Accessible meetings
Accessible design is finding out what people need and meeting that need.
We design the way we interact:
- how we behave (behaviours)
- what we use (technologies)
This is what we’ve learned so far working with the people in our team.
Your team will need different things. Find out what they are, and share what you learn in the comments!
Does it have to be a meeting?
Meetings have a price, both in time and energy. Asking people to invest too much energy can affect their mental health.
Some meetings can be shorter if you’ve worked on a document together already and exchanged comments.
Some meetings can be emails or text chat instead.
Focus
Do one thing at a time. Decide what this is in advance.
It’ll probably be:
- working together to understand a thing
- deciding about a thing
- training
One person should speak at a time.
Roles
Always have someone to chair the meetings and monitor:
- what is said
- what is written in text chat
Someone who is not the chair should take notes. Do this in a place where everyone can see. Be aware of gender bias when you’re choosing someone to take notes.
Time limits
Being productive and suffering are not the same thing.
Some people need more breaks than others. Find out what your team needs.
The first 45 minutes will probably be the most productive. If you need more than 1 hour, think about booking 2 meetings instead of 1.
We limit how many bits of work the team does in a week and meetings are part of this.
Before the meeting
You should:
- say what you’ll be doing (agenda)
- say how you’ll be doing it (for example, screen sharing, PowerPoint, Google Docs)
- find out what people need to make the meeting accessible and record this so that they do not have to repeat themselves
Accessible files
Please only use and share:
- Word documents (.docx) or Google Docs
- PowerPoint files (.ppx)
Check Word and PowerPoint files with the accessibility checker.
Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker (Microsoft)
Simple slides
More slides with less on them are easier to read than fewer, crowded slides. Your speaking time will still be about the same.
Leave space at the bottom of your slides for people using live captions. Enough for 2 or 3 lines of text.
Look out for anything that people might read in the wrong order. For example, a graphic to show a process: where does it start, and where does it end?
Only use tables if you need them. Splitting up data may make it easier to follow.
Headings in documents
Your document must have accessible headings and subheadings like it’s a book:
H1: Title of book
H2: Chapter 1
H2: Chapter 2
H3: chapter 2, part i
H3: chapter 2, part ii
Format your heading using heading styles. Do not just change the font size or make it bold.
To change how your document looks, edit the styles.
Customize or create new styles
Whiteboarding apps
Whiteboarding apps like Miro are not accessible for some people. Find out if this includes members of your team.
Do not build ways of working around inaccessible tools. Make sure that you can use an alternative, like smart art in Word or Trello even if you do not use these all the time.
If you use a whiteboarding app as a last resort, provide an adjustment in the session for people who need it. For example, a transcriber, who can make the information on the whiteboarding app accessible by putting it into something else.
Image alt text
Try to use images that have meaning, not just for decoration.
Use alt text to describe the useful things in it.
Add alternative text to a shape, picture, chart, SmartArt graphic, or other object (Microsoft)
Mark visuals as decorative (Microsoft)
For charts and graphs, you can:
- summarise the results in alt text
- give people access to the data in a table or spreadsheet
For complex images, write a summary of what the image is showing:
- describe what’s on there
- say if there’s a pattern of information or idea that you want the reader to understand
Example of complex image alt text
A mock-up of a work tracking board with 6 columns and blank post-its representing work items.
Each column is numbered in order from left to right, has a title and has another number to show the maximum number of cards allowed.
There are arrows pointing right in a few places throughout the board. These are labelled “pull”, to show the work being pulled from left to right in places where the column to the right has fewer cards than its maximum.
The columns are:
1. Options: 4 cards, no maximum
2. Ready to write: with 2 cards, maximum of 4 cards, also labelled “Space to fill ready buffer”
3. Writing: 1 card, maximum of 2 cards, is also labelled “Pull from here to make capacity”
4. Ready to test: 2 cards, maximum of 4 cards, is also labelled “A bit of capacity here”
5. Testing: 2 cards, maximum of 5 cards
6. Publish: 2 cards, no maximum
During the meeting
Slides
If you’re presenting slides, say everything that’s on each slide. Then everyone gets the same information.
Say when you’re changing slides and what the new slide number is. That way, people who cannot access your screen share can follow along.
Documents
Share a link to the live document or send copies before the session.
Video
These can be tiring for some disabled people or those with children.
Some people have limited internet. Using video could use up their data allowance and cost money.
Text chat
Use the chat feature to ask to say something, share reactions or ask questions. This helps the chair and keeps the meeting clear with only 1 person speaking at a time.
Include text alternatives if you share gifs.
Screen sharing
Move slowly and say what you are doing. This will help everyone.
For people who use screen readers, your screen share will not be accessible. They might not be able to see it well, or at all. They will need a link to the thing that you’re sharing so that they can access it directly. What you say could be the only information they have.
Running meetings to include people who use screen readers
If you find out you’re excluding someone
If you find out your session is excluding someone:
- Own it: “I can see that the way I am doing this is excluding you. I am sorry.”
- Ask for help: “What can I do differently to make this work?”
- Ask the other people in the session for support: “Is there anyone here who can help to make this accessible?”
- Do not ask the excluded person to say it’s ok. This is emotional labour.
For example, after finding out that someone can’t take part in a group activity, do not say:
“Is it ok with you if we carry on with this as it is, and then you can join us again afterwards?”
Do not rely on people in the session to fix something you know is not accessible.
If you say something awkward
Two thirds of Brits say they feel awkward around disabled people. Some people feel so awkward they avoid disabled people all together. Here are some suggestions to help you:
What have we missed?
If there’s something that would help to make meetings accessible to you, please tell us in the comments.
