When hosting meetings or teaching classes using an online meeting platform such as Zoom, there are several issues to keep in mind in order to ensure the meeting is accessible to all participants.
Practical Strategies for Accessible Meetings
Some of the most effective strategies for ensuring online meetings are accessible are not technical strategies. They involve simple practices such as the following:
- Distribute slides and all other materials to attendees in advance.
- Clearly state the meeting agenda up-front, including which features of the meeting tool will be used. For example: “Today, we’ll use the chat for questions and the raise-hand feature for comments.” This supports neurodivergent participants, including those with cognitive disabilities, ADHD, or anxiety, by providing structure and clear expectations, while also helping individuals using assistive technology prepare in advance for navigating specific meeting features.
- Ask meeting participants to state their name each time they speak. This assists participants who are blind or have low vision as well as participants who use captions or interpreters. It ensures everyone can follow the conversation, especially when multiple people are speaking.
- Create pauses during and between activities, so participants who are taking notes, have slow Internet bandwidth, or are using captions or sign language interpreters are able to catch up.
- Do not say “click here” if demoing something on the shared screen. Not everyone can see what you are referring to. Students might be blind or have low vision, writing notes, looking at the textbook, or dealing with a notification that popped up that they haven’t figured out how to turn off. Instead, specifically identify what you are clicking on.
Captions and Sign Language
Students from the Deaf or Hard of Hearing community depend on live captions or sign language interpreters in order to access the spoken content of an online meeting. At UMSL, these services are coordinated through Disability Access Services on behalf of matriculated students who require accommodations. Please contact the DAS office to learn how to request these services.
Other meeting participants can benefit from captions as well, both of live meetings and recorded meetings. For additional information, see the following pages:
Zoom
The following pages on the current website specifically address accessibility within Zoom.
The following pages are to assist Faculty, Staff, and Students in their general use of Zoom.
Accessibility of Online Meeting Tools
Most of the tools used at UMSL to support online teaching and learning have help pages that document their keyboard shortcuts (especially helpful for meeting participants who are unable to use a mouse) and provide step-by-step instructions for using the tools with assistive technologies such as screen readers. Instructors and meeting hosts should become familiar with these resources and be ready to share them as needed with meeting participants.
