Before creating and hosting an event, you must plan it first. The same can be said of accessibility. Planning a digital event involves many considerations, such as where it will be hosted, how news about the event will be shared, when it will take place, and the number of attendees—the list could go on and on. That is why it is crucial to plan using Universal Design (refer to home page) from the beginning. The selected resources below will help you with this planning process and serve as fantastic checklists for accessible event planning.
How to Pick an Accessible Virtual Meeting Platform: Guide to picking accessible meeting platforms
Create Accessible Meetings: Comprehensive outline to creating accessible digital events from beginning to end
7 Steps to Make your Virtual Presentations Accessible: Seven-step guide to accessible presentations
Making Events Accessible: Checklist for digital event accessibility
Inclusive Designs for Accessible Presentations: Guide to accessible planning, presenting, and closing presentations
An Accessibility and Inclusion Checklist for Virtual Events: Outline for before, during, and after a digital event
When creating your event, there may be additional resources that are provided to the audience through hyperlinks. Doing so is a great idea, but it must be done accessibly. When providing a hyperlink, never keep the original text of the URL. Instead, rewrite the text as a unique, specific word or phrase. It is also best practice to avoid using phrases like “click here” or “read more,” as they do not provide an adequate description of what the purpose of the link is. Hyperlinks should also stand out from the rest of the text and should not rely solely on color to do so.
Additional Resource:
Social media is a great way to advertise your event and reach audiences beyond Butler’s campus, but before you post remember to keep digital accessibility best practices in mind. All social media posts should incorporate accessible colors and fonts, captions, alt text, plain language, and if links are used, accessible hyperlinks as well. When incorporating hashtags into a post, make sure to use Camel Case (capitalizing the first letter of each word), use special characters in moderation, and put the hashtag at the end of the post. If you are using emojis, avoid solely relying on repetitive emojis to convey meaning and putting them in the middle of a sentence. It is also best practice to include image descriptions on all applicable social media posts. Image description provides more detail than alt text, describing a graphic or image in detail; it has a similar purpose as captions. It is best to avoid using QR codes in any type of social media post, as they are inaccessible to all who do not have another device that can scan the code.
Additional Resources:
The color of fonts and backgrounds plays a significant role in overall accessibility. For people who are blind or have low vision, as with those who are non-disabled, color can become a barrier to information and enjoyment if not chosen intentionally. Best practices suggest using colors with high contrast, for example, using a white background with black text rather than a bright yellow background with white text. However, a color scheme that may be accessible due to its high contrast can also be inaccessible to some types of color blindness. It is always a good idea to double-check selected color schemes with a color contrast generator and color blindness analyzer tool to ensure the colors are accessible. Besides the physical visibility of color, it is also important to avoid solely using color to convey symbolic meaning. Utilizing other meanings in addition to color, such as shading, can convey the same meaning while making the image, graphic, or map more accessible.
Library Hours
Study Rooms
My Library Account
Library Website
