Zoom Accessibility Best Practices

Zoom was designed with accessibility in mind, but there are always still a few more practices to make the experience more usable and accessible. Learn some of the best practices to be more inclusive in your next upcoming Zoom meeting. 

Sound quality 

The quality of the sound is critical for people who are hard of hearing and also benefits everyone. Considerations to follow are to: 

• Reduce background noise
• Mute participants who are not speaking 

Chat 

In-meeting chat  can be very useful during meetings, including as a participation channel for people who are working in noisy environments. There are just a few things to keep in mind. 

• Share chat content through additional channels.  

• Important for people calling in who can’t see it 
• Assistive technology users may not be able to access links in the chat during the meeting 
• Enables users to reference discussed information 

Chat best practice 

Considerations to follow are to: 

• • Read the comments aloud as part of the meeting and 
  • Send links, documents, or other resources prior to the meeting 

Screen sharing 

Considerations to follow: 

• Share PowerPoints, documents, and other materials ahead of time 
• Share your screen when going through steps or processes 
• Verbalize visual items on the screen – helps those calling in, those with a bad internet connection, assistive technology users who cannot access the shared screen 

Polling 

Considerations to follow: 

• Make sure everyone can participate – this can be used by assistive technology, but those calling would need an alternative way to send feedback 
• Give enough time for people to participate since not all participants complete tasks at the same rate 

• Let participants know verbally when a poll is going to be launched – especially important for assistive technology users or persons not looking at their screen 

Resources 

Zoom Accessibility features 

Accessibility Tips for a Better Zoom/Virtual Meeting Experience