Best Practices for Virtual Meetings
Choosing a Video Conferencing Platform
Each of the popular virtual meeting platforms has different accessibility concerns, some worse than others. Realize that you may need to choose an alternative platform to make your virtual venue accessible to participants.
Below are some known concerns with the most common platforms. These platforms are constantly updating, so features may improve or worsen unpredictably. The key is to check in with your participants to ensure they are able to participate and be flexible to find workarounds if something isn’t working.
Microsoft Teams – Known Issues
- Auto-captions are not 100% accurate and need to be edited when used for accommodation purposes.
- Teams can be difficult for screen readers to navigate. Visit the help article for screen reader users on keyboard shortcuts for Teams.
- Shared screens are not accessible to screen readers. When screen-sharing, verbally describe what you are showing for those with visual impairments.
- Speech recognition does not work in the chat.
Zoom – Known Issues
- Auto-captions are not 100% accurate and need to be edited when used for accommodation purposes.
- Shared screens are not accessible to screen readers. When screen-sharing, verbally describe what you are showing for those with visual impairments.
- Extra features such as breakout rooms and whiteboard may have accessibility issues.
Prepare in Advance
- Know your tools and when possible, test them in advance to minimize glitches and technical issues.
- Improve your audio and video quality. When possible, use an external microphone or headset and an external webcam with auto-focus turned off.
Provide Materials Ahead of Time
- Provide materials ahead of time. Lecture or course materials such as PowerPoints, PDF documents, etc. should be sent out in advance so people can follow along in their preferred format.
- Try to ensure that documents are accessible before sending them out; otherwise, they may not be usable for people using assistive technologies.
Enable Video Captions
- Whenever possible, turn on auto-caption features. However, understand that auto-captions are not perfect and may not be very accurate. Auto-captions are improved by use of an external microphone, speaking at a moderate pace, and staying on topic.
- When working with someone who needs captions as an accommodation, contact the Student Disability Center or Office of Equal Opportunity to ensure that more accurate captioning services are in place ahead of time. Auto-captions are usually insufficient for accommodation purposes.
- Auto-captions are now available in many platforms such as Teams, Zoom, Echo360, and Kaltura.
- Visit the Multimedia page for instructions on making auto-captions available.
Establish Good Communication Rules
- Provide clear expectations and communication rules at the start of the meeting. These may include:
- Encourage all participants to mute microphones unless they are speaking.
- Manage turn-taking. Establish a method by which participants may indicate that they have a question or comment to reduce interruptions and cross-talk. This could include using hand-raising functions, chat, etc.
- Encourage participants to identify themselves by name before speaking.
- At the beginning of a meeting or lecture, ask participants if they have everything they need. This can help to establish a culture where people feel welcome and that their needs are being considered.
Describe Visual Content
Screen-sharing is not accessible for many people using assistive technologies or with vision impairments. If you must share your screen, describe all of the relevant information you display, including pictures, diagrams, etc. for people without visual access.
Note: Much of the above material was sourced from a webinar provided from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Communications Commission.
Williams, Gerard and Pace, Brandon. (2020). Accessible Virtual Meetings. [PowerPoint slides].