Accessibility Practices for In-Person Presentations
- Daniel LaGrow
Instructions
Tip 1: Sound
Always use a microphone when presenting. This is beneficial for people who cannot hear or struggle to hear. Your voice alone may not be loud enough to reach the back of the room. A microphone will help your voice reach every part of the room. You should also have a microphone available to the audience for asking questions. Your audience may have questions for you after the presentation, so giving them a microphone to use will help you and everyone else hear their question.
Tip 2: The Slideshow
Design your slideshow with accessibility in mind. This means to that when creating your slideshow, one of the first things you should be thinking about is how to make the presentation accessible. A common occurrence is that people will create a slideshow and then make it accessible. This creates a lot of unneeded work. It is better to start thinking of accessibility at the beginning of the process. When creating an accessible presentation, please refer to our Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides Series for guidance.
Tip 3: Images
Describe all images, data, charts and graphs used. Viewers who have visual disabilities may have a hard time seeing your information. So it is a good idea to describe your content so they can know about the data.
Tip 4: Captions
Use captions for all videos in your presentation. Also keep captions active while you are speaking. If a viewer cannot hear you, whether because they are blind or in the back of the room, captions provide them a good way to get your information.
Tip 5: Sharing
Send out copies of your presentation to viewers ahead of time. Maybe the day before. This will give viewers a chance to read the presentation themselves and come to the presentation more prepared.