Let's Talk Accessible Presentations

Engineers know this. When you’re designing something, whether it’s a product, a bridge, or a piece of online content, you have to think of both those you’re including and other’s that you are excluding by your design. You also have to consider those being impacted by your design decisions.

Think of the design of a helmet. It’s a protective gear that is supposed to provide a universal design so everyone can use it. However, I find it very hard to use when I tie my hair into a bun. Therefore, I have to make adjustments so I could still use it. That is not to say that everything we create has to include everyone and consider every scenario, but changing your mindset around the experience you want people to have while interacting with what you’re offering is important.

Consider this to change your mindset:

“Thinking in terms of community, rather than an audience, suggests our job might be to join our customers’ community, or create new ones, by connecting like-minded people to each other.” — Luke Sullivan, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This

Looking at things from the lens of content rather than “sending a message” shifts our focus to creating an experience for people rather than just speaking to them passively like they have no say in the matter. The more people you include, the bigger your audience is. The more people you reach, the more people are interested in your content.

Do you get my drift? I was honestly just trying to warm you up to the topic of having a “we” mindset when crafting accessible presentations. There should be no us-vs-them mindset anymore. We need to start having a “we” mindset. It’s more than just using Alt text or transcribing a speech. It’s trying to create an experience. The keyword here is experience.

What is it that makes presentations accessible for people? Where do I start from?

I’ve never met anyone who has all the answers. I also haven’t seen or heard of any presentation that caters to everyone’s needs. With or without a disability, you will probably get it wrong most of the time. So, where is the start line and how do you cross the finish line?

This is the way I see it: the start line is blurry and there’s no finish line. It’s an ongoing conversation. That’s not exactly a bad thing because it leaves room for discussion and collaboration. What connects us all is that we’re humans and all we want is to be seen and heard. So, here’s a skill you should learn to create accessible presentations: learn to ask questions and do not make assumptions. “Asking questions and accepting discomfort as an outcome helps you grow personally, as an organization and a society.” — Joze Piranian

Before you make assumptions on what people need to access your presentations, include them in the process. “Accessibility is a spectrum with a wide range of needs. Your aim should be to include as many people as possible” — Amina Aweis. Include people so they can collaborate to co-create the experience. Include people so they can see what you see. Before you begin the journey of crafting presentations, ask questions. Ask people what works or doesn’t work for them. Include people in the process. Period.

Is it optional?

We’ve all experienced an accessibility need at some point in our lives, whether it’s due to a disability or merely because of a personal experience. Have you come across a piece of content that was impossible to read simply because it was in a different language? What if you were consuming it during a live presentation, then you were asked to make a decision based on what was presented before you? How does that make you feel? Writing that question down made me feel anxious and excluded. It’s like being punished for being different. We’ve all been there.

“If you do not intentionally include, you unintentionally exclude.”

Accessibility is an opportunity and a responsibility. It’s not a nice-to-have feature. It’s a standard. It should be mandatory. Be always mindful of the people who are not able to participate, consume your presentation, and connect with you. You’re not doing anyone a favor because accessibility benefits everyone.

Challenge the status quo

Everything in the world works as part of a system. This is when I realized how powerful it is to start looking at my presentations or content as part of a system. It’s not enough for us to talk about accessibility in presentations in terms of awareness and empathy. We have to also change the mindset around how we create them to include others.

“Storytelling is about simplifying, while system thinking is about possibilities.” — Luke Sullivan, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This

Think of your presentation as part of a much larger universe. I know it’s such a scary thought when you think of the impact your presentation can have on others. Here’s how I think of it: adding Alt text to images is definitely a great step forward but it’s not enough to make your content accessible. You need a system.

“Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system’s constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems.” — Ben Lutkevich

Ricardo Wagner suggested that you can combine these three things to create a system that is holistically accessible (or more accessible for people):

1. Technology: There’s an app for everything, they said. It’s true though. There are so many tools out there for us to use for our benefit and the benefit of others. I remember leaving my earbuds at home but wanting to finish that Netflix episode so badly that I really started to appreciate Closed Captions. Think of those who consider CC more of a necessity than a luxury to access your presentation content. What kind of tools are you looking at or utilizing to cater to their specific needs?
2. Content: Think of how audiobooks made content accessible to so many people. Whether you’re visually impaired or simply on the road, the author of your favorite book made the content accessible for you simply because it’s in a different format. If you’re preparing for a presentation, make the content accessible to people beforehand by sharing it with them. People with learning disabilities or dyslexia can benefit greatly from that as it gives them the time and space to process your content. I don’t know about you, but those complex charts and data visuals make me anxious. Give people the questions in advance or send them the presentation in a pdf format, Max Lieberman elaborated. 
3. Ecosystem: Becoming aware of the needs of humans other than yourself will help you design a better environment for everyone. Extend your effort to more than just an arm's length. It’s totally worth it.

Create an engaging presentation. Otherwise, what’s the point?

First things first, an engaging presentation makes the audience feel fully involved. Why do we need that? Because presenters are storytellers and good storytellers speak to people. When you’re not engaged, you feel like people are speaking at you. Raise your hand if you want to be excluded and never be seen or heard!

“Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.”

I don’t know who said that and I’d love to quote them but it’s great advice nonetheless. I am so overwhelmed with content that I need a little break. But I also need something to remind me of what has been said. In the way, they learn.

Take people back to where you started and break your presentation into these three parts:

1. Tell people what you’re going to talk about (do some research on what they’re here for and say exactly that without giving away the key message)
2. Tell people what you just said and tell them what’s coming next
3. Remind people of what you said and why you said it and how it’s part of the big picture

What if I don’t want to give away the secret?! “Make a promise”, Tracey Madigan said. Keep the red thread going throughout the presentation but keep everyone informed and remind them of what was said to keep them at the edge of their seats, waiting for the next part. We all want that. Keep people hooked but also keep them informed. As Austin Kleon said, “Share the dots but don’t connect them.”

It’s not a medium. It’s a way of communicating

For 20 or some years, presentations were pretty much PowerPoint slides. Times were good because as long as you had them on your slides, you were able to communicate them. But that was just one part of the whole process: Creation. We totally abandoned the importance of the consumption part of our content. 

The emergence of social media and the work-from-home lifestyle during the pandemic threw a massive wrench into the world of presentations. All of a sudden, we had new ways to create, consume and share, enabling people to have access to much more. Accessibility is more than just a way to assist people to consume our content; it’s empowering people to reimagine the world, learn new skills and find new ways to connect with others. Resisting this idea is going to be painful for you and others. You don’t want to be remembered as painful, do you?

Here are three layers that Ricardo Wagner shared to make presentations accessible (the descriptions are a mix of what he said and what I read):

1. Create: Make your content accessible by design. For example: add captions and descriptions.
2. Consume: Use tools that make your content accessible by others such as live interpreters or closed captions on Zoom or Microsoft Teams
3. Share: Change the format of your content to make it accessible. Use audio instead of video or use transcripts instead of audio. Make the experience itself accessible for as many people as possible.

Good presentations are adaptable because they help incorporate all learning styles so people can digest information at their own pace and in their own way. I am not an expert in this matter. My knowledge is very limited to what I read or know from social media, books, articles, and podcasts. But the main goal here is to open up our minds to the possibilities, what is out there, and what can be done.

Let’s learn some of the ways to make presentations accessible

(1) The Alt text is more than just mumbo-jumbo words

Highlight what’s important in the picture and describe it. What’s striking about it? Why is it even up there? Make it relevant to the people who can’t see it, Danielle Montour explained. Listen to some of the radio shows or the sports commentators and learn how to explain something so well people can almost visualize it. Describe everything you’re presenting.

(2) Your TikTok video text is not Closed Captions. Just Saying!

Closed caption is not only useful for persons with disabilities, it’s useful for anyone who could be in a situation where they’re not able to turn on their audio. When you create captions, make sure you pace yourself. Don’t add more than 20–22 characters per second, Elena Crescia explained. Otherwise, it feels like a sprint. People only enjoy that when it’s Usain Bolt. 

Closed Captions are different from Open Captions that are burnt into the video because they allow machines to read them. They also allow you to translate the content into so many other languages. That’s true accessibility. Amina Aweistries to write a full transcript of her video for her deaf subscribers. She also prepares fact sheets with key information presented.

I know that we don’t all have the capabilities and the access to a live interpreter, but here’s a great example that Ramz Shalbak shared of the work they do at the United Nations to make their content accessible:

• Content in different languages here
• Alt text associated with infographics here
• Closed Captions (CC) for videos here

and much more!

(3) Simple is always better. My motto!

Writing a concise message is useful for everyone. Nobody I know wants to sit through a presentation looking at a wall of text. This kind of stuff is dead y’all. Craft simple presentations with little textual information. Overwhelming should not be part of your brand.

(4) Diversity of thought

Diversify the human stories in your presentations. Integrate stories of people from different backgrounds, accessibility needs, as Ramz Shalbak explained. Diversity makes your presentation much more relatable. It’s important for us to show up in the world, not only for ourselves but also for others, Joze Piranian said.

It’s no longer a luxury

Making content accessible on your presentation is no longer a plus or a bonus; it’s a necessity. Thinking outside of disability and more into humanity, in general, will help create a paradigm shift and a mindset pivot.

Resources shared by my speakers

• W3C — how to make your presentations accessible to all
• A11Y Project — Presentations for Accessibility
• Otter is where conversations live
• Clipomatic — Capture your words right on videos!
• Deque University — Be an accessibility expert
• Accessibility on Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams
• The death of accessibility overlays by Kris Rivenburgh 
• Ensuring virtual events are accessible for all — shared by Sena Pottackal

I hope I inspired you to look at things from the accessibility lens while crafting and sharing presentations. If you like this story, share it with others. Follow my Website, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more stories.