📚 Original Research Series
→ AI Tools Comparison (Methodology) | PDF Conversion Benchmark | State of Arabic Presentations
AI Presentation Tools RTL Accuracy Test 2026
Arabic is spoken by 400+ million people. Yet most AI presentation tools treat right-to-left (RTL) languages as an afterthought — or ignore them entirely.
We ran a structured test to measure exactly how well current AI presentation tools handle Arabic content. The results document a significant gap in the market.
Disclosure: Sharayeh is our product and was tested using the same methodology as all other tools.
Methodology
Test Date
March 15-20, 2026
Tools Tested
- Sharayeh
- Gamma
- Beautiful.ai
- Canva Magic Design
- SlidesAI
- Tome
- Google Slides (Gemini)
- Prezi AI
Test Inputs
We used 4 standardized Arabic test inputs of increasing complexity:
Test 1 — Pure Arabic text
A 200-word Arabic paragraph about climate change. No English, no numbers, no special characters.
Test 2 — Bidirectional text
An Arabic paragraph containing English brand names (Microsoft, Google), email addresses, URLs, and parenthetical references.
Test 3 — Arabic with numbers and data
A financial summary with Arabic text, Western numerals, currency symbols (SAR, AED), percentages, and a table.
Test 4 — Full Arabic presentation prompt
"أنشئ عرضًا تقديميًا من 10 شرائح عن أثر الذكاء الاصطناعي على سوق العمل في المملكة العربية السعودية"
(Create a 10-slide presentation about AI's impact on the job market in Saudi Arabia)
Scoring Criteria (7 dimensions)
| Criterion | What We Checked | Max Score |
|---|---|---|
| Text Direction | Does generated text flow right-to-left? | 10 |
| Paragraph Alignment | Is body text right-aligned? Are bullets on the right? | 10 |
| Font Rendering | Are Arabic characters rendered correctly with proper joining? | 10 |
| Font Quality | Is a readable Arabic font used (not a Latin fallback)? | 10 |
| Bidirectional Handling | Are English words/URLs within Arabic text positioned correctly? | 10 |
| Number Formatting | Are numbers and units displayed correctly in context? | 10 |
| PPTX RTL Export | When downloaded as .pptx, does RTL survive in PowerPoint? | 10 |
Total possible score: 70 points
Results
Aggregate Scores
| Rank | Tool | Text Dir | Alignment | Rendering | Font | Bidi | Numbers | PPTX Export | Total /70 | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sharayeh | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 67 | 96% |
| 2 | Google Slides (Gemini) | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 59% |
| 3 | Canva Magic Design | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 44% |
| 4 | Gamma | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 30% |
| 5 | SlidesAI | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 26% |
| 6 | Tome | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 17% |
| 7 | Beautiful.ai | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 13% |
| 8 | Prezi AI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Per-Test Breakdown
Test 1: Pure Arabic Text
| Tool | Accepted? | Text Direction | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharayeh | ✅ | RTL ✅ | Correct Arabic text with right-aligned paragraphs, proper font |
| Google Slides | ✅ | Partial ⚠️ | Text generated in Arabic but paragraphs defaulted to left-align |
| Canva | ✅ | LTR ❌ | Arabic text generated but displayed left-to-right |
| Gamma | ✅ | LTR ❌ | Generated Arabic content but in LTR layout |
| SlidesAI | ✅ | LTR ❌ | Similar to Gamma — text is Arabic, layout is English |
| Tome | ⚠️ | LTR ❌ | Generated mostly Arabic with some English fragments mixed in |
| Beautiful.ai | ❌ | N/A | Rejected Arabic input, produced English content instead |
| Prezi AI | ❌ | N/A | Failed to generate any output from Arabic prompt |
Test 2: Bidirectional Text
This is the hardest test. Arabic paragraph containing: "Microsoft Azure"، email (user@example.com)، URL (https://example.com)
| Tool | English words ordered correctly? | Email/URL intact? | Parentheses correct? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharayeh | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Google Slides | ⚠️ Some reversed | ⚠️ URL split across lines | ❌ |
| Canva | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| All others | ❌ | ❌ or N/A | ❌ |
Test 3: Numbers and Data
Arabic financial summary with: SAR 1,500,000 / ١٥٪ growth / 2026 tables
| Tool | Currency positioning | Percentage | Table direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharayeh | ✅ SAR on correct side | ✅ | ✅ RTL columns |
| Google Slides | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ❌ LTR columns |
| All others | ❌ or untested (didn't generate) | ❌ | ❌ |
Test 4: Full Presentation Prompt
| Tool | Slides Generated? | Topic Coverage | Slide Structure | Professional Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharayeh | ✅ 10 slides | ✅ Comprehensive | ✅ Intro → Sections → Conclusion | ✅ |
| Google Slides | ✅ 7 slides | ⚠️ Partial | ⚠️ Some slides underdeveloped | ⚠️ |
| Canva | ✅ 6 slides | ⚠️ Basic | ❌ No logical structure | ⚠️ |
| Gamma | ✅ 8 slides | ⚠️ Some English leaked in | ❌ LTR layout | ⚠️ |
| Others | ❌ Failed | — | — | — |
Common Failure Patterns
1. "Arabic Text in English Layout"
The most common failure mode: the tool generates Arabic text content but renders it in a left-to-right layout. Bullets appear on the left, text is left-aligned, and the visual reading flow is wrong.
Tools affected: Gamma, SlidesAI, Canva, Tome
2. "English Translation Instead"
Some tools ignore the Arabic prompt entirely and produce English content.
Tools affected: Beautiful.ai, Prezi AI (total failure)
3. "Bidi Scrambling"
English words within Arabic text appear in wrong order or break across lines incorrectly.
Tools affected: Google Slides (partially), all others except Sharayeh
4. "Font Fallback"
Arabic text is rendered using a Latin-primary font's Arabic glyphs, resulting in poor letter joining, wrong kerning, or missing characters.
Tools affected: Gamma, Tome, SlidesAI
5. "PPTX Loses RTL"
Even when the web preview looks correct, the downloaded .pptx file reverts to LTR in PowerPoint.
Tools affected: All except Sharayeh (Google Slides partially preserves it)
Why RTL Support Matters
- 400M+ Arabic speakers — largest RTL language by speaker count
- GCC business market — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar have among the highest GDP per capita globally
- Government mandates — Many GCC governments require Arabic-first documentation
- Education — Arabic universities and schools need Arabic teaching materials
- Accessibility — Correct RTL is an accessibility requirement for Arabic users
Recommendations
| Audience | Our Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Arabic-only content | Sharayeh — the only tool with full RTL support |
| Bilingual Arabic + English | Sharayeh — handles bidi text correctly |
| Google Workspace teams needing Arabic | Google Slides (manual RTL fix) + consider Sharayeh for generation |
| English content, no Arabic needed | Gamma or Beautiful.ai — excellent English tools |
FAQ
Why can't most AI tools handle Arabic?
Most AI presentation tools were built with English/Latin script assumptions: left-to-right layout, Latin font stacks, Western number formatting. Supporting RTL requires changes to the layout engine, font pipeline, and content generation model. Most tools haven't invested in this.
Is Google Slides good enough for Arabic?
Google Slides can display Arabic text and has partial RTL support, but the AI generation (Gemini) doesn't create proper RTL layouts. You'll need to manually fix alignment, bullet direction, and text direction on each slide.
Will these tools improve their Arabic support?
Possibly. As the Arabic-speaking market grows in digital adoption, tool makers have commercial incentive to add RTL support. However, as of March 2026, progress has been slow.
How can I verify these results?
Our test prompts are published above. Run them on each tool and compare your results against our scores.
Related Guides
- AI Presentation Tools Comparison 2026
- Arabic Presentation Design Guide
- Arabic Presentation Maker Guide
- Best AI Presentation Makers 2026
- Translate PowerPoint Guide
Related Tools
The only AI tool that scores 96% on RTL accuracy:
Arabic Presentation Maker ↗ — correct Arabic RTL in 30 seconds. Free.