Making your meetings accessible

Collaboration between diverse groups is the cornerstone of high-quality work. Ensuring everyone can attend and contribute to meetings and events is essential for effective collaboration.

With the following list of supportive resources from the accessible campus page, making sure everyone can accept your invitation couldn’t be easier:

1. Accessable–  gives access guides to many of our buildings at UCL, it is a good idea to put a link to the building page in invites especially when inviting outside UCL individuals. It will also assist with any queries about building accessibility. Note: not all buildings are available yet.  These are updated on a rolling programme so are fairly up to date, however if anyone finds any errors, please do inform Pip Jackson (pip.jackson@ucl.ac.uk) .
2. Sunflower Lanyard Scheme– UCL recognise this lanyard for individuals who have unseen disabilities, it is entirely optional if individuals chose to wear one, staff can get one from some libraries and from Andrew Huxley Security office. Students can get one through SSW and the student UCL app.
3. Assistance animal policy – Safety services are currently tasked with drafting an assistance animal policy and will respond to queries about individual cases in the meantime.
4. COMING SOON… ‘Please give me space’ initiative – the Government, RNIB and Sunflower Lanyard organisation have launched this initiative for covid that is optional for those who struggle to keep spaced mostly due to visual impairments or neurodiversity or for those who are in the governments clinically extremely vulnerable or clinically vulnerable groups.

Reasonable adjustments

Please note when requests for adjustments are made:

• There is no expectation to understand the intricacies of every disability/neurodivergence and associated adjustments, it is more important to be receptive and supportive.
• It is fine to ask exactly what adjustments are needed… always better to ask than make assumptions. For example, not all deaf people use sign language interpreters.
• TIP: Breaks, clear structure and for online events, a protocol of how to contribute and good chairing benefits everyone participating… this guide on accessible online events has more information

Include information like this with meeting invitations…

Note: Accuracy of automated live captioning is dependent on sound and speech quality so may not be adequate for equitable access. UCL has live captioning service providers as approved suppliers, please see procurement list.

MSTeams has in-built accessibility tools, including the option for live closed captioning, but if you have any concerns or additional needs (e.g. you require a BSL interpreter), please email us at NAME@ucl.ac.uk by the DATE.

To enable closed live captioning:

1. 1. Join the Teams meeting (instructions below if you need them!)
   2. Once in the call, click on the 3 ellipses (More actions)
   3. Click on Turn on live captions (See image below)

 

Zoom accessibility:

For guidance on the various accessibility features on Zoom visit this webpage.