Virtual meetings

Video conferencing, online meetings and virtual workshops are hard. But since 2020, people have been working from home. We have learnt that these ways of working open up the world for disabled people.

The pandemic has shown that inclusion is possible. Everyone can be “there”, at the meeting, from their own home or workspace. The opportunities for disabled people to take part in society, in work, and social events, are much wider than when the world was designed against them.

We have a duty to keep those lines of communication open with disabled people.

Sound

• Invest in a microphone that will pick up your voice better than your laptop mic. Sound is a better investment than image quality
• Only one person at a time should be speaking
• Ask people to turn off video when they are not speaking
• Make captions available
• auto captions are better than nothing
• human live captions are best
• Employ British Sign Language (BSL)/English Interpreters

Vision

• Screen share can be a problem because
• People may be watching on a mobile or tablet
• Screen share is not accessible to assistive technology
• Main speakers should describe themselves to the audience
• Don’t rely on images for information
• Read or describe everything that is on the slide
• Consider asking people to turn off screen when not speaking, particularly in large meetings

Cognition

• Send information before the meeting so that people have a chance to read it through
• Make it clear at the start of the meeting when and how people can contribute
• Give people time to reflect and respond
• Zoom has nonverbal feedback options (Yes, No, Slower, and Faster)
• Review the outcomes of the meeting to be sure that everyone knows what is next

Chat boxes

• Don’t put essential information in the chat box, where it might get lost
• Chat boxes in Zoom can be turned on or off by assistive technology users
• Some people find chat boxes very helpful
• In large meetings there might be lots of “chatter” in the chat box, which can be very distracting for anyone. The Q&A could be more productive
• The host could read out important points from the chat

Breaks

• Tell people what time breaks will be and stick to them. Some people have needs around drinks, using the bathroom, taking medications. This allows people to plan around the breaks.
• Have frequent breaks. This is better for productivity, as people have time to process what they have just learnt or talked about.

Captions and Sign language

Captions

Sign Language

If you have a BSL / English interpreter, ask them the best way to set up the meeting. Gallery view tends to work better, and non-signing participants should be encouraged to turn off their screen, if possible.

Jo Wootten on The Limping Chicken (opens in a new tab) gives some great reasons that Zoom is popular

• Picture and sound quality are both good
• Can enlarge person signing so it’s easier to see them (less tiring to watch)
• If it’s a long meeting, have 2 interpreters who can see and support each other
• Captions can be personalized – you can make them larger/smaller
• Captions can be streamed into the meeting OR you can choose to view them on a separate screen
• Seems to be more stable than other platforms
• End to end encryption

Presenting and hosting

Publicity

Make sure that people know about

• live or automatic captions, if available
• BSL interpretation, if available
• the inclusive nature of the event
• the code of conduct

Before the event

Share presentation slides and other materials with participants. Giving people time to see the slides helps with overall cognition and access. Make sure what you share is accessible.

It’s also helpful for people who want to follow the slides on their own screen, rather than looking at the slides through Zoom.

Hosting

For any external event make sure that there is a host who is controlling the meeting. It’s very difficult to present and at the same time organise the chats, questions, and technical issues.

Screen backgrounds

Don’t use virtual backgrounds, they can make focussing hard and cause headaches.

Use a plain background where possible, and try to avoid bright sunlight from windows behind the speaker.

In-event communications

Allow people to communicate the way they find most comfortable

• Voice
• Chat box (for large events, a continuous scrolling chat can be very distracting and off putting. Consider closing the chat. Use Q&A instead)
• Non verbal feedback
• Make it clear that people can be comfortable, with their camera and sound on or off