Zoom Accessibility
- Sound Quality
- Lesson Content/Structure
- Managing Student Questions
- Polling
- Links in the Zoom Chat
- Transcripts and Captioning for Completed Zoom Recordings
- Zoom Accessibility Guide
Sound Quality
- Reduce background noise; when speaking, ensure you are in a noise-free environment and stay close to the microphone.
- Mute participants who are not speaking
Lesson Content/Structure
When possible it is recommended that you share learning materials with the student prior to class. Sharing learning materials ahead of time can help students follow your thoughts and orient themselves during class.
State clearly the expectations and structure of your Zoom class. How do you want the class to run? How do you want students to ask questions? How do you want the students to interact with each other? Outlining these expectations early, will help with the flow of your Zoom class, and can help reduce students stress and anxiety.
When you are Screen Sharing or completing a demonstration, it is important to spend a little extra time in describing what the students are expected to see. For students with visual impairments or have their eyes on their notes, small motions such as mouse movements may get lost in a live demonstration.
Managing Student Questions
There are several ways that students can ask questions in Zoom:
- By raising their hand
- Unmuting when called upon
- Entering the question into the chat
When planning how students will answer questions, please keep in mind that some students may not find it easy or even possible to access the chat window and the main zoom video simultaneously, and those students using a screen reader to listen to the chat may encounter audio interference with the conversation in the main window. When possible, sticking to a single communication mode within Zoom will make learning easier for all students.
If you do choose to have students post questions into the chat function, try to repeat the question for everyone to hear before answering it. To limit distractions, some students may have closed the chat window and missed the outlined questions.
Polling
The Polling feature is accessible to people who use assistive technology. To ensure accessibility, alert participants when launching a poll. Notify students verbally when you are launching a poll, this is helpful for assistive technology users as well as anyone who may not be looking at their screen.
Links in the Zoom Chat
If students in your class are using assistive technology, try to avoid posting important hyperlinks in the Zoom chat. The assistive devices may not be able to activate the links that are posted in the chat. If possible share the links with all students either prior to the class, or after the class, through email, or on Brightspace.
Transcripts and Captioning for Completed Zoom Recordings
Click the link below to visit Algonquin College’s Zoom security and Privacy Guidelines for Faculty Members.
See this page: https://www.algonquincollege.com/lts/accessibility/closed-captions-and-transcription for instructions on how to closed caption your Zoom recordings.
Zoom Accessibility Guide
For more information click to the link below to visit Zoom’s Accessibility Guide: