Smart Art re-sizing issue

Using Standard Shapes is a poor second choice. It becomes very manual.

Don't forget that SmartArt exists in all of the applications, so if you need to, you can create the org chart in Word or Excel, then copy the chart to any other Office application.

There are also quite a few dedicated charting applications that can be used to create org and hierarchy charts. 

2010 Office-Identify which program to use to create an organization ...https://support.office.com/en-US/article/Identify-which-program-to-use-to-create-an-organization-chart-273B88B7-5EDF-440F-9B26-C657148B07C1

Organization charts show the reporting relationships between individuals and groups. Determine which Office 2010 program to use to create your org chart.

2010 Office- Open the Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office Programs (not SmartArt) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/open-the-organization-chart-add-in-for-microsoft-office-programs-HA010377231.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA010377203

The Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programs, previously called Microsoft Organization Chart 2.0, is an add-in for Microsoft Office 2010 programs that you can install and then add to your Office documents. Organization Chart is not installed automatically when you install Office 2010, and you must install it manually before you can use it. You can create an organization chart without installing the Organization Chart Add-in by using Visio or by creating a SmartArt graphic. For more information

How toBuild a PowerPoint Organizational Chart With Excel Datahttps://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/build-powerpoint-organizational-chart-excel-data-3230.html

Microsoft Office 2013 allows you to illustrate and export your chart data to different programs. Create an organization chart in Excel and then insert this chart in a PowerPoint presentation for your clients’ analysis. Starting with the Excel program offers the advantage of making Excel’s editing tools available in the PowerPoint slide. Apply the format and layout options to make your chart’s data stand out in a presentation.

Most of my tips show that you can create many variations of Org Charts by importing data into Visio

Use Visio, It has a Better Range of Shapes and Options

Visio has better shapes collections that the other Office Apps. You can create your org chart in Visio, then paste it into Word or Excel.

Containers and callouts in Visio 2013

http://blogs.office.com/b/visio/archive/2012/11/05/containers-and-callouts-in-visio.aspx

Containers are a convenient way to visually group your shapes together and then easily work with that group.   Callouts provide a simple mechanism to attach text to a shape.  We’ve improved both in the new Visio. Specifically, there are more shapes to give you increased flexibility to express your information. We also updated our old and new shapes with themes, so you have many choices for customizing the look and feel of your diagram to your audience.  Lastly, we streamlined the insert menus and the heading styles menu to make it easier to find, select and customize the shape you want.

by Jason Morrill    on November 05, 2012

2016 2013 Visio-Create an organization chart automatically from employee data  https://support.office.com/en-US/article/Create-an-organization-chart-automatically-from-employee-data-8f2e693e-25fc-410e-8264-9084eb0b9360

An organization chart (org chart) is a diagram that shows relationships among employees, titles, and groups. If you have all the employee information in a document ...

Creating a diagram - In Visio from Excel Data

http://blogs.office.com/b/visio/archive/2013/04/18/data-linked-diagrams-creating-a-diagram-in-visio.aspx

Visio offers over 60 types of professional templates to build compelling diagrams, and organization charts are among most the frequently created. Visio organization charts are simple and visual, but what if you want to connect them to key business indicators tracked by your organization, such as sales by region, budget by department, vacation status, or training progress? Sometimes this information is located in another source, like Excel or  a complex database. Data-linked diagrams let you add data to Visio diagrams--no code required--and anyone in an organization can quickly create such dashboards to get better insights into data using Visio Professional 2013 or Visio Pro for Office 365.

I totally agree with you!!  I appreciate that you can use standard shapes and create your own hierarchy, moving and resizing boxes as you wish, but this is not the best solution for someone who relies on a screen reader.  Whilst PowerPoint is not the most accessible of packages, the SmartArt option at least gives someone with a visual impairment a decent chance of being able to create and amend a chart.  There must be some way to lock down the size of the box once you have entered the text and got it how you want it to look.  Come on Microsoft - help us out here!

This you can fix by right clicking on the smart art, then go to More Layout options, and then go to size and then you unlock the hight and width ratio lockunder scale

I usually draw a table and then move the cells as I wish. Any shape I want I can add inside the cell. Then clear the lines of the table I no longer require