Creating Accessible Online Events

Inclusive Communication is how you think about communicating with your communities of interest. Accessible Information is how you make sure the information and services that you provide can be used by every member of your community of interest.

How does this make online events inclusive? Here you’ll find some tips on what to consider when hosting an online event and examples of good practice communication support.

Planning your Online Event

When deciding to hold an event, considering accessibility happens at the planning stage.

1. What have we got a budget for? What can we realistically offer?
2. Who are we inviting? Staff, customers/service users, members of the public?
3. What are their physical/communication support needs? Do you know or do you have to ask?
4. What information do they need about the event? Online, posters, word of mouth?

Who are you inviting?

This depends on the type of event you are organising. For example, if it is a staff meeting, you should already be aware of the physical/ communication support needs of the staff team. If you haven’t had this conversation with individual staff members, now is the time to ask.

If the event is for your customers/service users, unless they are new to the organisation, you should have a record of what their physical/ communication support needs are. If not, why not?

If the event is for members of the public, you should use good practice when it comes to possible physical /communication support needs. There will be people who have them.

Physical/Communication Support Needs: Good Practice

Electronic Notetakers and BSL/Interpreters
Book Electronic Notetakers to provide live captions when you decide the date for the meeting. Auto-generated captions cannot “interpret” dialects or cope with some accents so do not give an accurate record of what is being spoken about. Auto-generated captions are NOT live captions!

Electronic Notetakers (ENTs) are language professionals who provide live captions for online and face-to-face meetings. They type what is said- everything that is said, even when people think they are having a “private chat” with their neighbour/someone else. If the ENT hears what is said, they will type it.

It is not only deaf people who need live captions. People who have a brain injury/stroke appreciate live captions as well as those who haven’t been sleeping well, have had a cold/flu or women going through the menopause. Reading is sometimes easier than having to listen.

If the meeting is open to the public, who might attend? Will you need BSL/English Interpreters? Spoken language/English interpreters? These should be booked at the same time as Electronic Notetakers. To ensure availability of ENTs and Interpreters is is advisable to book well in advance of your event. SUSE can provide contact details if required, please email info@susescotland.scot.

Format of your Meeting

You need to consider where you are hosting your online event or meeting and if that is appropriate to your audience e.g. Teams, Zoom etc.

• ENTs cannot provide live captions on Teams. You will need to set up a meeting in Zoom to accommodate the live captions (this is a reasonable adjustment if you need to justify the use of Zoom as well as Teams) and send the link to both the ENTs and those who need live captions. Those who need live captions might need support/instructions as to how to set up Zoom and Teams side by side on their computer screen.
• Interpreters: BSL/English Interpreters can work on Teams. As the organiser you will have to explain to those who need this service (using the interpreters) how to keep the interpreters pinned on-screen. Spoken language interpreters will need a separate Zoom link (not the one for the ENTs) so that they do not disturb others who are listening to what is being said on Teams or distract those reading the live captions provided by the ENTs.
• Does everyone have access to Teams? Customers/ service users/ members of the public might be more comfortable using Zoom or cannot access Teams

What IT support might those attending need? Do people need information before the meeting?

Giving people a list of ground rules for meetings is good practice. Often people are advised to turn off their cameras as well as their microphones. There might be people at the meeting who lip read and to do that, they need to see the person’s face.

If the event is to be longer than an hour, make sure there are comfort breaks built into the agenda. If someone needs to leave the meeting to go to the toilet, they can miss important points.

Not everyone can use the chat function – for example, people who have a sight loss using a screen reader. Please make sure there is an alternative method of asking questions or sharing information.

Sharing Information about your Event

• Please use plain language when putting together information.
• If using social media, use the platforms that your audience use.
• Remember, not everyone is online all the time, even if they can attend meetings online. You might still want to put up posters in places that members of the public gather.
• If using video clips to publicise your event, remember not everyone can hear and add closed captions.

One of the most important points when planning an online event is to ask your audience what their accessible communication requirements are. It is best practise to give people the opportunity to inform you of any communication support or information they require in advance e.g when registering to attend an event.