Accessibility Tips

The Australian Network on Disability Accessible Communications How to Guide provides tips on developing accessible communication, including creating accessible documents and websites.

WORKING REMOTELY - TIPS TO ENSURE COMMUNICATION IS ACCESSIBLE TO STAFF AND CUSTOMERS WITH DISABILITY

Australian Network on Disability has shared some advice to help people adapt to working remotely, including tips to aid communication with staff and customers who have a disability.

When communicating with people it's important to ask how they prefer to communicate. People are usually willing to share what adjustments will help communication.

Don't make assumptions about communication, always ask and regularly check with the person during conversations and meetings that the communication method is working.

Plan ahead to accommodate individual accessibility requirements. Prior to meetings and events ask attendees to indicate if they have any accessibility requirements.

Ensure any visual information shared during virtual meetings is described or sent as pre-reading.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing may use a hearing aid and/or may lip read; or may use Australian Sign Language (Auslan) to communicate (so may have an interpreter).

Provide the Agenda with names of people who will speak to that point and stick to the Agenda. Shorter sentences and pausing between sentences can help communication. Team members can use the MS Teams Chat function as a way for the hard of hearing and deaf people to contribute to meeting conversations.

Caption all important audio/visual messages. There are service providers who can be booked to provide live captioning during meetings.

Provide Auslan interpreters when delivering key messages to deaf audience members. Speak directly to the person when they are accompanied to a meeting by an interpreter (do not speak directly to the person’s interpreter) – Auslan Services can provide interpreters through online platforms. Bookings for interpreters need to be made several days ahead of meetings and events.

Make sure you are facing the person when you speak on a screen; and do not obstruct your mouth with your hands when speaking

Make sure there is adequate lighting on your face. Having the light being behind you means that your face becomes a shadow. This makes it more difficult to read lips.

Find ways to readily reduce background noise (e.g. mute your phone or videoconference when you are not speaking).

People who have low vision or are blind can access the tip sheet: Basic-tasks-using-a-screen-reader-with-microsoft-teams – this includes keyboard short cuts for a user with a screen reader.

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