Zoom Accessibility: Best Practices

Turn off HD Video

Turning off HD Video will improve the user experience for everyone attending, especially if they have bandwidth limitations, restricted data usage on mobile, or unreliable internet access. Some institutions may already have this feature disabled for all licenses depending on how your institution’s Zoom global settings are configured.

From within the Zoom Client:

  1. Select the Home tab.
  2. Select the Settings “Gear” icon. A settings pop-up window will open.
  3. Select the View More Settings link under General settings. The Zoom website will open. Login if you are prompted with the login screen. The Meeting Settings page will open.
  4. Navigate to the In Meeting (Advanced) section of the Meeting Settings page.
  5. Disable the Group HD video setting.

Note: If the Group HD video setting is “locked by admin,” contact your Help Desk to have the feature unlocked.

Enable Automatic Transcriptions

Automatic Transcriptions should be enabled in all Zoom sessions. If you have a participant who is Deaf/deaf or has hearing loss then you will need to ensure closed captioning or third-party captioning service is arranged for the class or event. In addition, please be familiar with how to assign a participant to type closed captions should a request arise.

Enable “Always Show Meeting Controls”

By selecting the Always Show Meeting Controls checkbox, the controls at the bottom of the zoom screen will remain up. This improves the user experience for many participants as they don’t have to worry about the bar appearing and disappearing upon hover (especially if they are new to Zoom and don’t know how to make the bar at the bottom show up after it’s disappeared).

From within the Zoom Client:

  1. Select the Home tab.
  2. Select the Settings “Gear” icon. A settings pop-up window will open.
  3. Select the View More Settings link under General settings. The Zoom website will open.
  4. Log in if you are prompted with a login screen. The Meeting Settings page will open.
  5. Navigate to the In Meeting (Basics) section of the Meeting Settings page.
  6. Enable the Always Show Meeting Controls setting.

Enable the Mute Participants Upon Entry Feature

In your meeting settings, select the Mute participants upon entry checkbox (located under Meeting Options when scheduling a session). Participants will have to unmute their mics to participate. This feature will ensure fewer disruptions at the start of a meeting or class.

Communicate Keyboard Shortcuts

Send out the Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts ahead of time. These instructions are valuable for anyone using keyboard-only navigation or assistive technology. In addition, it could be helpful to anyone who may have had their mouse stop working unexpectedly.

Remember to Describe Images and Other Visual Content That is Displayed

Describing visual content that is displayed will help anyone with a vision or cognitive disability, as well as someone that may have needed to call in due to a local internet outage.

Provide Instructions on How Participants Can Ask Questions

There are a couple of ways people can ask questions. First, participants can use non-verbal feedback, such as raising their hand and unmuting when called upon. In addition, they can post a question in the chat feature. The recommendation is to use both features, but to always repeat aloud the questions that are submitted through chat. By repeating the questions, you will help anyone that can’t access the chat during the session (people using assistive technology will have too much screen reader interference if they enable chat) and you will improve the captioning quality of any recorded sessions.

Send Any Resource Links You Post in Chat via Email As Well

It’s okay to use the Chat feature. However, keep in mind that anyone using assistive technology may not be able to copy or activate the links. It’s recommended that you send any resource links you’ll be sharing either prior to or after the session. You can also speak out the URL when posting it in Chat. If your resource link is long, consider using a URL shortener, such as bit.ly or Tiny URL, to help with communicating the link verbally and so that the link is cleaner for anyone copying it from the chatbox.

Describe What You Are Annotating if Using the Whiteboard Feature

Similar to using a whiteboard in the classroom, you should always describe what you are writing on the board for anyone with a disability or anyone that is using their phone due to internet connection issues in your virtual room.

Recording Your Zoom Session

There are a few reasons to consider recording your zoom sessions locally to your computer for distribution after a meeting or class:

  1. Occasionally, due to local outages, students or employees may not be able to access a live Zoom session.
  2. Currently, there are several countries or regions where international students are unable to access live Zoom sessions for regulatory reasons.
  3. In addition, other unexpected distractions may come up that cause your meeting or class participant to miss portions of your class.