Video Meetings

General Video Call Norms

Presentation Materials

Presentation materials should be shared in advance (for accessibility and for those joining by phone) in an accessible format.

Moderators

Video calls should be co-hosted by at least two people, so that if one person loses their connection or needs to troubleshoot, there is a second person there to continue the call. Where possible, co-hosts should both be designated as moderators in the meeting setup so they have the same capabilities.

Expectations for Engagement

Guidelines for engagement and rules for communication should be shared with participants before the call and reviewed at the beginning of the call (e.g., "Only the co-hosts' videos will be displayed; All participant audio will be automatically muted; please unmute yourself to ask a question; Use the chat box to ask questions and contribute ideas").
Participants should be given the option to interact verbally or via writing in the chat box.

Captioning

Live auto-captioning should be provided by following the instructions under Platform Settings below.
Announce at beginning of call that captioning is available and provide instructions for viewing.

Suggested Setup

All participant audio should be automatically muted when joining the call.
Set the active speaker video to full screen or disable video for all but the main presenters (especially for +20 participants). Seeing multiple video feeds is mentally taxing.

Assign someone to monitor the chat box and any notifications that indicate a participant wants to ask a question or speak.
Have someone read aloud chat messages, especially if those messages are being discussed.

For large calls, consider using the free Trace Online Hand Raising Utility (TOHRU) in conjunction with the video call app to manage participation. TOHRU allows participants to indicate they want to speak/add something to the call and to define what they want to contribute (a question, an answer, comment about current topic, introduce a new topic). TOHRU lists requests in the order they are received and allows the monitor to prioritize participants based on what they want to say (e.g., contributions to the current topic could be prioritized before allowing someone to raise a new topic).

For more virtual event considerations, see U-M ITS Accessible Remote Events

Platform Settings

For overview, see U-M ITS Accessible Videoconferencing

For full comparison of accessibility features, see U-M ITS Videoconferencing Tool Comparison

Zoom

Best Practices for Supporting Accessibility with Zoom from LSA Tech Services

Captioning

To Enable Live Auto-Captioning:

[One-time set up] Enable closed captioning through your Zoom Account Settings
[During each meeting] As host, select the CC button in the menu and then select "Enable Auto-Transcription" (instructions with images)
To prevent participants from being able to save the captions (which is good for accessibility but creates privacy concerns), host must toggle off "Save Captions" in the Zoom application settings (under "View More Settings")
Currently, captions will not work in breakout rooms. Keep all participants who request captioning in the same breakout room. Assign a staff member to move into that breakout room and type what is said into the closed captions tool, under the CC tool button.

To View Captions: Select the CC button and then select "Show Subtitle" for captions or "View Full Transcript" for a separate transcript window with speaker names.

Recording

Captions are not saved and will not appear when recordings are played. To aid in captioning recorded video, enable the audio transcript option in your account settings (available via the web browser interface) before recording a meeting. This will produce a transcript that can be used for captioning the video before it is distributed for viewing.

Communicating Accessibility Features to Participants

Instructions for viewing and changing the display of closed captions
Navigable using these keyboard shortcuts

Google Meet

Considerations

☒ No support for CART interpreting or ASL interpretation

Captioning

To Enable Live Auto-Captioning: Automated live captioning is provided automatically.

To View Captions: Select the CC button in the Meet window.

Recording

Captions are not saved and will not appear when recordings are played, so captions still need to be added to recorded video before distributing.

Communicating Accessibility Features to Participants

Chrome's accessibility features (screen-reader, zoom, high-contrast color) can be used during Meet video calls
Navigable using these keyboard shortcuts

Accommodations

Marketing

In promotional materials and confirmation materials, clearly identify how participants can request accommodations.

Sign Language Interpretation

If a sign language interpreter will be present on the call, their video should be enabled the entire time. If the call will be long, more than one interpreter may be used and you will need to enable/disable video accordingly so it is clear which interpreter is active. Interpreters should follow participants who require sign language into the breakout meeting rooms.

CART Services

Events participants may request CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation) services instead of auto-captioning due to a higher level of accuracy.

Vendors and Budgeting

See the Accommodations Vendor and Budget Guide for recommended vendors and estimated costs for interpreters, CART services, and more.

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