Tips for more accessible meetings

- The proliferation of online meetings has been amazing to watch. The mix of video screen-share, the message pain, the use of polls or forms built into teams, interaction sales. The more ways you can offer it, the more buy-in you get from your colleagues. Trust me, this rapid change in work behavior has been a steep learning curve. I work in a brilliant diverse team with different disability represented on every call. If you are new to working with a colleague with a disability, I would 100% say the best advice on how to work together starts with ask. Here are everyday considerations for creating an inclusive meeting. First, if you feel comfortable with your camera on, then turn it on. This is my default. People who lip read really benefit from it. Go for a clear or blurred background and bring your face to fill the shot as far as you're comfortable, but don't force it. I know people who use magnifiers who get super close to their screens, they might not want to share their camera feed, and it doesn't help with lip reading either. Also, someone with anxiety or a mental health disability may have their own reasons to not share. Next, be proactive on captions and meeting transcripts. You can say something like hi everyone, before we start a quick reminder that we have auto captioning and transcripts available in this meeting. Then show them where they can find that option and turn it on. At this point you might also want to consider recording the meeting providing your colleagues the option to view later with full captioning. It's also important to control noise. You might also say something like, can I remind everyone to avoid talking over one another in case someone is using this feature. It's really that simple to model great inclusion. Another great point is to describe your shared screen for people who are blind or have low vision. It doesn't need to be awkward. Pull out the main facts and reinforce them verbally. Next, it's very common in a virtual meeting for people to use the chat function as a sidebar, but that's not what it's for. Consider someone with ADHD who may have difficulty focusing. And if you're hearing the chats being read to you as a blind person using a screen reader then it's extremely difficult to follow along. Finally, if you're sharing photos or GIFS in the chat, pop an image description in there for good measure. Now, go use these tips to make your next meeting much more inclusive.