Zoom Accessibility Best Practices

Best Practices

Attending Zoom meetings can be challenging for some students with disabilities. Northwestern's Zoom Accessibility Best Practices page provides tips and information about how to make Zoom meetings as accessible as possible for all participants, including people with disabilities. Most Zoom functions are user-friendly and accessible to people who use assistive technologies. There are, however, a few exceptions and best practices to note.

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The page linked above discusses the following:

• • • sound quality
    • recording
    • transcripts and captioning for completed Zoom recordings
    • live captioning
    • chat
    • screen sharing
    • polling
    • breakout rooms
    • American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation

For the benefit of students who have visual disabilities, get into the habit of describing what is happening on-screen. For example, if your biology class is studying animal testing, and you're showing a photo of rabbit subjects, say, "Here is a photo of test rabbits. They are often used as the subject of animal testing, especially within the cosmetics industry."

Similarly, develop a habit of being verbally explicit, especially when discussing a screen demonstration. Because students use different devices, avoid using directional language. Instead, say, "Click the arrow-shaped icon that says, Share, located between Polling and Chat."