Accessibility in Courses via Zoom
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom and other video conferencing tools became part of our day-to-day interactions with our students and colleagues. For the disabled community, this afforded many a new way to participate, interact and have their voices heard. This was the case for scientist Anya Lawrence who wrote a column in Nature on August 25, 2021 titled How Zoom helped the neurotypical world hear my autistic voice. However, the shift to video conferencing also caused significant challenges in terms of accessibility for users who have motor, visual or hearing impairments. Zoom and other video conferencing services have worked to address some of these challenges, but you can help too.
Accessibility features in Zoom and considerations
Closed captions or live transcript
Zoom provides auto-generated captions that have a fairly high rate of accuracy. We recommend enabling the live transcript at the start of all class meetings. The host of the meeting has the option to enable to live transcript in the bottom menu bar. This will let your students know that the live transcript is available if they wish to use it.
Pinning and Spotlight
You can pin or spotlight individuals in a Zoom meeting which means that their video will stay active. If there is a sign language interpreter in your class meeting, you will want to spotlight them so that all can see the interpreter, or let the student pin the interpreter so that they can see them at all times. If you need to have a sign language interpreter in your course, you are probably working directly with Student Accessibility Services.
Zoom chat
Zoom chat is a great tool but it can be overwhelming for students if you are asking a large class to participate all at once in the chat. Not everyone is able to read at the same speed, or with the same proficiency and ease. It can also be very difficult for blind students and students who have visual impairments to keep up with the chat. So think about how you want to use the chat in your class, and consider have a discussion with your students on the topic as well.
Camera on or off?
Should students be allowed to turn their camera off when on Zoom? Yes, it's hard to teach to a panel of dark screens, and yet, if you have attended a presentation of some sort recently, you probably noticed that most people turn their camera off until it is time for the Q&A. When our camera is on, there is a pressure to make "eye contact" or else we look like we are not present and listening. However, many people have difficulties with that: taking notes and making eye contact is difficult, reading closed captions and making eye contact is difficult, if you can't see what's on the screen making eye contact is difficult, if you have anxiety or if stimming helps you stay focused making eye contact is difficult. Learn more about Why keeping the camera off creates inclusive virtual meeting on the Disability:In website.
Accessibility settings each user can customize for themselves
There are a number of settings that can be activated in each user's instance of Zoom. You may want to check it out for yourself and invite your students to check their accessibility settings as well. Zoom allows users to:
Customize the display settings, including how the captions appear on screen
Enable keyboard navigation
Customize what the screen reader will announce
You can find more details on Zoom accessibility by visiting Zoom's accessibility page
Online synchronous class meeting
When interacting with students online in real-time there are several steps you can take to make your meetings both accessible and inclusive. First, ask yourself:
How diverse is my audience?
Can all of my students see, hear, move, speak, and understand equally in my course?
What barriers may they encounter, and how can I lower these barriers? For example, do all my students have access to high speed internet? If not, and they need to call in using the phone line, how will I make sure that they have access to the visuals?
To help you think through these questions, we have created three checklists:
An important skill to develop to foster an inclusive class climate is to learn how to provide Audio description in synchronous class meetings. This is a valuable skill to have, and maybe one that you will want to encourage your students to develop as well.