Teleconferencing Accessibility

The practice of ensuring that teleconference and video conferencing platforms and meetings are usable by people with disabilities, including deaf and hard of hearing users, blind and low-vision users, and people with cognitive or motor disabilities. Teleconferencing accessibility encompasses both technical features (captions, screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, sign language interpreter video support) and procedural practices (moderated turn-taking, speaker self-identification, chat monitoring, providing materials in advance). The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that teleconferencing is more cognitively demanding than face-to-face communication for all users, with disproportionate impact on people with disabilities who must manage multiple visual or auditory streams simultaneously.