HOW TO MAKE YOUR CONFERENCE ACCESSIBLE – AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE!

SLIDE DESCRIPTION

I like to ask at the start of each presentation I give if there are people in the audience that would benefit from a description of the slides. If they have a vision impairment, even if they sit in the first row, they may not be able to tell what is on the slide. If anyone signals that they would like it, I take a few seconds to describe the visuals on the slide.

HANDOUTS

Are there handouts available during the presentation? Ensure that speakers provide them in alternative formats. Braille is an expensive proposition, and while it’s always neat to have that available if you have someone who could benefit from it (only about 10% of people with sight impairments rely on Braille as their primary reading medium). A more affordable method would be to provide the handout in electronic format on a website – as long as the site itself is accessible and the handout text is also accessible (especially if it’s a PDF).

This goes for speaker evaluations often handed out at the start/end of each presentations.

QUESTIONS

If questions are permitted, ensure that the speakers repeats or rephrases the question before answering it. A lot of people, even without hearing impairment, can’t hear the questions being posed, particularly when they are seated towards the back of the room.

Alternatively, provide portable microphones with volunteers to deliver the mikes to people wanting to ask questions. This is better than a microphone on a stand at the front of the room as moving to the microphone may not be easy.

VIDEOS OF THE PRESENTATIONS

If you film the presentations and make the videos available afterwards, consider providing closed captions and/or transcripts. This will help people with hearing impairments, but also those of us who don’t have time to sit through a video and can read faster than listen at a whole presentation. It will also help people who do want to watch the video, but are in large open offices or busses that either can’t have the sound turned on or can’t hear the sound well because of the environment they are in.

How have you made your conference more accessible for all people?

If you are interested in learning more about Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) or how to make accessibility a natural part of your business through the application of Corporate Social Responsibility, please contact Sandra Broekhof @ 416-579-1035 orsandra_broekhof@sympatico.ca