Inclusive Online Presentations – Making the most of M365 tools

The accessibility features built into the latest versions of the M365 apps provide a much-improved user experience for all. In UCC’s Digital Advisory Centre we are committed to ensuring that our staff are aware of, and making use of, these features in order to provide a more accessible online meeting experience whenever possible. This lightening talk will highlight the features we recommend and our approach to raising awareness of these features. 

• Creating Accessible Content
  Before our users ever get to present their content, we strongly encourage them to make use of the Accessibility Checker and provide sessions to showcase it in action. The Accessibility Checker looks at reading order, alt text, and colour contrast. Small tweaks that can make a huge difference. Our internal DAC website showcases these features, and we also bring them to life during our DAC Learn Live information sessions.

• PowerPoint Live
  PowerPoint Live is a key feature that improves the overall accessibility of presentations delivered via MS Teams. It makes it easy to:

• Enable live captions

• Choose High Contrast Mode

• Zoom

• Clickable links

Each feature benefits attendees in different ways. When delivering our DAC Learn Lives, we aim to always present using PowerPoint Live and encourage our attendees to do the same when they are delivering online presentations.

• Recording and Transcript
  Many users require time to absorb and process new information. Providing a recording and transcript can help users review and consider the information being presented. In the DAC we encourage our users to recording meetings where possible as well as welcoming contributions via email following the online presentation for those who are not comfortable speaking up in the meeting or having their questions seen in the chat.