Business Communication: Who Do You Know With a Visual or Hearing Impairment?
JD Solomon
How to Get Your Boss's Boss to Understand by Communicating with FINESSE | Solutions for people, facilities, infrastructure, and the environment.
Are your reports and presentations accessible and understandable? People with visual and hearing impairments are everywhere. Here are a few tips and observations for improving your business communication.
Test for Understandability
Before finalizing, test your report or presentation with individuals who have impairments to ensure that it meets their needs effectively.
High-Level Tips for Reports and Presentations
What’s good for accessibility is also good for readability and understandability for all.
Consistent Use
Maintain consistency in font choices, sizes, and spacing throughout the document or presentation to avoid confusion and enhance readability. San serif fonts like Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, and Aptos are good. Keep 11 or 12 pt. font for body text in reports and 24 to 28 pt. font in PowerPoint slides. Line spacing should be 1.5 or 2 for reports and presentations.
Contrast
Ensure high contrast between text and background. Dark text on a light background or vice versa is the most readable.
Avoid Justified Text
Use left-aligned text rather than justified text to avoid irregular spacing between words which can hinder readability.
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More Tips in the Upcoming CWF Series
Communicating with FINESSE kicks off a new series in August 2024 that takes a look at five big aspects: colors, symbols, font size, alternative text, and tables.
Accessibility Should be at the Top of Your Method
Having a proven approach and specific methodology is important for communication for big decisions. Regardless of your methodology, accessibility should be at the top of the list and not something left for “as time allows.”
Ask Someone with a Visual or Hearing Impairment
Tips, approaches, and methods all have their places. However, the one thing that trumps them all is to actually ask someone you know whether your work is accessible and understandable.? You definitely know someone who can help.? We are all around you.
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