Accessibility

The a11yMTL’s website was designed to demonstrate by example that it is possible to make a website that is eye pleasing and yet, compliant with the Web accessibility standards (SGQRI 008) of the Quebec Government and the W3C Web Accessibility standards. For more information on these standards, please visit the website of the Quebec Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to learn about the SGQRI 008 Web accessibility standards (in french only) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).

How to Make Presentations Accessible to All

This page helps you make your presentations, talks, meetings, and training accessible to all of your potential audience, including people with disabilities and others. Inclusive presentations have many benefits.

The tips and tricks that follow are freely adapted from a more exhaustive document proposed by the W3C on “How to Make Presentations Accessible to All“.

Before the Session

  1. Provide material ahead of time. Provide slides, handouts, and other material to participants, interpreters, translators, and CART writers, as needed. Make it accessible.
  2. Work with interpreters, translators, and CART writers. Give them material in advance; explain acronyms, terms, names, etc. that you will use; and be available to answer questions..
  3. Ideally, any audio you use is also available in text, for example, videos are captioned. However, if CART is provided for your presentation, that can provide text of the audio.
  4. Consider activities. Remember accessibility issues with any participant activities, such as responding to questions, arranging sticky notes, small group projects, etc.
  5. Use multiple communication methods for different learning styles. Some people can better understand verbal information, others pictures and diagrams, and others text.
  6. Make text and important visuals big enough to be read even from the back of the room. This includes graphics on slides, videos, posters, and other non-electronic material.
  7. Use an easy-to-read font face. Simple fonts with consistent thickness are often easier to read from a distance (as opposed to fonts where parts of the letters are thin, like Times New Roman). Avoid fancy fonts that are difficult to read.
  8. Use sufficient color contrast. Color contrast guidelines and evaluation tools for web pages might be helpful to determine sufficient contrast. Use appropriate background and text colors. Some suggest when presenting in a light room to display dark text on a light background. When presenting in a darkened room to display light text on a dark background, and ensure that the weight of text is sufficient (for example, bold).
  9. Make provided material accessible. If you are giving participants material, make it accessible.

During the presentation

  1. Speak clearly. Avoid speaking too fast, so participants and sign language interpreters can better understand you and keep up.
  2. Use simple language. Avoid or explain jargon, acronyms, and idioms. For example, expressions such as “raising the bar” can be interpreted literally by some people with cognitive disabilities and can be confusing.
  3. Give people time to process information. Pause between topics. When you ask if anyone has questions, some people with cognitive disabilities will need extra time to form their thoughts into words.
  4. Be visible. Also be in good light so participants can see your face when you talk, which helps some people hear and understand better. Especially when you don’t have a microphone, be careful not to face away from the audience to read projected material.
  5. Use a microphone. Even in a small room, some people might need the audio electronically, including people using ALDs/hearing loops and remote CART writers. Note that if you ask “Can everyone hear me OK?” some people might be uncomfortable saying that they cannot.
  6. Ensure that all relevant sound is audible through the sound system. For example, if the audience doesn’t have a microphone, repeat their questions and comments into your microphone before replying.
  7. Cover all displayed text. Say all of the information that is on each slide. This does not mean that you have to read the slide exactly as it is, it just means that you cover the visual information in what you say.
  8. Describe pertinent parts of graphics, videos, and other visuals. Describe them to the extent needed to understand the presentation. You usually do not need to describe decorative images.
  9. Describe other visual information. For example, if you ask a question of the audience, summarize the response, such as, Speaker: “If you make your websites fully accessible, please raise your hand.”…then: “About half raised their hand.”

To continue reading further and learn more about the tips and tricks to make presentations accessible, visit the full article: “How to Make Presentations Accessible to All” on the W3C’s website.