America is fast approaching the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past two years, many people have learned to live with the Coronavirus through remote work, limited event sizes, and social distancing. However, the pandemic also highlighted several key issues in our society, particularly from an accessibility standpoint.
Jay Wyant, the accessibility officer for Minnesota IT Services, was recently interviewed by Meredith Ward at NASCIO (National Association of State Chief Information Officers) on IT accessibility. Here are a few insights from their discussion that highlight how ill-prepared most companies and governments were for the sudden digital needs brought on by the pandemic.
Virtual meetings still present accessibility challenges
At the start of the pandemic, virtual events and meetings were lauded as being highly accessible and potentially serving as long-term solutions for inclusivity. As a whole, there are many benefits to virtual conferencing. Online meetings eliminate the need to travel, which can benefit people with disabilities who use private transit services or oft-lacking public transit. These meetings also have accessibility features like closed captioning and can create a more comfortable environment for people who have anxiety or who are neurodivergent.
However, there are drawbacks to these virtual conferences. Primarily, Wyant highlights how many of the software tools lack accessibility features. For example, it’s challenging for a sign language interpreter to present on one screen while the main speaker presents on another and dominating the window.
Krystal Vasquez at Scientific American shared some other challenges with virtual meetings. It’s hard to look at a PowerPoint while also following a sign language interpreter, reading lips, or reading captions. PowerPoint screenreaders don’t always work or the presentations aren’t accessible. Simply having access to the deck before the start of the presentation can significantly increase accessibility.
Additionally, the captioning software developed by video conferencing companies isn’t always reliable – and has earned the nickname Craptions after the poor talk-to-text results. This was clearly seen at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in 2020 when the system couldn’t pick up several basic terms. Katie Bristol, a Ph.D. geology student at the University of Florida shared some of these ridiculous auto-captions. The phrase two lineations became “too many Asians” and the word contribute became “too toot.”
One of the big takeaways with digital accessibility is that virtual conferencing alone isn’t enough to create a positive, accessible experience for your audience or employees.
Read more: Identifying Accessible Conference Locations and Technology.
Government agencies need better vendor evaluations
Another key point in the Wyant interview is the need for government agencies to better evaluate vendors before working with them. Government agencies rely heavily on outside technology. This ranges from the software used by your local DMV to federal systems.
At the start of the pandemic, governing bodies needed to invest immediately in various technologies. These included vaccine registration tools, public health broadcasting systems, and basic digital communication tools. In most cases, it would take months or years to collect proposals and evaluate vendors. Most government offices only had a few weeks.
As a result, vendors weren’t thoroughly tested. Many claimed they had accessible features that didn’t work fully or didn’t keep up with modern best practices.
“The pandemic demonstrated the need for stronger enforcement for state contracts,” says Wyant. “If a vendor claims that their products are digitally accessible, but it’s shown to be otherwise, there needs to be a way for the state and the vendor to come to a clear resolution — quickly.”
Digital accessibility in government isn’t limited to the pandemic. In November 2021, many cities and states realized their voter resources weren’t accessible to many active citizens. Systems that were thought to provide screen reader options weren’t readable at all, leaving voters with disabilities frustrated while trying to learn about candidates.
Both government agencies and private companies can benefit from keeping up with digital accessibility best practices and thoroughly vetting software providers for these tools.
Read more: 8 Questions to Ask a Digital Accessibility Vendor.
Poor accessibility tools lead to bad IT support
Poor accessibility in virtual software doesn’t just lead to a frustrating user experience. It can also make it harder for IT professionals to help users troubleshoot issues.
In an in-person situation, an IT professional can visit an employee who needs technical help. They can look at the software and evaluate what needs to be fixed. However, this created challenges with virtual work. IT teams needed to virtually access the devices of users in order to troubleshoot assistive technology.
While the practice of remote control from an IT representative isn’t new, many tech professionals discovered that they weren’t able to fix assistive systems or simply didn’t know how.
Despite these frustrating experiences by users with disabilities and the people working to fix their systems, Wyant is optimistic about what he has seen. Many software vendors have taken steps to improve their services while training IT departments on how to troubleshoot accessibility issues remotely.
Accessibility is part of every department
If there’s one key takeaway from the interview with Jay Wyant by NASCIO, it’s that accessibility isn’t an issue for one specific department. The teams that select outside vendors need to thoroughly vet accessibility tools – and vendors need to be clear on their capabilities. IT departments need to have training on accessibility systems while employees need to know how to make their presentations more accessible.
“We’ve had people say, ‘accessibility is an IT problem,’ therefore it’s up to IT professionals to deal with it,” says Wyant. “On the contrary, everyone needs to be involved and held accountable.”
When everyone works to create an accessible environment, people with disabilities can feel comfortable and included. They won’t feel like they are an afterthought or that their needs are ignored. This benefits everyone, from small private companies to federal service providers.
There are a few resources you can turn to when learning about digital accessibility. The Internet Society created a checklist to make sure virtual meetings are accessible and we also have dozens of resources that you can tap into. Visit our Digital Accessibility tab for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, ADA compliance, and general best practices.
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