How to conduct accessible virtual meetings

This page discusses accessibility features and tips for web conferencing tools authorized for use at Toronto Metropolitan University. Follow these best practices to ensure your virtual meetings and lectures are as accessible as possible for everyone, including people with disabilities.

Best practices

Accommodations 

Before the meeting takes place, ask meeting participants if they have any accessibility requirements to ensure their inclusion. It is the responsibility of the meeting organizer/host to accommodate these requests. 

• If you need support arranging accommodations, please contact accessibility@torontomu.ca
• If you are an instructor, Academic Accommodation Support will coordinate any known student accommodations with you.

Sound quality

Sound quality is important for all users, especially for people who are hard of hearing. It's recommended that all participants use headphones when possible. Encourage participants to mute their microphone when they are not speaking.

Screen sharing and speaking

• If sharing materials on screen, concisely describe any: images, graphs, videos with no sound.
  • This will benefit participants who are calling in, have bad internet connection, or people who are blind and unable to see the screen.
  • This may also benefit people who are hard of hearing  or D/deaf participants with an ASL interpreter, as it can be difficult to split focus between a shared screen and the interpreter.
• Speak clearly and avoid speaking too fast, so participants, sign language interpreters and captioners can better understand and follow along. 
• It’s a good practice for participants to announce their name before speaking. 
• Do not turn off your camera when speaking, as people who are D/deaf or hard of hearing may be lip reading.

Share materials in advance

Share your slides or any complementary materials in advance.

• This gives your audience the opportunity to follow along or take additional notes. Your audience will also be less likely to miss any words or terminology when listening, allowing them to better comprehend the presentation.
• People with low vision can zoom in or adjust the slideshow as needed.
• People who are blind can review materials simultaneously or in advance to better follow along.
• People who are D/deaf will often review the slides ahead of time because they may be focused on the interpreter during the session.
• ASL interpreters and captioners require materials in advance to ensure accurate communication support. This may include the agenda, complex terminologies, speaking notes, names, etc.

Learn how to create accessible presentations or accessible documents.

Recording meetings

Consider recording your Zoom or Google Meet sessions as it provides flexibility for participants who cannot attend or who don't have a good internet connection. It also gives participants the opportunity to pause the recording, playback and review, or make notes. It's recommended to share audio and video using Google Drive.

Best practices for hybrid meetings

Hybrid meetings are meetings or events that include both in-person and remote participants. 

• Ensure the meeting room is equipped for hosting hybrid meetings so that attendees are able to collaborate and share content as they would if they were all in the same room. The meeting room should have a large display, dedicated microphones and a webcam.
• Be mindful of background noise. Both virtual and in-person participants should mute their microphone when they are not speaking.
• Some participants may be calling in, have low vision, or cannot see. State your name before speaking and describe any in-person or on-screen visuals.
• In-person participants should try to face the camera when speaking as some participants may rely on lip reading for better comprehension, including those who may be D/deaf or hard of hearing. 
• If using platforms like Google Meet, the automatic captioning feature will not be able to identify multiple in-person participants using one microphone. Consider having in-person participants use headphones or earbuds to help with speaker identification and minimize audio feedback.

Zoom

Zoom is best for teaching-related web conferencing, especially where an integrated whiteboard and breakout sessions are required.

• If using the polling feature, be sure to verbalize the launch and results of the poll. This ensures participants who use assistive technology and participants that are calling in are aware of what’s happening.
• Give participants enough time to participate in the poll, or offer alternative ways for participants to provide feedback.

For more information, please visit accessibility in Zoom.

Google Meet

Google Meet is recommended for smaller team meetings, administrative, highly sensitive and other web conferencing. Google Meet also works great for smaller class sizes.