Events & Presentations

• Event organizers
• Creators of supporting materials (marketing materials, webpages, agendas, event guides, posters, etc.)
• Presenters

Event Organizers

• Event & Meeting Accessibility Training (U-M Canvas Course | Estimated time to complete: 30–45 minutes)
• LSA Events Accessibility Guide (U-M Resource | Estimated time to complete: 2 hours)
  • Provides broad guidance on event accessibility, including digital accessibility considerations for event components and materials.
  • Note: Some services described may only be available to the LSA community.
• Form & Survey Accessibility Training (U-M Canvas Course | Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes)
  • Covers general survey accessibility as well as guidance specific to Google Forms and Qualtrics.

Creators of Supporting Materials

• ECRT Accessible Event Planning Video: Part 1 Digital Marketing and Alt Text (U-M Disability Equity Office Training | Estimated Time to Complete: 40 minutes)
• Document Accessibility Training (U-M Canvas Course | Estimated time to complete: 20–30 minutes)
• PDF Accessibility Training (U-M Canvas Course | Estimated time to complete: 30–45 minutes)
  • Note: PDFs should be avoided where possible! Review the PDF Decision Tree and U-M Flint's Rethinking PDFs pages to learn more.
• Web Content Accessibility Training (U-M Canvas Course | Estimated time to complete: 45 minutes)

Presenters

• Presentations Training (U-M Canvas Course | Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes)

• Event organizers
• Creators of supporting materials (marketing materials, webpages, agendas, event guides, posters, etc.)
• Presenters

Review logistics and content for upcoming events, as follows:

• Event organizers should review planning processes to ensure digital accessibility considerations are factored into action items and the timeline, early on.
• Content creators should review materials.
• Presenters should review best practices for presentation materials and live delivery of content.

If you have no upcoming events, you can do a retrospective review of recent past events to determine which aspects of digital accessibility were accounted for and which were not. Document missed elements and focus on revising your processes during the remediate phase.

Use the events and presentations inventory spreadsheet (or create your own system) to assist with the review process. The linked spreadsheet focuses solely on digital accessibility considerations, but can be copied and adapted to include physical accessibility considerations as well.

Step 1: Select events for review

1. Compile a list of upcoming events along with basic data including location and format (in-person, virtual, hybrid).
2. If no upcoming events, select one or more recent events for retrospective review.

Step 2: Assess purpose and reach

1. Is the event or presentation delivering critical, time-sensitive information? (For example, time sensitive updates on health or safety, major policy changes, or significant deadlines, closures, or relocations)
   • If yes, mark high priority for digital accessibility attention.
2. Who is the intended audience? (i.e., internal to U-M, open to the public, mix)
   • If participation is open to the public, mark high priority for digital accessibility attention.
3. What is the size of the anticipated audience?
   • If the audience size is expected to be 50 or more individuals, mark high priority for digital accessibility attention.
4. Will the event or presentation content be further distributed via recordings posted online or resources posted to a website or emailed out?
   • If the meeting or presentation content will be further distributed online, mark high priority for digital accessibility attention.
5. Will the event or presentation be focused on a disability or accessibility-related topic? Can you anticipate having individuals with disabilities as participants?
   • If the answer to either question is yes, mark high priority for digital accessibility attention.

Step 3: Prioritize for digital accessibility attention (Upcoming events only)

Your answers to the questions in Step 2 will help you determine which upcoming events and presentations should be marked as a high priority for receiving digital accessibility attention. Remember that digital accessibility should be factored into all events and presentations, however the questions above help to discern the instances where a higher level of effort, time, and resources may be required to proactively deliver a digitally accessible experience.

Step 4: Assess accessibility features

Determine which digital accessibility features are relevant to your meeting or presentation and then track the status of whether these features have been implemented. The sample events and presentations inventory spreadsheet reflects common digital accessibility features to track, which you can edit and add to as needed.

Use the event communications and materials inventory spreadsheet (or create your own system) to assist with the review process. The linked spreadsheet can be adapted to meet your review needs.

Step 1: Inventory the materials

At minimum, document the names of materials, the type of material, and the accessibility status. Other information to track might include who has been assigned to review or remediate a material, costs for having an item remediated by a supplier, or any factors affecting the accessibility status of a material.

Step 2: Assess accessibility

The assigned reviewer should assess the digital accessibility of the materials. The following resources may be helpful:

• Email Communications
  • Email Template Accessibility Checklist
• Documents
  • Accessible Document Checklist
• Slide Decks
  • Accessible PowerPoint Presentation Checklist
  • Accessible Google Slides Presentation Checklist
• Video & Audio
  • Best Practices to Make Video & Audio Accessible

Step 3: Prioritize inaccessible materials for remediation

Once you’ve prioritized which events or presentations to give digital accessibility attention to first, you may also need to prioritize the order in which inaccessible items associated with each meeting or presentation are remediated. This is especially true if there is a large volume of material to fix.

Prioritization could be done by:

• Date that materials will be distributed to participants (helpful for multi-day events or presentations where some materials are sent in advance and other materials are sent afterward), or
• Anticipated usage and importance (helpful when there are core materials every participant will need to access, like meeting agendas or the video at a film screening), or
• Complexity and remediation effort (helpful if you want to build your accessibility remediation skills progressively).

• Event organizers should review planning processes ahead of time and integrate digital accessibility considerations into action items and the timeline.
• Content creators should remediate materials.
• Presenters should implement best practices for presentation materials and live delivery of content.

Event Organizers

Examine your event planning practices and workflow for the following:

• Standard outreach to presenters and attendees to communicate digital accessibility features that will be proactively provided during the event and to invite accommodation requests.
• Standard outreach to presenters to communicate digital accessibility expectations along with tools and resources that can assist with delivering accessible content.
• Designation of individuals to receive and handle accommodation requests as well as to respond to presenter questions and concerns about digital accessibility.
• Points where there may be a digital component that will impact planners, presenters, or attendees (e.g., choosing a task management tool, outreach to potential presenters, selection of registration and hosting platforms, addition of web content, etc.). Integrate checkpoints to evaluate all digital tools and content to ensure compliance with digital accessibility standards.
• Consideration of accessible engagement options in hybrid/virtual presentations, such as raising hands, unmuting and speaking, typing in the chat, or submitting questions and comments via a third party tool.
• Quality control checks of submitted materials and content, especially before wide distribution such as via posting to an event platform or website.
• Distribution of remediated/accessible presentation materials to attendees in advance of the event, whenever possible.
• Sharing best practices with participants, such as using speaker identification (saying their name before speaking) to benefit those following along primarily through audio, the transcript, and/or captioning.

Content Creators

Depending on the type of content, review the remediation guidance in the relevant digital asset pathway:

• Websites
• Documents & Emails
• Video & Audio
• Images & Complex Visuals
• Social Media

Some key event-specific digital content best practices: 

• Provide a field for accommodation requests in registration forms.
• Do not distribute event information via inaccessible print fliers alone (often shared in an inaccessible PDF format). If attaching print fliers, repeat event information in the body text of the accompanying email or message.
• Ensure information in visual maps (which may convey parking information, directions to the venue, venue floor plans, etc.) is also conveyed through clear text-based directions.

Presenters

• Work through the relevant presentation checklist and make fixes accordingly:
  • Accessible PowerPoint Presentation Checklist
  • Accessible Google Slides Presentation Checklist
• Ensure any videos you will share have accurate captions and that a transcript is available to accompany any audio files. If you do not own a video and can’t directly edit the captions, consider looking for an alternative with accurate captions or generate an accurate transcript that can be distributed along with your slides. (If live captioning is being provided at the event, the transcriptionist will typically continue to caption video and audio content if asked. Connect with the event organizer to ask about this.)
• If using digital engagement tools like word cloud generators, quiz apps, or live polls, look into whether or not they are digitally accessible for those using assistive technology. Try to select tools that will allow everyone to participate and consider alternative engagement options in cases where a tool is not accessible.
• Prepare for accessible delivery of content, which may include using a microphone, arranging good lighting for remote delivery, verbally describing important visuals (informative images, tables, graphs) shown on slides, and pacing your speaking to ensure captioners and interpreters can keep up.

• Event organizers may be interested in trying out the Event Accessibility Guide AI-Powered Creation Tool from the College of Engineering to get help thinking through key accessibility features and generating a guide that can be shared with participants.
  • Populate event information into a form template to produce AI-assisted event accessibility guides in different formats (webpage, email, Google Doc, or plain text file). Always remember to proofread content before distributing, as the tool will generate placeholder text where additional information is recommended and AI may sometimes make mistakes or misrepresent information.
• Presenters should be familiar with:
  • Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker (available for Word and Powerpoint)
  • Grackle Accessibility Checker (available for Google Docs and Google Slides)
  • Captioning and transcription tools in the Video & Audio Pathway.
• Content creators should review the tools in the relevant digital asset pathway:
  • Websites
  • Documents & Emails
  • Video & Audio
  • Images & Complex Visuals
  • Social Media

• Event organizers

• Incorporate an event survey question on accessibility
• Track accommodation requests
• Keep records on accessibility supplier use and performance (e.g., suppliers who provide captioning, ASL, assistive listening systems, remediation service, etc.)
• Store event materials in a central location that you have access to

Periodically review feedback, services, and content from past events. 

• Review event survey responses to determine which accessibility efforts are going well and which need more attention.
• Also review the outcome of accommodation requests. Which were fulfilled, which were not not, and where there is room for improvement in the future.
• Determine if any suppliers have provided substandard service. Meet with the supplier to discuss issues and options for improvement or identify alternative suppliers to contract in the future.
• If not directly responsible for remediation of event presentations or materials, periodically spot-check a selection of items for accessibility. Determine if additional training, oversight, or communication may be necessary to improve compliance moving forward.