{"id":6782,"date":"2024-06-28T16:55:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T19:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/?p=6782"},"modified":"2024-06-28T16:55:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T19:55:12","slug":"accessible-presentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/accessible-presentation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on giving an accessible presentation to reach all audiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When giving a presentation, <strong>are you truly communicating with everyone in your audience<\/strong>? Imagine this: you&#8217;re at an event and can&#8217;t understand anything the speaker is saying due to microphone feedback. Or you can&#8217;t see the slides because the projector is malfunctioning. It&#8217;s not pleasant, right? Often, when discussing a topic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/accessibility-barriers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">we create barriers<\/a> that prevent many people from understanding us. <strong>Have you ever considered how people with visual or <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/world-hearing-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>hearing disabilities<\/strong><\/a><strong> follow your presentations?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accessibility should be present everywhere and at all times, including during presentations. Beyond the presence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/universal-sign-languages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ASL (American Sign Language)<\/a> interpreters and audio describers, who help deaf or blind people follow the content, there are other practices that can help you communicate with your diverse audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the tips we&#8217;ve provided, there&#8217;s no mistake, your presentation will reach everyone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to do on stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, <strong>you need to be accessible too<\/strong>! To achieve this, there are some actions you can take to improve the experience for your audience. Here are a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Be visible.<\/strong> Choose a well-lit spot so everyone can see you more clearly;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Describe yourself at the start of your talk<\/strong>, mention where you are, and give a brief description of yourself. This will help blind people or those with visual disabilities form a &#8220;picture&#8221; of who you are;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>When showing data<\/strong>, consider that not everyone may be receiving the information the same way. Blind people, for example, can&#8217;t see your slide content. So, <strong>explain what you want to show<\/strong>. Guide people through your thought process, which aids in understanding for those with cognitive disabilities. A good presentation balances these aspects without losing rhythm;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use simple words and always explain acronyms and technical terms you use<\/strong>. It might seem obvious to you, but it might not be to others;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pay attention to your speaking pace and pause between topics<\/strong>. This allows people with cognitive disabilities extra time to process information, and also helps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/asl-interpreters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ASL interpreters<\/a> with simultaneous translation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to prepare your content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After behavior tips, <strong>it&#8217;s time to think about your content! It might not be accessible either<\/strong>. So, attention to detail is crucial as small changes can make a big difference! Check out these tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ensure <strong>slide content is in a good size to be seen <\/strong>by everyone in the auditorium;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/how-to-make-your-website-accessible-for-color-blind-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>Don&#8217;t use colors alone<\/strong><\/a><strong> to highlight visual information<\/strong>. Projectors can be tricky \u2013 what looks good on your computer or projector might not on others. Not to mention <a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/color-blindness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">colorblind people<\/a> who can&#8217;t perceive information the same way. You can highlight information differently, such as using icons or images, different font styles, auxiliary texts, and even varying data proportions;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Avoid using more than one language on the same slide and overcrowding it with too much information<\/strong>. This can make it confusing for the audience. Remember, not everyone is fluent in multiple languages! Prepare the content in the audience&#8217;s language!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Include <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\/alt-text\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>alt text for images<\/strong><\/a><strong>, provide text transcripts and captions<\/strong>. Don&#8217;t limit yourself to verbally describing content. When publishing your slides online, various people will access them, and alt text will help them understand the images&#8217; content;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pay attention to the format in which you save your slides; assistive tools do not recognize PDF. <strong>Prefer saving them in HTML and RTF (Rich Text Format)<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send your material in advance to ASL interpreters and audio describers so they can prepare for the presentations, especially when they include technical terms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When preparing for your talk, don&#8217;t forget to add these items to your list! A little extra time you dedicate can make a huge difference in the experience of those watching you. At first, it might seem complicated, but over time you&#8217;ll get the hang of it. Then, before you know it, you&#8217;ll be adopting accessible practices without even realizing it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you want to learn more about accessibility and inclusion? Then be sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">check out our blog<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When giving a presentation, are you truly communicating with everyone in your audience? Imagine this: you&#8217;re at an event and can&#8217;t understand anything the speaker is saying due to microphone feedback. Or you can&#8217;t see the slides because the projector is malfunctioning. It&#8217;s not pleasant, right? Often, when discussing a topic, we create barriers that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[631,632,636],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessibility","category-inclusion","category-remote-work"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6783,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6782\/revisions\/6783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handtalk.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}