Guide to Hosting Accessible Virtual Events
Table of Contents
Preparing accessible materials
Event promotion and registration
Appendix A: Document Accessibility Resources
Appendix B: Post Event Survey Questions
Introduction
This document provides advice that you can use to help make your virtual events accessible so that everyone can attend and fully participate. According to the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability, persons with disabilities make up over 29 per cent of the population of Saskatchewan. This number will likely increase as the population ages and people experience age-related impairments in areas such as mobility, hearing, sight, and memory. Ensuring that persons with disabilities can access and participate in your events will allow you to receive more diverse perspectives, allowing you to tailor your services to a wider audience.
The advice in this document does not cover every situation you may encounter. As people experience disability on a spectrum, some actions may need to be adjusted depending on the type of event you are hosting, the audience that are attending your event, and other factors.
Disclaimer
The content of this guide is intended to provide advice on how to make different parts of your event more accessible for persons with disabilities and is not intended as a list of requirements that organizations must follow. The Government of Saskatchewan is not responsible for the content presented on any websites referenced in this document. Website content will be checked periodically to ensure that the websites remain and that content is still appropriate. If a link referenced in this document is no longer active, please contact the Saskatchewan Accessibility Office at accessiblesk@gov.sk.ca.
Getting started
Consultations and research
When planning your event think about who your audience is and the purpose of your event. Are you targeting an audience within a specific disability community or are you targeting a broad public audience? Are you asking for feedback or just presenting information? Answering these questions can help you identify accessibility barriers at your event and what you can do to address them.
Knowing your audience is most important, especially if you are targeting a specific disability community, as it can help you create your presentation materials and plan the structure of your event. Speak with disability organizations and persons with disabilities that represent your target audiences to learn about accessibility barriers your audience may experience in virtual events and how to remove them. If you are targeting a wider public audience, you can also research common accessibility barriers for the type of virtual event you will be hosting. This will help to build your organizational capacity and awareness about accessibility and help prepare you for any specific accommodation requests that participants may have.
Budgeting
When preparing the budget for your event plan for costs associated with accessibility services that may be required, like real-time captioning (sometimes referred to as Communication Access Realtime Translation or CART captioning), sign language interpretation, and document accessibility remediation.
Scheduling
It can take time to ensure your events are accessible and to arrange accommodations. Below are some general ideas to consider when planning your event and agenda.
- Book accessibility service providers such as sign language interpreters and CART captioners well in advance as they may have limited availability.
- Develop accessible documents well in advance of the event to provide attendees with time to read the materials as disability can impact reading speed and understanding.
- When sending out invitations, ask participants if they have any accessibility requirements, including ASL interpretation, CART captioning, etc.
- If your event is open to the public and does not require an invitation, welcome attendees to contact you to request accessibility accommodations ahead of the event.
- Allow time at the start of your meeting to identify available accessibility services and allow time for people to take breaks as needed.
- Schedule time before your event starts to test accommodations and ensure they will be available for participants when the event starts. If possible, invite participants who have indicated that they require accommodations to join in this process to assist them in accessing the accommodations and learn preferences for how they are provided.
Preparing accessible materials
It is important that any documents you present and share at your event are accessible for persons with disabilities. If you are going to ask participants to read or fill out documents at your event, ask about any accommodation needs in your registration to allow yourself time to accommodate any accessible document requests that you receive. As an example, you may be requested to have documents available in plain language, documents with larger text, and screen reader compatible documents.
Selecting a meeting platform
As virtual events have become a popular way for organizations to reach wider audiences there are now many different platforms that can be used to host different types of virtual events. This next section provides advice and features to consider when choosing a platform to host your virtual event.
WCAG compliance
When choosing a digital platform to host your event, you should find a platform that adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA. The WCAG are a set of standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that set out minimum requirements for digital products to be accessible for persons with disabilities. The WCAG standards are routinely reviewed and updated to remain current with evolving technology. Many software companies will be aware of WCAG and should be able to tell you about their level of compliance with the standards.
Screen reader compatibility
When choosing an event platform, consider how well it works with screen readers. Screen readers convert on-screen text and visuals into spoken information and are commonly used by people with vision loss or learning disabilities who process information more effectively through audio.
Platforms that comply with WCAG 2.1 AA standards should be technologically accessible for people who use screen readers. In selecting a platform, you should research which platforms work best with common screen reading technologies such as JAWS and NVDA for desktops and VoiceOver (Apple iOS) and TalkBack (Android) for mobile devices.
User friendly features
When selecting a platform, there are a few user-friendly features that you should look for to allow participants to access and participate in your event with ease. Consider using platforms that allow participants to join the event without creating an account and that support multiple methods to join such as computers, mobile apps, and by phone. Consider selecting platforms that allow users to customize their event experience by enabling closed captions, adjusting audio and video settings and pinning different speakers, participants, and presentations. Pinning keeps a selected video feed, such as an ASL interpreter always visible to the user when other participants are speaking or presenting. These customization options should also be easy to find and use within the software.
Conduct test runs
Conduct test runs of your event using your chosen event platform. This will allow you to identify any functions of the platform that may result in barriers for your participants. This will also allow you to document processes for accommodating participants so that you can provide technical assistance easily while hosting your event.
Event promotion and registration
Advertisements
When promoting your event, ensure that your advertising campaign is accessible for persons with disabilities. Depending on the types of advertisements that you use there may be different ways to ensure they are accessible for most people.
Registration
Ensuring that your registration process is accessible is an important step to making sure that the rest of your event is accessible. There are a few things you can do to help ensure people are informed about your event.
- Include accessibility icons in publicity materials to help inform people what accessibility features will be available at the event.
- Send out the event agenda with the invite or registration.
- Provide contact information for guests to learn about available accessibility features.
- Offer a variety of ways to communicate and register for the event (telephone, email, print, etc.) to ensure everyone receives the necessary information.
- Allow adequate time between the end of your event registration and the start of the event to prepare for any accommodations that may be needed.
- Notify people in advance if there are accessibility barriers that cannot be eliminated and suggest alternative ways for individuals to participate.
- Ensure your invitation or registration platform is accessible. If using a website or web application for registrations look for a platform that conforms to WCAG 2.1 level AA.
- Use plain language in all communications.
- Inform participants if materials will be made available in alternate formats and how they can access them.
Hosting the event
Testing rooms
Before your event starts it is recommended that you use a testing room for any presenters to test out their materials and learn how to use the platform before their turn to speak. Testing rooms can also be useful for setting up accommodations providers such as real-time captioners and sign language interpreters before your event starts. This will allow you to set up any required permissions that facilitators, speakers, and accommodation providers may need, as well as test the functionality of different features.
Waiting rooms
Having a waiting room for participants who join your event early can be a good way to let them test the features of your event software before it begins. Having staff available to provide technical assistance before your event will also allow participants to resolve issues they may be experiencing before your event so that they are able to participate fully and not miss any content.
Introduction tips
At the start of your event, there are a couple of things that your host can do to make your event more accessible. Some suggestions to consider include:
- Review the accessibility features of the platform you are using and how to enable them.
- Introduce your technical support staff and how to contact them throughout your event for any issues people are experiencing.
- Highlight your accommodations policy for the event and who to contact if a participant requires an accommodation at any point during the event.
- If appropriate, have the host provide a visual description of themselves in their introduction and encourage speakers to do the same.
Speaking tips
Some participants at your event may have difficulties following or processing information. When speaking at an event consider the following:
- Speak as clearly as possible and avoid speaking too fast so that participants and interpreters can keep up and understand.
- Use simple language and avoid industry jargon, acronyms, and idioms whenever possible.
- Give people time to process information by pausing between topics and leaving a bit of time for people to answer any audience questions.
- Describe all the information that is visible on slides including any text or graphics.
- Describe any audience participation that takes place like when a participant raises a hand or reacts to a question or statement using emojis like a thumbs up.
- Make sure you are visible on camera and in good lighting while speaking so that participants can see your face and avoid looking away from the camera while speaking to assist participants that use lip reading.
- Ensure that you have a good quality microphone that is positioned well to pick up your voice.
Presentation material tips
When presenting information using a slideshow or similar media, here are some things to consider:
- Limit the amount of text on each slide as it can be difficult for some people to read information and listen to the speaker at the same time.
- Make text and visuals big enough to read without the need to zoom as people may be joining on devices with smaller screens.
- Use easy to read sans serif fonts such as Arial or Calibri and avoid using hard to read fonts.
- Use sufficient colour contrast on your slides to make sure that participants can distinguish between information and the background of your slides. High contrast colour options are now built into most presentation software and can be tested using free colour contrast checkers available online.
- Limit the use of unnecessary transition animations between or on slides and avoid any blinking or flashing animations.
Audio visual tips
When hosting a virtual event, ensuring audio and visual technologies are usable by attendees is crucial. Some tips for making your audio and video more accessible for attendees include:
- Testing audio and video feeds for presenters before starting your event to check for lag or choppiness in both video and audio.
- Ensure that presenters are facing their cameras when speaking to assist people who use lip reading to follow spoken languages.
- Ensure that the face of the speaker is clearly visible. Choose a space that is well lit and provides good contrast between the person and their background.
- Choose a space to present that is free of excessive background noise or ambient sound that may be picked up by a microphone.
- Have presenters mute their microphones when not presenting to avoid distractions and reduce chances of lag.
Post Event
Once your event is done, it is a good idea to ask your participants for feedback to find out what went well and what didn’t.
See Appendix B for some example questions that you can include in a post-event survey.
Some other suggestions to help identify areas for continuous improvement include:
- Keeping records of the types of accommodation requests made by participants.
- Keeping records of any issues experienced during events that required technical assistance.
Conclusion
As every person experiences disability differently, it’s not always possible to make things perfectly accessible for everyone. Accessibility needs are always changing and new technologies can bring on new challenges. The goal should be to continuously improve as you host events.
Appendix A: Document Accessibility Resources
Disclaimer: The content of this appendix is not an endorsement or recommendation by the Government of Saskatchewan to solely use Microsoft Office products in the creation of documents. Tips are provided for making documents accessible using Microsoft products as they are commonly used by organizations.
Accessible PowerPoint Tips
- Microsoft offers general tips on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities. These tips are available here with instructions specific for people using PowerPoint on Windows, macOS, Office for iOS, Office for Android, and Web.
- See Microsoft’s tips for creating slides with an accessible reading order.
- See Microsoft’s tips for improving image accessibility in PowerPoint.
- See Microsoft’s tips for using accessible colours and styles in slides.
- See Microsoft’s tips for designing slides for people with dyslexia.
- See Microsoft’s tips for saving presentations in a different format.
- See Microsoft’s tips for presenting inclusively with PowerPoint.
Accessible Word Document Tips
- Microsoft offers general tips on how to make Word documents accessible to people with disabilities. These tips are available here with instructions specific for people using Word on Windows, macOS, Office for iOS, Office for Android, and Web.
- See Microsoft’s tips for improving accessibility with alt text.
- See Microsoft’s tips for improving accessibility with heading styles.
- See Microsoft’s tips for creating accessible links in word.
- See Microsoft’s tips for creating accessible tables in Word.
Accessible PDF Tips
- Processes for creating accessible PDFs can differ depending on the program you are using to create the document such as Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, or other document authoring tools.
- Fixing accessibility issues within PDF documents after they are created typically requires a subscription to Adobe Pro or similar PDF editing software.
- See Microsoft’s tips for creating accessible PDFs from Word documents.
Appendix B: Post Event Survey Questions
This section contains some example questions for you to ask participants about the accessibility of your event. Some questions also include follow-up questions that will enable you to obtain richer information about the individual user experience.
Note: The scale questions in the examples below use a 5-point scale with an included opt out answer.
- How easy was it for you to access the event?
- Very easy
- Easy
- Neither easy nor difficult
- Difficult
- Very Difficult
- I don’t know or prefer not to answer
- How can we make it easier to access our next event?
- How easily could you understand the information presented?
- Very easy
- Easy
- Neither easy nor difficult
- Difficult
- Very Difficult
- I don’t know or prefer not to answer
- Do you have any suggestions to make it more understandable?
- Did you use any assistive technology, such as: screen readers, screen magnifiers, alternative input devices, etc. to access the event?
- Yes
- No
- If yes: How well did that technology work with the meeting platform?
- Very good
- Good
- Neither good nor bad
- Bad
- Very bad
- I don’t know or prefer not to answer
- Are there virtual meeting platforms that work better with your assistive technology?
- Are there any accommodations that could have been provided to make it easier for you to participate in this event?
- Do you have any other comments or suggestions to share on the accessibility of this event?
