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How to be an Online Access Point Person

From the Never Again Action Accessibility Team

How to Be an Accessibility Point Person for online/virtual spaces and events

Welcome, and thank you for stepping into the important role of Accessibility Point Person! This is a guide to help you get acquainted with the role and how to perform it in virtual spaces.

We hope this collection of guidelines, tips, and resources will be useful, particularly for those who are newer to thinking about access needs, and we encourage more people to step into this role. 

Things will work out best if the full team for your event works together to integrate accessibility into both the content and the logistics of the call as early as possible. 

As the access point person for an event, you will be the one checking in with the other planners and coordinating around the known access needs of registered attendees, to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that accessibility doesn’t get left out of the bigger picture.

As an ideal goal, we would love to address many access needs proactively as a matter of course, ie, providing things like live translators even if no one specifically requests it. But, we can only get there one step at a time. It is good to both keep this ideal in mind and to focus your resources on your actual audience. 

Prioritizing access early on in the process may feel challenging at first, but it will save you a lot of time, stress, and issues later :)

The Basics

As a new access point person, you may be anxious for a step-by-step guide on how to ensure your role is performed well. While there are some instructions and suggestions in the next section of this document, we want to emphasize that there is no one-size-fits-all way to perform this role; what matters most is empathy and flexibility.

The Accessibility Point Person role may include:

  • Engaging with an event’s planning and coordination process to ensure that access needs are understood as a priority and included in event information and registration
  • Assisting event participants with access needs in real time during an event, ie, by receiving a private message that something isn’t working for them, and messaging other facilitators as necessary/appropriate to try and set something up for them on the fly
  • Researching any access needs that come up with which you and your chapter are not already familiar
  • Checking that language in recruitment and at the event itself is inclusive and does not contain common ableist microaggressions
  • Speaking to other event coordinators and facilitators as needed to kindly call in unintended ableism

What to Do… and Not to Do

DO:

  • Bring access needs into the conversation early in planning your event
  • Specify which access needs you are addressing, and how.  (Ie, ‘large text script can be sent in advance to those who request it.’)
  • Make sure event registration includes room for people to share access needs
    • This should be a space on a google form, etc, and ideally there is also the contact info of someone to email if they have questions or need to discuss further. 
    • If there is a place for people to fill in access needs on the registration form, make sure someone is regularly monitoring the registrations. It is unfortunate when you don't check until right before the event and then realize someone needed something that can no longer be attained in the time you have. 
    • Make sure to pass on relevant information learned from the registration form with the access point people, presenters, etc. (For example, if someone needs visuals described, it's best to tell the presenters so that they can describe them as they go.)
  • Reach out to participants who indicate they would like to talk about access needs
  • Be flexible!
  • Be realistic about your capacities and priorities, and prepared to admit what you can’t do!
  • Strongly consider utilizing access strategies that are low-effort and harmless across the board, such as new speakers providing a brief description of how they appear on screen while introducing themselves. Challenge the notion that this is ‘annoying’ or ‘wasted time.’
  • Make sure that the accessibility point person is named and introduced along with the other event facilitators at the beginning of the call.
    • Have this person rename to indicate their role along with their name
  • Ask for help, at any point during the process when you could use it
  • Have your own support available during your event, in case you run into a problem you aren’t prepared for
  • Debrief about accessibility with the planners and facilitators after the event 
  • Keep notes on what you learn for future accessibility point people to learn from

DON’T:

  • Try to do everything—you can’t! 
  • Question the legitimacy of or reason for the person’s need
  • Put the labor on the person with the access need to make your space accessible for them.
  • Take out your frustrations on attendees
    • It can feel like there’s a lot riding on you as an individual, if you are not used to this role—don’t stress. Your job is to provide a human point of contact for attendees with access needs, and to coordinate and facilitate. Just try to do right by the people you’re there for.
  • Take anything personally 
    • Attendees calling out inaccessibility of a space are identifying the problem (and sometimes sharing how to fix it) -- these are not bad-faith attacks!
  • Feel like you’ve failed in your role if you are unable to address a specific need, especially if it comes up at the last minute. The person will still appreciate your effort and your honesty, and you and your chapter will be in a better position to address this access need in the future.
  • Brand the call/event as “fully accessible”
    • This indicates to disabled folks that you don’t know what you’re talking about and may be more into the optics rather than the practice.
    • Remember, because access needs are individual and can conflict, there is no such thing as a universally accessible event.

Things to Keep in Mind

KEY PRINCIPLE: Listen to the content of what someone is telling you, not their tone of voice.

  • Something that seems to you like a minor logistical problem or non-issue may be much more serious and even triggering for the person you are trying to help, for reasons that may have little to do with this specific interaction. Always be respectful, kind, and unassuming, and don’t take it personally if they get frustrated.
  • A lot of neurodivergent people are going to address things bluntly; this can often get misconstrued by neurotypical people as mean or rude. It’s not meant to be that way! 
    • They are often simply identifying a problem, and reacting to how they say it rather than what they’re saying often compounds the issues and makes organizing spaces difficult and inaccessible for them.
  • If someone becomes upset or irate very quickly, or has what appears to you as an extreme emotional reaction, please do not try to shut them down or condescend, and do continue to take them seriously. Things are likely to go better for all if you address the content, not the tone, of the person experiencing negative impact. 
    • It is okay to feel hurt if someone is rude to you, but always consider the time, place, power dynamics, and immediate priorities, before expressing that. Keep your cool for now, and deal with the situation within your role. 
    • After the event, find someone else (ideally someone experienced with disability justice) with whom you can process these feelings; only attempt further communication with the person who has offended you if you can do so without centering your feelings.
  • At the end of the day, it’s good to remember and remind leaders that people are in your organizing spaces because they care about the work and want to be there. 
    • They want to be able to focus on the content of the call/training without having their energy drained by the strain, distraction, and distress that lack of accessibility creates.

Here are some other basic things to understand:

  • It’s more than just captions!
    • Captions may be a commonly identified access need, but there are a lot of different access needs people may have in the space. Having captions on a call makes it accessible for some people, but not necessarily for others. 
    • Familiarity with any particular access need will not enable you to anticipate or address other access needs. This is why it’s crucial to listen to your participants with curiosity and empathy.
  • Expect learning opportunities
    • Even those of us who live with our own disabilities and access needs can’t expect to know everything in a role like this, because it can be different every time. Ultimately, the access point person is working with and for individuals, with individual needs—be prepared to say “I’m not sure, but let’s figure it out.”
  • Access needs are for specific people
    • You’re providing accessibility for your specific (actual or desired) audience, not for your own idea of generic access needs.
    • Because access needs are highly individual, they can sometimes conflict. For example, some people might need to hear something read aloud, while others might need quiet to read it to themselves. Most of the time, you won’t need to worry about this, but it’s important to remember that NO single accessibility strategy is a cure-all. Sometimes you may have to change your approach on the fly, or attempt to balance competing needs.
  • Living with disabilities is emotionally exhausting
    • It is never safe to assume that the accessibility needs that are listed on the sign up form are the only ones that will exist in the space. Some people may not be comfortable sharing, for various reasons. Some people find it more useful to connect with the access point person in real time on the call.
    • If someone is sharing a need with you on the call that you hadn’t anticipated, or don’t know how to support, don’t panic! The best thing you can say is “I don’t know, but let’s figure it out together!” 

Information for Specific Access Needs

Finally, some nitty-gritty information about practical aspects of addressing some common access needs.

Captions

  • Zoom has auto-captions which can also be set to multiple languages.
  • Consider asking volunteers to provide real-time caption correction when using automatically generated captions
    • Read along with the automatic captions and type a correct transcription in the zoom chat of anything they get wrong
    • A few people could share this role in different time slots (w/advanced scheduling) if this is a longer meeting
  • Options for professional live captioning:
  • When an event is scripted in advance, some people may benefit from getting a read-only copy of the script to follow along with. You can offer this either on request or along with other event information.

Low Vision Accessibility

  • General rules of thumb: high contrast between text and background, simple font, consider weighted font for dyslexia, uncluttered layouts, short paragraphs
  • Reading on accessible fonts: PDF
  • Large print: make a second copy of the agenda, script, or anything else being distributed to participants, and significantly enlarge the font. Distribute the two links (regular version & enlarged font version) together.
  • Check color contrast: https://color.a11y.com/

Live Language Interpretation

  • General rule of thumb is to request interpreters as soon as you know you will need them! Some companies will charge more for last minute requests.
    • Generally, 3 weeks is ideal, 2 weeks is usually still possible. Anything later than this is sometimes considered a little rude/disrespectful! That doesn’t mean not to ask for a last minute interpreter if you need it, but it’s good to acknowledge that you’re aware that these are unideal circumstances, and you hope not to make a habit of it, etc. 
  • Interpreters NAA has previously worked with:

Spanish

  • Juan Ramirez is a trilingual interpreter (English, Spanish & ASL): (trilingterp829@gmail.com)

ASL

* Note that most ASL interpreters need to work in a team (w/ at least one other person)

  • https://dhcc.org/request-interpreter/
  • Juan Ramirez is a trilingual interpreter (English, Spanish & ASL): (trilingterp829@gmail.com)
  • Norma Sanchez: (nesinterpreting@gmail.com)
  • Other options include:
  • How to access live interpretation on zoom:
    • A translation button will appear along the bottom of the zoom screen when the interpretation service is fully set up
    • click the button to change the language you are hearing. you will hear either the actual speaker or the live interpreter
    • for ASL live interpretation, you will need to instruct participants to ‘pin’ the interpreter’s video in order to keep it on screen, and will need to have the interpreter speak aloud for a minute so that people can see and pin them.

Access Guidelines for the Chat

  • Weighing the pros and cons of the chat: The chat can be a helpful access function for D/deaf and hard-of-hearing folks, non-speaking people, and people who are attending your event from a space where they have to be quiet, etc. That said, it can also be inaccessible for many reasons: 1) screenreader users may experience that the chat is read out whenever anyone writes into it, meaning that they may not be able to hear the main speakers, 2) it might be overwhelming and hard to keep up with and difficult for the access point person to read aloud, 3) if it’s too busy, it might mean that important comments get buried. Because of this:
    • Before you begin an event, establish with all organizers, speakers, and access support folks what your relationship is to the chat
      • Shifting norms around the chat to be a more intentional space can make it so that people who are only able to participate via the chat do not have their thoughts and questions buried
      • Perhaps have people only participate when prompted, and establish in the introductions that there will be times to participate in the chat, but to otherwise connect individually via DMs if necessary and keep side conversations to a minimum. Depending on the type of event, it might be relevant to differentiate and say that if the chat is the only way one can participate, to do so freely. Determine this on a case-by-case basis.
      • If the chat is disabled, let folks know where they can send their questions and thoughts if they aren’t able to share their points by unmuting
  • If possible, have an access point person to tend to the chat and voice the full chat so that everyone can have access to what's been written there (if this person cannot voice the chat, choose another person to be chat monitor, and the other person can do other access-related tasks!). Establish in the introductions that this will be the convention for the event.
  • The access point person can also be someone who collects and organizes questions during a presentation so that they don’t clog the chat. Depending on the setting for your event and what type of account you have, there may be a separate tab for Q&A, but if there is not, let folks know who to send their questions to directly, and that person can collect them through the event.

Examples of Access Requests that could Arise:

"speakers are talking too fast"

  • Establish a protocol with the speaker, but the most efficient is likely to unmute yourself (maybe at the end of a speaker’s sentence) and say something like “please pause for access” and then wait until the speaker pauses and ask them to please speak more slowly

“I don’t want to be recorded”

  • Participants who do not want to be recorded/want their identities concealed can turn their camera off and rename themselves (ideal protocol is if an event is going to be recorded, offer participants a minute before to rename themselves and turn their camera off)

"the slide is blocked by the captions" 

  • You can click and drag the captions to another part of the screen OR you can turn the captions off by clicking “hide captions” at the bottom of your screen

"how do I make sure the interpreter will be in my breakout room"

  • Before breakout rooms are designated, ask participants to let the access point person know if they need to be in the room with the interpreter
  • It is likely easiest to make the main room the one where the interpreter will be, because if there’s a mistake and someone is assigned a room where there is *not* an interpreter,  they can just come back to the main room where the interpreter is

“I cannot find the auto-captions”/ “I don’t want to see the captions”

  • There is either a CC button on the bottom of the screen OR you may need to click “more” (icon looks like an ellipsis) and turn on captions from there
  • You can hide the captions by clicking “hide captions” at the bottom of the screen
  • You may also be able to get a transcript on the right side of your screen by clicking “more” and “transcript”. This may also appear in the little carrot (^) by the CC icon

“I cannot see the interpreter big enough”

  • The participant can pin the interpreter so they are featured as a speaker in the Zoom view

The speaker froze/gets kicked off

  • As the access point person, it may be your job to unmute and tell the room something like “the speaker froze/was kicked off the zoom. We’ll be waiting for them until they return.” This way, no one thinks it’s their own individual problem and can relax knowing this is a group-wide issue

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