Ask About: Assistive Technology and Accessible Meetings

What should you do to make a meeting accessible? What kind of assistive technologies are available on mobile phones? Accessible technology changes just as quickly as other areas of innovations in tech, and this edition of Ask About the ADA is about the ways you can ensure everyone has access to online communications.

NortheastADA.org

Transcript

JOE ZESSKI: Hello. Welcome to Ask About the ADA, podcast the podcast where we answer your questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it applies to everyday life. 

I'm Joe Zesski, program manager here at the Northeast ADA Center, and thank you for joining us this week. On this edition of Ask About the ADA, we're going to go back and listen to part of a webinar that the Northeast ADA offered in December of 2021. 

This webinar focused on commonly asked questions here at the Northeast ADA Center. And today's episode deals with two questions. One is about accessible virtual meetings, and the second is about accessible technology available on mobile phones. I hope you enjoy. 

This one asks, how should we provide an accessible virtual meeting? This process has certainly become more and more of an issue as everyone has worked through the COVID-19 restrictions and changes that have come up or been put into place. And so many more people are having to do things, whether for work, or for school, or for other social interactions, to do things in virtual instead of in person. And so we put together some general tips of what to do if you need to set up an accessible virtual meeting. 

First, you want to look and do research. You want to find out what is likely to be among the more accessible platforms that are out there. Likely, there's always going to be some issues with every platform. But certainly, some do a little better job than others, and there are a wide variety out there. 

Look for things like do the different platforms talk about their accessibility features? What do they offer? Do that research and legwork. Find out more about them on an individual basis, in terms of the platforms you're looking at and what you're able to support yourself as someone hosting a meeting. 

Of course, check to make sure that it is compatible with assistive technology. Some platforms are more screen reader friendly, for example. Some platforms do not allow for captioning. Some platforms provide automatic captioning, but perhaps don't allow for a live captioner or a live ASL captioning. 

So again, you want to investigate all those different types of technologies to see how they interact and how robust the different platforms are. 

When you do choose a platform, be sure that there's high quality captioning options available. And here at the Northeast ADA Center, we do use live captioning. We don't rely on AI, which is automated intelligence. 

We find that, while those systems have improved greatly, and perhaps those could be used in a pinch-- if it's a meeting where you don't expect, or you haven't heard if anyone has the need for captioning-- maybe you could use that. But as a general rule, we would recommend probably, at this point, still using a live captioner or ASL interpreter to provide access for those who have hearing related disability issues, or for those as well who may simply need or prefer to enjoy captions along with the audio part of a meeting. 

So in order to have a captioner, you really need to be able to have a captioner or translator dial in to a meeting. So you want to make sure that there's an option for a captioner to join and to be seen in either a pod or some part of a screen when requested. 

Another part is about other preparations that can be taken, in terms of the actual meeting itself. Part of it is about preparing the host and attendees for the meeting itself. In terms of the host, it's important to know the accessibility features that you're dealing with. I mentioned researching them just a moment or two ago. 

You also want to make sure that the host knows how accessible features work, what is or isn't possible, so that they can help people who are in the meeting itself or in the presentation itself to access all of what is possible in a given platform. So again, make sure that the host knows how to access what to be accessible. 

You also want to create and share out materials that are as universally accessible as possible. So if you're sharing out a Word document, you want to make sure that you follow the best practices for creating an accessible electronic document. Or if you're looking at a PDF, for example, you want to share out accessible materials that are either shared as part of that meeting or shared post-meeting. 

Another good practice to have in place is to invite people to request accommodations ahead of time. You obviously want to try to plan to make your meeting as universally accessible as possible. But odds are, you're not going to be able to cover quite everything, and there may be things that you simply miss. 

And so allowing a disclaimer in preparation for the meeting to say, if you need an accommodation request, please notify this person as a point of contact, so that we can do our best to provide it-- that is something that's important. It's engaging. Then after the webinar, ask for feedback. Inquire if people had their accessible needs met and were able to participate. 

And finally, of course, you want the host themselves to be as inclusive-- you want the host to be as mindful-- that there are people with different abilities that may be known or unknown. And there are people with disabilities that may be known or unknown. And so it's important to do things such as sharing the content not only in written format, but also in verbal format, also an alternative formats beyond that as well, and making sure that small things like introducing who is speaking, are done, so that it's clear not only for attendees, but also for captioners or translators. 

These are small things that are-- 

Our next question is this. Is there assistive technology for mobile phone companies available for adults and youth with disabilities? Well, first of all, the law itself doesn't require the creation of any specific products, as far as telephone companies and mobile phone providers, in terms of the actual physical product itself. So the law doesn't specify that a vendor must provide an accessible piece of technology, per se. 

Now, that being said, certainly there is a lot of accessible technology now available on cell phones. And a lot of it is off the shelf accessibility at this point. Certainly, there always is work in progress. But many of the major phone carriers or providers do build in accessibility. 

For example, for iPhones, people have the iOS operating system, has its suite of features that provide accessibility, such as voice over, touch assist, things of that nature. Android similarly has TalkBack, in terms of a screen reader that's available on the phone, as well as other assistive technology applications that are available. 

Now, in terms of the apps available, not all cell phone apps, as anyone who uses some of this assistive technology will know, is accessible. So certainly, there are apps and programs that are not accessible. But that's not unfortunately addressed directly by the ADA. And it's something that is an issue of concern. But certainly, there are more and more providers and app creators that are offering accessible technology, both through free and paid apps as well. 

Well, thank you for listening to this edition of Ask About the ADA. If those questions were of interest or you have others that you'd like to ask, please feel free to contact us here at the Northeast ADA Center. You can visit our website at northeastada.org. You can email us at northeastada@cornell.edu. And of course, you can always reach out to us as well through social media, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, the usual suspects. Just look for Northeast ADA. 

Thank you for listening. And thanks, as always, to Grace Fairchild, the producer of our podcast here at the Northeast ADA. Thanks as well to Peter Quinn of the YTI media team. And thank you for being a part of the conversation.