sway:
- Select the Insert Content/Plus icon at the bottom of a card
- Select the “Media” tab
- Select the “Image” option
- Select the source for an image from the drop-down menu- users can search the web, upload from OneDrive, or upload from their device
To make images accessible to screen reader users, users will need to add alternative text, also known as alt text, which is a text-based description of an image that is recognized by a screen reader. Alternatively, users can make alt text visible to everyone by adding a descriptive caption (also known as an image description).
To add alt text and/or image captions in Microsoft Sway:
- On the image card, select the “Details” button
- Select either the caption or alternative text section
- Type a description in the text box of the image that describes any important visual details
- Select the “Image” button in the top left corner to save and close the Details menu
Users can insert a variety of images, including photos, diagrams, graphs, charts, and more. To learn more about writing alt text and image descriptions, check out my post on more in-depth topics below.
Related links
- How To Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the Visually Impaired
- How To Write Alt Text For Educational Content
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Low Vision
More tips for customizing accessible Sway designs with low vision
- Interested in making Sways accessible for people with visual impairments, but not necessarily interested in making them publicly accessible? Sways do not show up in search engine results unless they are linked or embedded on another public website (e.g. social media pages). Sways can also be password-protected and/or restricted so they can only be viewed by others within the author’s organization. I share more about this in Organizing a PhD Portfolio With Microsoft Sway
- Want to create a digital cookbook with Microsoft Sway? Sway is included in my list of tools on how to Create An Accessible Digital Cookbook With Microsoft Products
- I introduced Sway to one of my professors and they started using Sway to share notes for our statistics class; I wrote more about using Sway for math content in Five Apps I Use In Statistics Classes As A Low Vision Student
Published May 26, 2020. Updated December 2025