Making online meetings accessible
With more than 2 million people having a vision impairment in the UK, it's likely that people you work with will too. In 2022, Zoom was hosting 300 million meetings every day.
Not all disabilities are visible. Make your online meetings as accessible as possible so you don’t discriminate against your attendees.
First, do you actually need the meeting?
Take a second to consider if you actually need the meeting. It can be so easy to just pop a meeting in the diary but some people find meetings stressful and exhausting. Often these conversations can be handled by email.
Ask attendees if they have any needs
It’s best practice to ask attendees if they need any adjustments in advance of the meeting, especially if you don’t know them. This will give you prior warning to make any necessary changes. However, if you follow the steps below, the majority of accessibility improvements should already be in place.
Provide an agenda in advance
Agendas can be added to the meeting invitation and should specify the key points of the meeting and who is expected to speak. This way every participant knows what is required of them in advance and can prepare. People with disabilities may struggle to contribute to the meeting without prior warning.
Choose the right words
If you’re presenting, check what you’re planning to say in Grammarly first. Grammarly is a free tool that checks your content for readability and recommends improvements. Another great tool is this A-Z of plain English alternatives. Avoid using acronyms and be sure to explain any confusing terms. This benefits everyone in the meeting, not just people with disabilities.
Turn your camera on
This is pretty standard for most meetings but it’s also vital for people who are hard of hearing and need to lipread. Make sure your lighting is sufficient so your face is clear.
Record the meeting
With the participants’ permission, it is useful to record meetings so people can watch them again afterwards. If a person is struggling to hear or feeling overwhelmed, they are able to go back and rewatch.
Record a Microsoft Teams meeting
Turn on captions
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet now all have automated captions. Captions are text versions of speech, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen in real-time. While automated captions are not always completely accurate, they’re a good start.
PowerPoint can transcribe your words automatically as you present and display them on-screen as you talk. To set this up, go to Slideshow > Subtitle Settings. To change the display of the captions, select ‘More Settings’. Make sure you use sufficient colour contrast and a large enough font.
Use transcripts
Transcripts are text versions of spoken conversations that are usually downloaded in full after the meeting. They are great for keeping track of who said what without having to take notes. They can be useful for people to go back through after the meeting.
Another popular option is Otter.ai which records audio, writes notes, automatically captures slides, and generates summaries.
Use the chat and Q&A functions
If you’re asking people to contribute to the meeting, it is good to offer alternative methods. Rather than only letting people speak out loud, let them ask questions in the chat or turn on the Zoom Q&A function.
Make meeting materials accessible
If you circulate meeting materials, like PowerPoints or Word documents, make sure they are accessible. This includes using correct headings, alternative text and sufficient colour contrast. Read more about making PowerPoints accessible.
