How can conferences, meetings, presentations, and events be made accessible?
Whether in person or online, concrete steps can be taken to ensure that conferences, meetings, presentations, and other events are accessible to a diverse audience. Begin by thinking about who might face barriers to an event. These may include individuals who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, have mobility impairments, are English language learners, and are connecting to virtual meetings via audio only. The paragraphs that follow share tips for designing events that are inclusive of people with disabilities and other groups followed by a list of resources for technical details and additional suggestions.
To make any event more inclusive, design promotional materials in such a way that they are accessible to people with disabilities and include content about how to request accommodations. Common requests include sign language interpreters or live captioners, and access to presentation slides in an accessible format. Similarly, make the conference website, agenda, and other conference materials accessible to people with disabilities. Ideally, share accessible versions of the agenda and presentation materials before the event, and provide these materials to interpreters and captioners. Gather feedback about accessibility on any evaluation that you conduct and make adjustments to future meetings or events based on this feedback. As appropriate, after an event, send a follow up message with URLs, resources, and action items to participants.Whether in person or online, concrete steps can be taken to ensure that conferences, meetings, presentations, and other events are accessible to a diverse audience. Begin by thinking about who might face barriers to an event. These may include individuals who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, have mobility impairments, are English language learners, and are connecting to virtual meetings via audio only. The paragraphs that follow share tips for designing events that are inclusive of people with disabilities and other groups followed by a list of resources for technical details and additional suggestions.
Online events
Consider whether the software that you are using is accessible. Many products do not easily interface with assistive technologies such as screen readers used by people who are blind. Some conferencing software may not support captioning or sign language interpreters. Become familiar with accessibility features of your software and share relevant details with your participants. If your software supports automatic captioning, consider routinely turning it on so that each participant can choose to or not to use it.
For larger events, designate someone separate from the presenter to manage the session and mute participants as they join the event. As a presenter, ensure you are well lit and do not use moving backgrounds. Visuals should present content with large sans serif fonts, uncluttered pages, high contrast color schemes, more than color coding to communicate information, simple graphic images. Videos should be captioned and include audio description if available. You should speak all content on your slides and verbally describe images or graphics, always assuming that some participants may not have access to screen images. Share links to resources mentioned in the presentation within the chat feature of the conferencing software and let participants know the best way to ask or answer questions; when appropriate, participants should be encouraged to voice their names each time they speak. Consider recording virtual events to allow participants asynchronous access after the event; be sure they include captions.
On-site events
Schedule conferences, meetings, and presentations in wheelchair-accessible locations and arrange furniture to ensure that people who use mobility equipment have multiple locations to assist. Offer assistance navigating a large event space.
More suggestions for making conferences, meetings, presentations, and other events accessible and inclusive can be found in the following resources.
- Accessible Conference Guide and Accessible Virtual Conference Guide
- Making Events Accessible: Checklist for meetings, conferences, training, and presentations that are remote/virtual, in-person, or hybrid
- Accessibility and Universal Design of Online Meetings
- Making Events Accessible Checklist
- Access Suggestions for Public Events
- How to Host Inclusive Hybrid Meetings
- Equal Access: Universal Design of Conference Exhibits and Presentations
- Accessibility and Universal Design of Online Meetings
- Tips for Delivering an Accessible Presentation
- Accessible Technology: How do I make my technology accessible?
- University of Wisconsin How to Host Inclusive Hybrid Meetings
- W3C Making Events Accessible>
- Sins Invalid Access Suggestions for a Public Event
- Knowledge Base articles: Whom do I work with on campus to secure accessible venues for meetings and events?, What can conferences do to be more accessible to participants with disabilities?, How can I create a conference poster that is accessible to people with disabilities?, and How can you make your presentation accessible?