10 minutes
Materials, participation and follow-up Send materials people can use before the session, offer more than one way to contribute during it, and make what comes afterward as accessible as what came before.
What you’ll be able to do Prepare accessible advance materials, plan at least three participation methods, and produce follow-up that a person who could not attend or could not follow live can still use. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What should change? Document a next step for Materials, participation and follow-up: Take the materials and notes from your last meeting and check each item: real text, headings, alt text, descriptive links, sent ahead, decisions and owners clear. Before, during, after Before. Send the agenda, slides and any pre-reading at least three working days ahead as accessible documents: real text rather than images, real headings, alt text on meaningful images, descriptive link text, sufficient contrast, and tables that read in order. State what decisions will be made so people can prepare. Offer alternative formats and languages through the named contact. If a document cannot be made accessible in time, say so and provide the substance another way rather than sending it anyway.
During. Open by naming yourself and describing who is present; ask speakers to say their names before speaking, which helps blind participants, interpreters, captioners and the transcript. Describe visuals aloud. Keep a shared notes document visible so that decisions are captured in words everyone can see and correct. Offer more than one way to contribute: speaking, writing in chat or on cards, sending input after the meeting, and an anonymous option for sensitive topics. Slow down at decision points and restate the decision before moving on. Build breaks in, and keep them.
After. Send notes as an accessible document within a couple of working days, with decisions, owners and dates in plain language at the top. If the session was recorded, post it with accurate captions and a transcript, not with automatic captions left uncorrected. Read late written input into the record and tell the sender what happened to it. For learning sessions, provide the content in a form that can be revisited: the slides, the transcript, the job aid.
Accessible materials, the short check Real text: select it, search it, have it read aloud. A scanned image or a picture of a table fails.
Headings that are actual headings, so a screen-reader user can move through the document.
Alt text on images that carry meaning; decorative images marked as such.
Link text that says where it goes, not “click here.”
Contrast strong enough to read in a bright room and on a dim screen; color never the only signal.
Tables with header rows, reading in a sensible order; no merged cells for layout.
Sent ahead, as attachments or links people can open without a special account, with formats and languages offered.
More than one way to be heard Speaking With a microphone, called on by name, with time to finish. Do not go around the room forcing everyone to speak; invite instead.
Writing during Chat, cards, a shared document. A monitor reads written contributions aloud so they count as much as spoken ones.
Writing before or after Input sent to the named contact before the meeting or within a set period after. Read into the record and answered.
Anonymous input A form or box for sensitive topics, especially where power differences are in the room. Report back what was received and what changed.
Through a supporter A person may contribute through an interpreter, a communication device, a support person or an advocate. Address the person, and give the extra seconds it takes.
Restate the decision before you move on What you can change You control whether a decision is made in a fast verbal exchange that half the room follows, or stated plainly, written where everyone can see it, and confirmed.
What to watch for Do not let “so we are agreed” stand in for a decision. Do not capture decisions in a personal notebook that no one else can see.
Your next step At your next meeting, keep a shared notes document visible and read each decision aloud from it before moving to the next item.
Small habits with large effects Say your name before you speak
Helps blind participants, interpreters, captioners and the transcript. Costs one second.
Describe the visual
“This chart shows requests rising in the spring and falling in the fall.” Say what the picture says.
Invite, do not go around
Forcing everyone to speak in turn punishes people with speech, anxiety or processing differences. Invite, and offer written routes.
Decisions at the top
Notes open with decisions, owners and dates in plain language. The discussion follows for those who want it.
Corrected captions
A recording posted with uncorrected automatic captions is not accessible. Fix names, terms and errors, and add a transcript.
Carry this forward Materials sent ahead as accessible documents are how screen-reader users, interpreter users and slow processors arrive prepared; a slide shown once on screen is not a material.
Participation methods should include speaking, writing during, writing afterward and anonymous input, so that no one method decides who is heard.
Follow-up is part of the meeting: accessible notes, a captioned recording with a transcript, and decisions in plain language with owners.
A scenario decision, a knowledge check and a review of one recent meeting’s materials and follow-up against the checklist.
Take the materials and notes from your last meeting and check each item: real text, headings, alt text, descriptive links, sent ahead, decisions and owners clear.
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Reset this lesson
Previous lesson Next lesson Carry this into practice Plan in-person, hybrid and virtual gatherings that people can actually attend, follow and shape, and recover well when something fails on the day.
Return to the experience: What did you notice or try, whose perspective informed it, and what would you keep or adjust?
Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.
