Access is Love: 3 Strategies to Make Your Meetings More Accessible

by Adana Protonentis

My experience with disability is constantly shifting. Like many people, I grew up with media depictions of disability that lacked nuance and taught me a whole host of stereotypes and assumptions. I assumed disability was static, easy to identify, and that figuring out accommodations would be straightforward. Real life is very different. While I’ve been disabled for over 20 years, I didn’t receive an accurate diagnosis until six years ago. My disability is dynamic (meaning some days it has a big impact and other days I hardly notice it) and progressive (meaning it will get more intense and impactful over time). The past six years have been a steep learning curve, but I’ve learned a lot about what my access needs are, what accommodations are most helpful, and what impact inaccessibility has on me.

The work activity that consistently presents the biggest access challenges? Meetings. Meetings can be so hard! Do you know what consultants do a lot? Attend meetings. And it’s not the content or the complexity of the subject matter that makes it hard (I dismantle racism and ableism for a living - complex topics don’t scare me!), it’s the failure to intentionally plan for accessibility. Meetings with no clear purpose, no agenda, unreasonable amounts of content, or no facilitator, especially in settings without clear communication norms, force me to waste precious cognitive energy trying to identify what needs to happen and how. And that’s energy I can’t spend participating in the discussion.

I attended a meeting recently where we were given a link to a Google spreadsheet of survey responses at the beginning of the meeting and asked to review, synthesize, evaluate, and discuss the data all in real time, with 8 people participating in three different ways (verbally with cameras on, verbally with cameras off, and via chat). There was no clear purpose for the review (e.g. review for patterns, review for questions, review to confirm hypotheses, etc), there were no prompts to guide the discussion, we had to split our focus between the verbal participation and the chat participation, and the sheer quantity of information to read (let alone analyze and discuss) was just too much for an in-the-moment activity. Y’all. There are probably some brains out there that can manage that task, but mine is definitely not one of them. That meeting was inaccessible. It’s hard to articulate how frustrating and demoralizing it is to leave a meeting knowing how much more I could have contributed, if access had been a priority and not an afterthought.

So, I’ve gotten really curious about meeting design and I’ve found simple, easy-to-implement practices that can help you include and unleash everyone to do their best work. Here are three simple strategies you can start using today. They don’t cost any money, they don’t require any additional equipment, and they are easy to adapt to any context. Try them out and let us know how it goes!

#1 Prepare an agenda and share it in advance (bonus points for including a purpose and/or desired outcome for each agenda item).

Humans process information at different speeds. That’s not unique to disability - it’s just a normal part of human diversity. Sharing an agenda in advance allows people who need more processing time to feel prepared. From an accessibility perspective, sharing an agenda is supportive for a wide range of disabilities: people with chronic illness can have a sense of how much energy the meeting will take and organize the pace of their day accordingly, people with disabilities that affect emotional regulation can have advance notice of topics that may cause dysregulation and come prepared with coping strategies, people with disabilities that impact executive functioning can have an opportunity to organize their thoughts and strategize about how to manage attention regulation, people with disabilities that affect memory can have time to review relevant materials and make notes that will be supportive in the meeting. Providing an agenda in advance makes preparation possible. Agendas provide clarity, structure, and empower participants to engage meaningfully.

#2 Develop an access check-in practice

Access check-ins are exactly what they sound like: it’s an opportunity to make sure everyone’s access needs are met, so everyone can participate. All humans have access needs and access check-ins normalize that fact. Our access needs change all the time - we might need different supports or different amounts of support, depending on a variety of factors (how well we slept the night before, whether we’ve had time to eat, if we’re on a new medication). So it’s important to check in regularly and not assume that the accommodation someone needs today will be the same next week. When we practice access check-ins, we have a chance to identify anything that might get in the way of someone’s participation and then work together to remove the barrier. Accessibility is a group project, not an individual responsibility. Access check-ins help us take care of each other.

We recommend keeping it simple. When we’re facilitating a meeting, we like to start by letting participants know what accessibility features are already in place (e.g. ASL interpretation is available, stimming and the use of fidgets are welcome, verbal and chat participation - in online meetings - are both available). Then we open the floor and ask, “With those things in place, are there any unmet access needs?” Participants might share a need to keep their camera off, a need to stand/move/stretch, or a need to eat or drink. We strongly encourage a practice of asking all participants to acknowledge that an access need has been shared and to indicate their willingness to help ensure that need is met (A simple thumbs up, emoji, or “I got you” will do). With practice, access check-ins not only improve accessibility, but they also strengthen connection.

#3 Plan for a diversity of processing speeds and communication styles

Have you ever noticed a pattern of participation in your meetings? Maybe you notice that the same people always speak up, regardless of the topic. It’s easy (and understandable) to assume that those people are just more extroverted or that the quieter people are less engaged, but usually it’s a participation equity issue. Participation equity is the idea that people may experience different barriers to participation and to address these barriers we need to look beyond one-size-fits-all approaches. When we change how we ask a question or how we invite people to share their ideas, we also see a shift in which people engage. If we want to hear from everyone, we need to plan for everyone. The strategies below help remove barriers and move us closer to participation equity.

Tip A: When you ask a question or introduce a topic for discussion, ask for a 30-60 second pause before opening the floor for comments. It can be as simple as saying, “Here’s my question. Now let’s take one minute to organize our thoughts before responding.” This gives the folks who need more processing time a moment to process and it gives the folks who are more impulsive a moment to refine their initial thoughts. It tells everyone that their feedback matters and that you’re not going to prioritize the fastest or the loudest participants in the room. This strategy also tends to help even out participation between external processors (who talk and think at the same time) and internal processors (who think first, and then talk).

Tip B: Create opportunities for verbal and written contributions. In online meetings, you can level the playing field between the verbal and chat contributions, by periodically pausing to read the chat contributions aloud and then inviting participants to elaborate. During in-person meetings, use post-it notes as a way for participants to share thoughts without having to speak. This strategy can be helpful with topics that feel vulnerable and difficult to speak about out loud, it can be helpful for people who just feel more comfortable communicating in writing, and it can be helpful for folks who want to communicate a thought before they forget it but also don’t want to interrupt someone who is currently speaking.

Tip C: Remove time pressure. Sharing an agenda and preparatory materials is a great way to plan for a diversity of needs when it comes to processing time. Another way is to introduce a topic in a meeting and make a point of saying, “This meeting is not your only opportunity to contribute - if you want to update or refine your thoughts later, I welcome that”. Easing time pressure can alleviate anxiety and help participants engage without worrying that their ideas have to be perfect. We want presence, not perfection. Removing time pressure by assuring participants that they can continue to share after the meeting can free them up to exchange ideas more freely and lead to more dynamic discussions. Another way to do this (for standing meetings) is to offer “circle back” time at the beginning of each meeting. If you meet weekly, for example, you can plan to start each meeting with an opportunity for anyone to “circle back” to an agenda item from the previous week. 

Keep an eye out for conflict avoidance, though. The purpose of allowing additional processing time is to support access for a diverse array of neurologies. If you notice that team members are avoiding sharing candidly meetings and are waiting until later to come forward with their true thoughts, concerns, or ideas, that could be a sign that it’s time to revisit communication norms and look for ways to encourage directness.