Increasing numbers of people with disabilities
attend professional conferences and meetings.
Most presenters have the goal that everyone
who attends their presentation is able to
fully participate and access information.
Reaching this goal involves eorts at many
levels. To begin with, think about the diverse
characteristics that may be present in your
audience. Potential attendees may have
dierent learning styles, may not be uent
in the language in which you are presenting,
and/or may have diculty
• seeing,
• hearing,
• moving,
• speaking, and/or
• understanding common phrases and jokes
in your culture.
Universal Design (UD)
A proactive approach to making facilities,
information resources, and instruction
welcoming to, accessible to, and usable
by everyone is called universal design.
Universal design means that rather than
designing something for the average user,
you design it for people with a broad range
of characteristics such as native language,
gender, race, ethnic background, age, sexual
orientation, learning style, and ability.
To apply UD to your presentation, it is
important that you know how to present
your material eectively to people with a
variety of disabilities and respond to requests
for specic accommodations. Ensure that
everyone feels welcome, and can
• get to the facility and maneuver within it,
• access the content presented,
• access printed materials and electronic
resources, and
• fully participate in presentation activities.
For example, the author of this publication
regularly employs UD when she delivers on-
site presentations by taking the steps described
below.
All presentation videos are captioned, website
resources are universally designed, handouts
are provided in alternate formats, presentation
visuals use large bold fonts and are uncluttered,
a microphone is used by the presenter, and,
before the audience arrives, chairs are moved
so that any wheelchair-users who might
attend have multiple options for positioning
themselves in the room. Eorts are also made
to speak slowly and clearly, describe orally
all content that is presented visually, avoid
unnecessary jargon, dene terms that might
be unfamiliar to some attendees, make eye
contact with and engage many members of
the audience, and repeat questions asked
by attendees before answering them. These
proactive steps on the presenter’s part minimize
the need for special accommodations. Typically,
the only disability-related accommodation
requested in these presentations is a sign
language interpreter or real-time captioner by
an individual who is deaf; such arrangements
would be requested ahead of time by the
participant from the event sponsor. Particularly
positive feedback given by attendees
includes appreciation for the exibility of the
seating arrangement by individuals who use
wheelchairs, for video captions by attendees
who are deaf and by those whose rst language
is not English, for orally describing visual
content by individuals who are blind, and
for providing materials in multiple formats
by many. (Taken from Burgstahler, S. [2011].
Universal design: Implications for computing
education. ACM Transactions on Computing
Education, 11[3], 19-1–19-17.)
A checklist for making your presentation welcoming and accessible to everyone
by Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Equal Access: Universal Design of Your
Presentation
2
To be prepared for any situation, universally
design your presentation as suggested in the
paragraphs that follow. These tips provide a
good starting point for making your conference
presentations accessible to anyone who might
be in the audience. Some apply to on-site
meetings, some apply to online presentations,
and many apply to both.
Presentation Facilities
Ensure physical access, comfort, and safety.
— Be sure that the presentation location is
wheelchair-accessible.
— Keep aisles wide and clear of obstructions.
— Arrange chairs in the presentation room
so that a wheelchair-user has multiple
options for locations to sit.
— Arrange furniture so that everyone has a
clear line of site to the presentation area.
— If your presentation includes hands-on
computer activities, place at least one
computer on an adjustable-height table.
Be prepared to respond to requests for
assistive technology. In most cases, it
would be reasonable that such requests
be made before the event; make the
process for requesting technology-related
accommodations clear in promotional
materials and adopt a procedure to
respond in a timely manner.
Preparation
Prepare for a diverse audience.
— Consider the target audience and the
wide variety of characteristics within that
audience, especially with respect to the
ability to hear, see, speak, understand the
language you are speaking in, and move
about.
— Create an accurate and inviting
description of your presentation for
promotional purposes. Include pictures of
participants with diverse characteristics
with respect to disabilities, race, ethnicity,
gender to make members of these groups
feel welcome at your presentation.
— Include a statement in promotional
materials that tells how to request
disability-related accommodations
for the presentation. For example, the
presentation organizer could include “Our
goal is to make presentations and related
materials accessible to everyone. Please
inform staff of accessibility barriers you
encounter and request accommodations
that will make our presentations and
materials accessible to you.”
— Be aware of issues related to
communicating with participants who
have disabilities. See Presentation and
Other Communication Hints at the end of
this publication for specific guidelines.
For further suggestions, consult Effective
Communication: Faculty and Students with
Disabilities at www.uw.edu/doit/eective-
communication-faculty-and-students-
disabilities.
— Know how to respond to requests for
disability-related accommodations (e.g.,
presentation materials in alternate formats,
3
sign language interpreters).
Presentation Materials
— Use multimedia such as videos, overhead
slides, visual aids, props, and handouts.
— On visuals (e.g., projected slides):
• use large (at least 24 point), simple, san
serif fonts (e.g., Helvetica) that can be
easily read by most individuals from
the back of a large room.
• use background and text colors
that are high in contrast and avoid
combinations difficult for people who
are color blind to read. Do not use
color as the only method for conveying
information.
• make sure that backgrounds are not
cluttered and leave plenty of “white
space.”
• use large, simple charts and tables.
• avoid presenting images of complex
charts or tables.
• present your content in a well-
organized manner; allow flexibility to
adjust to your audience as appropriate.
• use clear, simple language and
keywords and phrases rather than full
sentences.
• spell out abbreviations and acronyms
when first used.
— If you demonstrate web pages, present
them in enlarged print that can be read
by participants in the back or the room or
who have visual impairments.
— Make sure that videos used in your
presentation are captioned. It is also a good
idea to have them audio described (where
additional visual content is verbalized
for someone who is blind) or have a
transcription available in a text format.
— If appropriate, provide materials ahead of
time for sign language interpreters and/or
Computer Assisted Real-time Translation
(CART) writers so that they can prepare
for their translation for students who are
deaf or hard of hearing.
Distributed Materials
Universally design presentation materials
for attendees so that they are accessible to
everyone.
— If you distribute printed handouts, have a
few available in large print and on disks in
an accessible format.
— If materials are provided to attendees
online, make sure that they are
accessibility designed (e.g., format in
text, provide a text-based description
of the content of images; use a heading
structure).
For guidance on how to prepare accessible
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents,
PDFs, and web pages, consult Accessible
Technology at UW at www.uw.edu/accessibility.
Delivery
Make your presentation welcoming,
accessible, and inclusive.
— Promote a welcome and nonjudgmental
learning environment.
— Warmly welcome participants as they
enter the room, making eye contact with
each person.
— Let participants know if you will
field questions during or after your
presentation.
— Speak clearly and in well-modulated
tones. Avoid speaking too rapidly or
softly. This is particularly important for
participants whose first language is not
yours and for individuals with hearing
impairments and when sign language
interpreters or CART transcribers are in
the room.
— Use a microphone.
— Face the audience and maintain eye
contact.
— Address different learning styles by
incorporating a variety of instructional
methods that use a variety of senses.
4
— Speak key content that is presented
visually. For example, don’t say, “As you
can see on this slide” because some may
not be able to see the slide. A good idea
is to pretend you are presenting your talk
as a phone conference and describe your
content in the way you would describe
it in that situation. Define all terms and
acronyms that might not be known by
someone.
— Illustrate key points with a variety of
examples, real-life experiences, or stories
that appeal to multiple demographic
groups.
— Repeat questions participants pose to
ensure that everyone in the audience
understands them.
— Summarize key points.
— Redirect discussion that wanders from the
topic at hand.
— Address accessibility issues for activities
such as small group discussions.
— If you are using conferencing software,
turn on the caption feature, if available.
Checklist Updates
To increase the usefulness of this working
document, send suggested updates to
sherylb@uw.edu.
Additional Resources
For more detailed content online consult:
• Removing Barriers: Planning Meetings That
Are Accessible To All Participants
http://fpg.unc.edu/sites/fpg.unc.edu/files/
resources/other-resources/NCODH_
RemovingBarriersPlanningMeetings.pdf
• How to Make Your Presentations Accessible to
All
https://www.w3.org/WAI/teach-advocate/
accessible-presentations/
• Accessible Presentation Guide
https://www.sigaccess.org/
welcome-to-sigaccess/resources/
accessible-presentation-guide/
For more information about applications
of universal design, consult The Center for
Universal Design in Education at www.uw.edu/
doit/programs/center-universal-design-education/
overview. The book Universal Design in Higher
Education: From Principles to Practice, Second
Edition published by Harvard Education Press
shares perspectives of UD leaders nationwide.
Learn more or order online at www.uw.edu/
doit/universal-design-higher-education-principles-
practice-1.
About DO-IT
DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities,
Internetworking, and Technology) serves
to increase the successful participation of
individuals with disabilities in challenging
5
academic programs such as those in science,
engineering, mathematics, and technology.
Primary funding for DO-IT is provided by
the National Science Foundation, the State
of Washington, and the U.S. Department of
Education. DO-IT is a collaboration of UW
Information Technology and the Colleges of
Engineering and Education at the University
of Washington.
Grants and gifts fund DO-IT publications,
videos, and programs to support the academic
and career success of people with disabilities.
Contribute today by sending a check to DO-
IT, Box 354842, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98195-4842.
Your gift is tax deductible as specified in
IRS regulations. Pursuant to RCW 19.09, the
University of Washington is registered as a
charitable organization with the Secretary
of State, state of Washington. For more
information call the Office of the Secretary of
State, 1-800-322-4483.
To order free publications or newsletters use
the DO-IT Publications Order Form; to freely
view videos online, consult the DO-IT Videos
page at www.uw.edu/doit/do-it-videos; to order
videos and training materials use the Videos,
Books and Comprehensive Training Materials
Order Form.
For further information, to be placed on the
DO-IT mailing list, request materials in an
alternate format, or to make comments or
suggestions about DO-IT publications or web
pages contact:
DO-IT
University of Washington
Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195-4842
doit@uw.edu
www.uw.edu/doit/
206-685-DOIT (3648) (voice/TTY)
888-972-DOIT (3648) (voice/TTY)
206-221-4171 (fax)
509-328-9331 (voice/TTY) Spokane
Founder and Director: Sheryl Burgstahler,
Ph.D.
Learn more about DO-IT Funding and
Partners at www.uw.edu/doit/about/funding-and-
support/do-it-funding-and-partners.
Acknowledgment
This publication is based upon work
supported by the National Science Foundation
(Grant# 61-7821). Any questions, ndings,
and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the
author and do not necessarily reect the views
of the National Science Foundation.
Copyright © 2022, 2017, 2015 University
of Washington. Permission is granted
to copy these materials for educational,
noncommercial purposes provided the source
is acknowledged.
University of Washington
College of Engineering
UW Information Technology
College of Education
06/23/17
Communication Hints
Treat people with disabilities with the same respect and consideration with which you treat
others. Here are some helpful hints when it comes to delivering a presentation, hosting an
exhibit, and otherwise relating to people with disabilities.
General
• Ask a person with a disability if that person needs help before providing assistance.
• Talk directly to the person with a disability, not through their companion or interpreter.
• Refer to a person’s disability only if it is relevant to the conversation.
• Avoid derogatory slang or negative descriptions of a person’s disability. For example,
“a person who uses a wheelchair” is more appropriate than “a person conned to a
wheelchair.” A wheelchair is not conning—it’s liberating!
• Provide information in alternate means (e.g., written, spoken, diagrams).
• Do not interact with a person’s guide dog or service dog unless you have received
permission to do so.
• Do not be afraid to use common terms and phrases, like “see you later” or “let’s go for a
walk” around people with disabilities.
• Do not touch mobility devices or assistive technology without the owner’s consent.
• Do not assume physical contact—like handshakes, high-ves, or hugs—is okay.
• Understand that not everyone uses eye contact.
Blind or Low Vision
• Be descriptive. Say, “The computer is about three feet to your left,” rather than “The
computer is over there.”
• Speak all of the projected content when presenting and describe the content of charts,
graphs, and pictures.
• When guiding people with visual impairments, oer them your arm rather than grabbing
or pushing them.
Learning Disabilities
• Oer directions or instructions both orally and in writing. If asked, read instructions to
individuals who have specic learning disabilities.
Mobility Impairments
• Consider carrying on a long conversation with an individual who has a mobility
impairment from a seated position.
Speech Impairments
• Listen carefully. Repeat what you think you understand and then ask the person with a
speech impairment to clarify or repeat the portion that you did not understand.
Deaf or Hard of Hearing
• Face people with hearing impairments, and avoid covering your mouth, so they can see
your lips. Avoid talking while chewing gum or eating.
• Speak clearly at a normal volume. Speak louder only if requested.
• Repeat questions from audience members.
• Use paper and pencil, or type things out on your cell phone, if the person who is deaf does
not read lips or if more accurate communication is needed.
• When using an interpreter, speak directly to the person who is deaf; when an interpreter
voices what a person who is deaf signs, look at the person who is deaf, not the interpreter.
Psychiatric Impairments
• Provide information in clear, calm, respectful tones.
• Allow opportunities for addressing specic questions.
