Classes, meetings, and other live events can be made more inclusive and engaging for the audience by the thoughtful inclusion of certain technologies and tools. Defining the central goal for an event (how active, how social, how informational) will help identify the best tool(s) and the best way to use them.
Tools for Inclusive Events - Getting Started gives a summary of the tools that can be used to enhance live events (in-person, online, or hybrid), a framework for assessing the purpose of an event, and a worksheet for choosing the right tool(s) for the goal.
(Access to the Workshop Materials folder may require logging in with a UMass Amherst NetID.)
Live events ( in-person, online, and hybrid) can be powerful tools for delivering information, facilitating discussions, enabling collaboration, and creating social connections. By matching the right tools and technologies with event goals, it is possible to open these events to more people, enable engagement through multiple modes, and help participants feel that their presence and their input matters.
Defining the goal of the event helps identify which tool(s) are most likely to help. When defining the goal, consider how active the audience needs to be, how much information the audience needs to retain, and how much social engagement the audience needs or expects.
Tools and technologies that can shape events:
Video Conferencing
Audience Response Systems & Live Polling
Synchronous Chat
Collaborative Documents & Digital Whiteboards
Live Captioning
Handouts, Resources & Recordings
Accessible Meetings. Section508.Gov.
Hybrid meeting accessibility. UW–Madison Information Technology.
Practices for Inclusive Hybrid Meetings Resource Guide (PDF) . Stanford Medicine Accessible Technology (SMAT)
If you have any additional questions, perspectives, or resources to add, send them to digitallearning@umass.edu.