Introduction
In this post, I’m sharing my perspectives on some do’s and don’ts for planning inclusive and equitable hybrid events.
I recently attended a small business engagement summit hosted by a federal agency. After seeing a few other similar events that I couldn’t attend due to my disabilities, I was pleased to see that this one was a hybrid event that I could participate in virtually.
All in all, the one-day summit was worthwhile. I learned some things I didn’t know before and gained access to some valuable resources. However, I came away from it with a sense of sadness and frustration because by attending virtually, I missed out on some of the biggest benefits to the event that in-person attendees enjoyed.
Terms
First, let’s review some terminology.
A hybrid event is an event in which some attendees participate in person and some attend virtually, at the same time. This could be a summit, conference, training session, or meeting. Synchronous participation by both face-to-face and online attendees is key. An in-person training that is recorded for people to watch online later is not a hybrid event.
For an event to be equitable for all attendees, it must offer the same value to all. That doesn’t mean it has to offer the same exact experience. I’m sure you’ve seen the illustration (or some variation of it) of three people of different heights standing behind a wooden fence trying to watch a baseball game. Equity doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing. It means everyone gets what they need.
Image Attribution: Interaction Institute for Social Change | Artist: Angus Maguire. Adaptation of the original image created by Craig Froehle.
For an event to be inclusive, all attendees should feel like you want them to be there and that they belong. Virtual attendees shouldn’t be made to feel as if accommodating them is a burden to the event organizers, speakers, or other attendees.
When we think about what we need to do to ensure that our hybrid events are inclusive and equitable for virtual attendees, we need to consider not only the barriers inherent to online participation, but also any barriers that may exist for people with disabilities.
Read on for five do’s and don’ts for inclusive and equitable hybrid events.
DO ask about accommodations.
Whenever you send a meeting invitation or prepare communications for a learning event (whether it’s a class, conference, etc.), include a way for attendees to share any needs for accommodations they may have. This is as simple as including the statement, “Please let me know if you have any accessibility or support requirements” or including a point of contact for requesting accommodations, with a phone number and an email address.
Then when you receive requests for accommodations, review and address them promptly.
DON'T ask about disabilities.
If you need clarification from an attendee about the accommodations requested, don’t ask for details about their disability. Instead, ask about the supports they require to participate fully in the event.
DO encourage engagement.
One of the most powerful benefits of getting together with colleagues is in having conversations with each other, as well as getting to hear input and feedback from others.
Ad hoc conversations that happen before and after meetings or between conference sessions are challenging to emulate for virtual attendees. However, it’s not impossible. We just need to get creative.
Here are some ideas for encouraging engagement for more equitable hybrid events:
- Use polls, Q&A, and reaction emojis to encourage participation from virtual attendees. Speakers should remember to pose questions to all attendees, not just those who are face-to-face.
- Assign one or more moderators (or producers) to engage virtual participants via chat.
- Consider having in-person attendees sign into Zoom so they can see and chat with virtual participants. (They’ll need to keep their sound off—more on that later.)
- Create an online community or discussion board for conference attendees to connect with each other.
- Build in networking time in which everyone—including in-person attendees—can meet up in breakout rooms or at virtual tables for informal conversations.
DON'T disable the chat.
In the virtual summit I attended recently, the moderator of a panel discussion posed the question, “What’s the value of attending a summit like this?” Every panelist who responded answered that networking was the single most valuable thing the summit offered to attendees.
But guess what? Virtual attendees at that summit had zero opportunity to network with other attendees because the chat was disabled, and there were no breakout sessions or other methods for us to connect with others. We couldn’t even see a list of other attendees. The only method available to us to interact with anyone else was the Q&A feature in Zoom, which allowed us to submit questions to a moderator.
Managing the chat panel may seem daunting, particularly when you expect large numbers of participants. But consider the message you’re sending to participants if you disable the chat.
Disabling the chat is the quickest and clearest way to say to virtual attendees, “I don’t care that you’re here, and I don’t care what you have to say.”
DO send the slides in advance.
If you’re sharing slides or other files during the event, sending them to participants ahead of time (or sharing a link at the beginning of the event) will help attendees be better prepared and enable them to follow along with you to get the most out of the presentation.
Sending the slides also provides a way for those who use assistive technology to access your content—if you first ensure that your slides are accessible.
For more about PowerPoint accessibility, see these past posts:
- Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Accessible PowerPoint Templates
- Creating Accessible PowerPoints (Part 1)
- Creating Accessible PowerPoints (Part 2)
I use PowerPoint because I find its accessibility features easiest to work with. If you use Canva, see this post from Chris Lysy.
DON'T make assumptions.
Don’t assume that everyone attending can see when you’re sharing your screen. We’ve all been in virtual meetings where something happened so we couldn’t see the speaker’s screen—whether because of a bandwidth issue or because we had to take a meeting while driving, or some other reason. In some hybrid meetings I’ve been in, the camera is set to show the entire room, so the slides take up a small portion of the screen behind the speaker and are thus illegible. Visually describe any important images you share.
Also, don’t assume that attendees will be able to find your slides if you don’t tell them specifically where they are. During the summit I attended, when virtual attendees asked for a copy of the slides, we were told that they would be posted to the SAM website (which is huge). This is akin to saying, “I’ll put them on SharePoint after the meeting.” (Where on SharePoint?)
If you’re posting information online, don’t make your attendees guess where it is. Give them a link.
Do enable captions.
Depending on which virtual meeting platform you’re using, you may need to enable captions before the meeting to ensure that participants can use them. Don’t wait until someone says they need captions before thinking about enabling them. See this post by Meryl Evans for more information.
PowerPoint also offers real-time captioning or subtitles, so even your in-person participants can benefit from them. See this article for more information.
DON'T rely solely on autocaptions.
If you are hosting a meeting in which several people share a single microphone, it can be confusing for virtual participants to keep up with who is talking, because the captions will only list the host’s name. If you cannot have human-powered live captioning, it can be helpful to assign someone the task of watching the captions and providing clarifications in the chat. It may also be helpful to include sign language interpretation. This is one reason it’s so important to ask about accommodations.
Make sure that microphones are positioned so that all speakers can be heard, and ensure that everyone uses a microphone, including those asking questions.
If you post recordings of the event afterward, be sure to edit the autocaptions to ensure their accuracy. Providing a transcript is also very helpful, not only for those with hearing disabilities, but also for those with cognitive disabilities and non-disabled participants who want to use the transcript as a quick reference.
DO ask for feedback.
No matter what type of even we’re hosting, it’s always important to seek input from participants so we can improve the way we do things for the next time. Including surveys, polls, or feedback sessions can ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and valued.
Provide multiple opportunities for participants to provide feedback, especially if you’re hosting a multi-day event.
DON'T make participants feel ignored.
Have you ever attended a conference or training session that you found so valuable that you sought out the speaker afterward to let them know how much you enjoyed it?
What if, as you were approaching, the speaker turned their back and left the room? It might make you feel invisible. Well, that’s how virtual attendees feel—particularly during events in which their microphones and cameras and the chat are disabled by default. Meeting organizers need to plan for ways in which all attendees can feel like their input matters.
Wrap-Up
To recap, here are my five do’s and don’ts for inclusive and equitable hybrid events.
Also see these related posts:
