5 Tips On Bringing Accessibility & Inclusivity To Virtual Meetings
/As meetings with employees and clients alike continue to be hosted online, ensuring your staff access the correct information and links is vital. In this new age of working and hosting from home, presenters are quick to forget about accessibility and inclusivity. Data from the Pew Research Center in 2017 suggested those with disabilities were less likely to use the internet, so there's already a disconnect between disabled members of staff and the need to attend online, virtual meetings. While the need to work from home in 2020 has likely improved this, it is certainly still something to be aware of.
This blog will discuss some ways to make your virtual meeting accessible for everyone.
1. Offer trouble-shooting experts
Those who have never used online streaming software before may need additional help to get set up. Rather than stopping the meeting for everyone, redirect those struggling to a trouble-shooting expert who will assist them.
2. Mute background noise
Make sure audio is high-quality and use technologies to emit background noise. If you are presenting, it is also a good idea to mute employees who are listening to the meeting and save questions till the end. This not only helps the flow of the meeting but takes those with sensory sensitivity into consideration.
3. Real-time captioning
If you have employees who are deaf or struggle with their hearing, they can benefit from real-time captioning. Verbit's CART captions are easy to read and written in real-time. That means if you do go off script or change direction, captions will still be written and relevant so that everyone has access to the information you're presenting.
4. Provide offline content
If you are hosting a meeting and some of your employees won't have internet access or a good enough connection to attend the live stream, then there are solutions. Providing information to these people on how they can participate in the meeting offline will show you have thought about inclusivity.
Alternatively, offer dial-in options. Those who don't use online platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams should access the meeting by phoning in instead.
5. Allow time to process information
If you're presenting a lot of information across a few slides, you should allow employees a short break to help them digest any information they've missed or are struggling to understand. Providing a glossary of any new terms mentioned before the meeting is also a great start.
People with learning difficulties may feel overwhelmed if there isn't time to process information fully. Still, just about anyone will benefit from a short break every hour to gather their thoughts.
Ensuring your online or in-person meetings are accessible is a constant learning curve. Start with understanding the difficulties of those attending (this information could be disclosed in the sign-up form). From there, try to picture yourself in their shoes and think about how you would feel more comfortable.
