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>> DHARA SHAH:  Hello, everyone.  Welcome.  This is the creating accessible public engagement training we're from MUSE Community + Design and this is on behalf of CMAP, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

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My name is Dhara Shah, my pronouns are she/her/hers, I'm a senior associate at MUSE and I’m one of your co-hosts for today.

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I'll pass it over to Lizbeth.

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>> LIZBETH CARRAZCO:  This is Lizbeth.  Thank you, Dhara.  My name is Lizbeth Carrazco.  I'm an associate at MUSE Community + Design and I use she/her pronouns.

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>> FIONA KENNEDY:  This is Fiona.  Hi, everyone, I'm Fiona Kennedy, I use she/her pronouns, an associate at MUSE Community + Design.  I have a very personal and professional connection to this work. 

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I'm a caretaker for my cousin who is an adult with developmental disabilities so I'm thrilled with all the work that CMAP is doing to increase accessibility across the region.

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>> DHARA SHAH:  All right.  Thanks. And this is Dhara again.

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So we'll kick off with an access check.  Today along with our training, we have an ASL interpretation.  We have manual captioning available on the video, and we'll also have a transcript recorded. 

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If there are any additional accommodations that are needed to support this training, feel free to reach out to CMAP and we'll see what we can do.

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All right.  So let's get into why we are here today.

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So again this is creating accessible public engagement.  And so we are here to learn how to address different accommodations, to learn what actions we can take as planners to make our engagement more accessible, 

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 learn different tools that can help us work and also learn even more tools that can help us learn how to make our work accessible.

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Okay.  And then we'll go into an agenda for this afternoon, or this morning, wherever you are.  So ignore the times because you're going to be going off of your own pace.

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So we have a lot of things to cover today.  We'll go over some level setting of what is accessible engagement.  Then we'll go through different steps so we have planned out in a timeline fashion.

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We'll talk about how to plan for an engagement, how to prepare for an engagement, any contingency planning, how to be a good host and then we'll also talk about the web content accessibility guidelines version 2.1 Level AA and then discuss planning commitments as well.

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So our goal for this training is that participants will walk away with clear and actionable steps for creating accessible engagement events, meetings, and materials that comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the web content accessibility guidelines 2.1 Level AA.

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And if you don't know what that means yet, that's okay, stay tuned.

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And our scope for today, if you're familiar with Title II, the ADA requires that people with disabilities have equal access to state and local government activities, programs, and services, including public engagement events and online communications.

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Depending on the size of your local government, you are required to comply fully with the Digital Accessibility Guidelines by April 26, 2026, or April 24, 2027.

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And there are several aspects of Title II that applies to local governments.  This training covers how to plan an engagement, prepare for an engagement, and host one, 

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and while this training was primarily created to support self-evaluation and transition planning in the public right-of-way, the requirements can be applied to all types of engagement.

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All right.  So when we talk about community engagement, what exactly are we talking about?

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We mean public meetings, town halls, focus groups, open houses, pop-up events, bike/walk tours and more.  If you're interacting with the public in any way, it's considered an engagement.

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And hosting is also a lot like engagement.  I'll pass it over to Lizbeth to go over.

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>> LIZBETH CARRAZCO:  This is Lizbeth.  Thanks Dhara.

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So to level set on what we're doing today, one thing we all do in our everyday life is host dinner parties, happy hours and gatherings for our friends to come together, and hosting is a lot like the engagement that we do for the public.

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We have to have invitations sent out, so people know where to go, when to go.  We ask about accommodations to ensure that people feel welcome, and that they're able to join into the event.

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We plan relevant activities that keep our guests entertained and something to talk about while we're hosting.

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And then paying special attention to details that people that need them will notice, and they'll also notice when they're not there.

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So level set why does public engagement matter?  As people that work for the public and public-facing, it's important that the population we're working with are aware of the projects and processes happening in their community and in their lives.

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And offering public engagement opportunities allows people to plug in and be a part of the decision making process.

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As technological advancements have helped the planning community make strides and more impactful community engagement, it's a double edged sword, and while supporting engagement, technology has created a new realm of exclusion for people with disabilities. 

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 We're seeing an increase with local governments complying to the Title II ADA in the public right-of-way.

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And while that is amazing, we also need to make sure that the engagement aspects are accessible so that we're hearing from the people who are facing the challenges directly.

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A common mantra from the disability justice community is nothing about us without us.

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>> FIONA KENNEDY:  All right.  So while we're still warming up a little bit, getting into the meat of the training, we're going to do a little bit of level setting with accessibility, and kick it off with a short video.

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(Video playing.)

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(Music.)

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(End of video.)

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>> FIONA KENNEDY:  So that video doesn't directly relate to engagement.  It's more a focus on physical barriers in the built environment which is often the first thing people think of when they think of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

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But this can serve as a reminder that similar to the barriers in the built environment people with disabilities face barriers to participating in government services, activities, and programs at a much higher rate than the non-disabled community.

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Barriers can range from inaccessible transit options to a lack of assistive communication like ASL.

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So before we get into it, let's back up and really get to know the Americans with Disabilities Act and what it requires of us.

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So the Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law that was passed in 1990.  Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act speaks directly to us as local governments and public servants.

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The act protects people with disabilities against discrimination and one of the ways it does that is by requiring that you and I provide accessible environments that give everyone an equal opportunity to participate regardless of disability.

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So the ability for someone to attend a city council meeting or an open house for a new public works project or even navigate a government website is a right, and it's one that we have the responsibility to uphold.

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So let's back up even further, and look at who is protected under this law.

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So the ADA defines a person with a disability is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a history or record of such impairment,

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such as cancer that is in in remission or is perceived by others as having such impairment such as a person who has scars from a severe burn.

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The ADA’s definition of a person with a disability is vague, purposefully.  It uses phrases like such as to provide examples rather than providing a more prescriptive list.

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So looking at other definitions, Merriam Webster defines a disability as a physical or mental or cognitive developmental condition that impairs, interferes with or limits a person's ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in a typical daily activity and interaction.

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So this is where we start seeing categories coming into play.  We have physical, mental, cognitive, developmental.

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If we look further and look at another definition, we have the U.S. Census Bureau.  And this has a much more strict definition.

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It's narrowing down disabilities into six categories.  So hearing difficulty, vision difficulty, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care and independent living.

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Looking further, we'll take a look at another federal definition and this is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  

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This is also called IDEA and it has 14 different categories to define disability and this is based on the six that are established in the U.S. Census and developing that out further into these 14 different categories.

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So right now you might be thinking this definition is both vague and specific.  It's both narrow and broad, and you would be right.

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But what it comes down to is that each of these organizations have their own definition for their own purposes.

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So the U.S. Census has their own definitions for providing allocating money for different programs, for example.  IDEA has its own set of definitions for creating individual education programs for each student.

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But we share these definitions to develop an understanding of the different types of disabilities and how they present themselves.  But it's not our job, nor should we ever assume someone's disability.

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So what is our role in this space?  Our role is to stay nimble and humble as understanding disabilities and accommodations are always evolving.

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Build relationships with disability advocates and organizations as nothing replaces their perspective.

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And stay committed to breaking the cycle of exclusion for people with disabilities.

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Our purpose here is simply to provide equal access and that's it.

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So with that, we're going to watch another video.

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(Video playing.)

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(Captioned video.)

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(End of video.)

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>> FIONA KENNEDY:  So Bob finally got there.  We're all excited for everyone that works with Bob, but what this video highlights is that communication is key.  Just like many other parts of our job as public servants, it all comes down to respectful communication.

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This is best shown through the curb cut effect.  The fact of the matter is increasing accessibility is a collective effort that benefits everyone.

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The curb cut effect references a phenomenon that curb cuts and sidewalks which were designed to allow wheelchair users to cross the street ended up benefitting a bunch of other people, parents with with strollers, delivery people with handcarts, travelers with suitcases all enjoyed and used this curb cut.

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This is a prime example that a win for the disabled community is a win for everyone.

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The curb cut effect is now ingrained in our cities and many people outside the business may not know that curb ramps are an accommodation.  

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They're a common part of the public domain and that's the hope we have for this training.  That soon planning engagements with accessibility at the forefront will be our new normal.

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>> DHARA SHAH:  This is Dhara.  Thanks, Fiona, for helping us level set.

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Next we're going to go into the steps for planning an engagement, and get into the meat of the content.

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There are essentially three steps for planning and preparing and hosting a good community engagement.  

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We're using this timeline approach to be able to show all the steps that you need to do from thinking about an idea for a community engagement, all the way to executing it.

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Along with this training, there will be a toolkit on the website that goes through all of this information in great detail, even more than we're presenting today to help you make your engagements more accessible.

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Okay.  So let's start with two to three months before an event, how to plan a successful engagement.

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So there's three steps to this section.  There is selecting the right format.  There is preparing for common accommodation requests, and there's asking for accommodation requests in the meeting notice.

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As we're thinking about engagements broadly, we like to ground ourselves in different principles.  These are from public agenda.

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Essentially we like to make sure that our engagements are interactive, everyone can contribute, they're inclusive, they're authentic, transparent, informed, and accessible.

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And accessible meaning that barriers to participation are as low as possible.

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So when we're selecting a format and again this is two to three months before your engagement might happen, you can also tailor the timeline to what you have, what you're working on.

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You'll think about what are the goals of this engagement, what is the dialogue we want to generate from this meeting.  

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For example, if you have a focus group, do you want people to talk to each other?  Is this a one on one interview?  You just want to talk to one person?  Are you sharing information and you're not necessarily hearing from people that day?

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What information is being shared, and how?

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And then also what are the challenges and benefits of in-person, hybrid, or virtual for that specific type of engagement?

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We've done some of that work for you.  We laid out a couple of the pros and cons to different platforms and formats.

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So in person has the greatest impact for participation and fostering community connection, but sometimes it can be difficult to attend an in-person location due to where the event is, 

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the time of the event, access to transit, not everyone has the same schedule, lives in the same area, so it can be hard from a logistical standpoint.

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And if you're trying to obtain a recording, obtaining a high quality recording for in person can be difficult.

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Virtual accessibility is a little bit easier to secure the different accommodations. 

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You can have a high quality recording.  People can join from home.  But it's also hard to have community connection or dialogue across different individuals.

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And for hybrid, it does cast the widest net for attendance opportunities.  You can make connections across the community.  

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It is a little bit harder to get a high quality recording if you have people in person and virtual, and it can be hard to ensure that everyone can hear and listen to everyone.

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So all of these different formats have their pros and cons and depending on the type of engagement and the type of dialogue you want to have, each might have its own benefit for what you're trying to gain from interacting with the community.

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All of these can be a little challenging, but not impossible, especially if prepared well.

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Other things to consider when you're selecting an in-person location, so let's say hypothetically you're hosting a public meeting.  It'll be in person.  You want to make sure that there are wheelchair accessible entrances that are available.

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And that the wheelchair accessible entrances are working, that the doors are not locked or anything like that.  And for any of the entrances that are not wheelchair accessible, there should be a sign pointing to where the wheelchair accessible entrance is.

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We like to make sure that our participants show up with lots of ease.  We don't want to leave them guessing, so we like to use a lot of signage to kind of help people see where they should go.

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The location should also have accessible restrooms and working elevators, especially if you are having a meeting on a second floor, anything like that.

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And I emphasize working elevators because I have been to an event that said it was ADA accessible and wheelchair accessible, it was on the second floor of a building with no working elevators, so just having an elevator doesn't mean that the accommodation is accessible.

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Other things to consider when you're thinking about an in-person location, is it close to public transit?  Is it within a paratransit service area?  

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 Does the facility allow for signage to be posted?  That's a big one, because we use signage to communicate different cues for where to find the rooms, where to go to the restroom.

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Is the location scent free?  So scent can be a trigger for different people, especially people who have migraines.  So making sure your room is scent free is really important.

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We'll talk about this in a little bit more detail, but at the time of when you're planning a meeting, you'll have somewhat of an idea of how many tables you'll have or what the setup would look like, 

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 and you want to make sure that your paths of travel between different tables or whatever activities you're doing at least have 36 inches of space to accommodate wheelchairs.

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So we'll talk about a floor plan later on.  But as you're scoping out different venues, this is something important to consider, is there enough space for all the activities that are happening.

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Okay.  Let's say that we're on a virtual platform, so we decide to have a virtual meeting.  A few things to ask yourself, does the platform support screen readers?  Does the platform support realtime captioning?  And can ASL interpreters use the platform?

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And do you have an extra staff member that can manage the chat?  If you're having a virtual meeting, not everyone will come off mute.  

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Some people will participate in the chat, so it’s really important to make sure that our virtual participants that are participating in the chat are also getting equal attention.

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Again we've done some of the work for you, so common accessibility features from common platforms. 

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So we see that Zoom is able to support screen readers, manual captioning, ASL interpreter use, and live automated captioning as well.

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Microsoft Teams and Google meets does not support manual captioning right now, but we know that a lot of municipalities and local governments rely on Microsoft Teams so just wanted to share what all the options are out there.

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Okay.  And let's say that you decide to have a hybrid meeting, which means you'll have both in-person engagement and virtual engagement happening at the same time.

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So you'll need to consider all of the items for selecting an in-person location, all of the items for what virtual platform to use, and on top of that, make sure that your in-person location has microphones so that people who are on the virtual platform can hear you. 

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Make sure there's virtual and print versions of all the activities so people on both platforms can participate.

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Make space in the agenda so that you can have that cross dialogue.  I know when I'm at an in-person meeting, I have a tendency to just focus on the in-person attendees, which is not always helpful.

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And then also have a breakout room management plan.  Let's say for example you're at a virtual space.  You want to make sure that your breakout rooms are well supported too, especially if you're having small group discussion.

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Okay.  And I will pass it back to Fiona to talk about how to plan for common accommodation requests.

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>> FIONA KENNEDY:  Thanks, Dhara.  This is Fiona.

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So planning for accommodations.

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So this is the second step in planning an engagement.  And it's an example of doing some up-front work that can really save you some time.

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So planning for accommodations is basically creating a document for your organization that you can reference anytime you get an accommodation request.

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This document or plan would contain any internal processes to provide an accommodation, any external contacts you need to reach out to, and the typical time frame you need to secure accommodations.

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So first what is accommodation. Well, looking back at Title II, we are held to ensure that people can participate in government activities regardless of disability.  And accomodations are things that provide that opportunity. 

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So accommodations are things like an ASL interpreter, which we have on this call, which can provide someone with equal access to the content we're sharing today.

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Today we're going to go over six common accommodations.  This is not an exhaustive list but it's common ones.  And while we are going over this list we ask that you ask yourself this question:

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If you were asked to provide this accommodation tomorrow, could you or could your organization?  

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This will help you start to develop your plan for accommodation requests, and you can reference page 14 in your toolkit to learn more about creating a plan for your organization.

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So let's get into it.  The first one we're going to talk about today is American Sign Language or ASL.

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So ASL interpreters provide realtime interpretation of words spoken during a meeting into American Sign Language. 

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What's key to know here is that to interpret government services, interpreters must have a current license and an intermediate proficiency or higher.

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And the State of Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission has a licensed interpreter directory listing local interpreters, so this is a great place to go if you're building out your plan for common accommodations and you'd like to find some local ASL interpreters or organizations that provide ASL interpretation.

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What's important here is that you start reaching out to folks and understand the price range that you're working with so you can budget for it ahead of time.

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Also understanding the lead time that an ASL interpreter might need to be able to provide ASL interpretation at your event.

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Continuing with American Sign Language, there's some other key elements to include and one of them is making sure that your agenda, your activities and your facilitation are at a slow enough speed for the ASL interpreter and being comfortable with pauses a little bit.

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So as you see right now, I probably started slowing down my speaking a little bit.  I'm naturally very fast talker, and that's not a great experience for everyone, 

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and it makes it a lot easier for the interpreter to interpret what you're saying, and also easier for everyone listening to the training that they have a better experience as well.

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It's also important to make sure to address the people that the ASL interpreter is supporting rather than the ASL interpreter.  We saw this example in the video earlier.  That's just another element of respectful communication.

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And then there are little logistical things that you should consider when having an ASL interpreter, like determining where the ASL interpreter would stand ahead of time, et cetera.

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The next one we will look at is realtime captioning.  So realtime captioning is communication access realtime translation.  Also called CART for short.  

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 And it is a human transcribed caption that is produced live during an event and projected on to a public screen or in this case integrated into the Zoom software.

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CART must be produced by a stenographer using a special keyboard. Right now at this time the time of this training, AI generated captions are not considered a replacement for CART 

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 so if you get a request for an accommodation, someone is requesting CART, and you say no worries, we'll just turn on the teams AI captioning and that will be fine.  That's not considered a suitable alternative.

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What you'd want to do in that situation, if you aren't able to provide CART services, you'd reach out to the person that requested those services, and give them what your options are.  So we could turn on this AI generated transcription.  

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We could go in afterwards and fix any mistake or errors that it had to produce a better transcript for you.

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When looking for a realtime captioner or CART interpreter, you can turn to the Illinois Court Reporters Association.  Similar to looking for an ASL interpreter, they have a registry of CART stenographers in the region and you can create your contact list there.

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So looking at an example of some of the AI generated captions that we see, here's a screen shot from a YouTube video from the aprons and stove it looks like it's a cooking video and the automated captions say "plaques double dealing allowing double the Minot for them and".

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And now I'm not a chef but none of those words are speaking ingredients to me or cooking methods so let's take a look at what those captions actually meant to say.

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Flax, double the vanilla, always double the vanilla, and cinnamon.

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So this is a great example that automated captions are not perfect. 

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It's great that we have so many resources that can provide something like automated captions when captions otherwise may not exist.  

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 But for our purposes, it's not considered a suitable alternative by just turning on AI captions.

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And so we always encourage you to understand who the CART interpreters and stenographers are in your region and build out your contact list so you can provide CART interpretation.

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The next one we'll look at is large print materials.  So large print materials are a black and white copy of materials that are printed in large print, which is considered 18 points or larger.

00:32:20:06 - 00:32:23:21
So this is the definition of large print materials.  

00:32:23:21 - 00:32:39:06
And this is something that's relatively low budget, that's something that you can work into all of your in-person engagement events and even online materials, uploading a version that's also a black and white copy printed in point 18 font or larger.

00:32:39:06 - 00:32:56:10
The next one we will look at is assistive listening devices, or ALDs for short.  These are devices that amplify sound directly into a person's ear.  They're often seen in large seminars or theaters.

00:32:56:10 - 00:33:07:10
Nowadays they can also often hook up to hearing aids.  And where you'll see these are at larger events where there's more one way communication happening.

00:33:07:10 - 00:33:25:22
So not necessarily in like a smaller focus group where there's lots of discussion going on, but something where there's an AV system set up that can hook into assistive listening devices, like a large public meeting or a large theater event or anything like that.

00:33:25:22 - 00:33:37:11
And then finally we'll look at advance copy of materials.  This is another example that is relatively low budget, and it's something that you can work into all of your engagement events.

00:33:37:11 - 00:33:48:14
So providing digital file materials ahead of time can give additional processing time to folks so that you can arrive at your meeting understanding the content that we’re going to cover today, 

00:33:48:14 - 00:33:59:11
 having had enough time to process their responses, their thoughts, their feelings, and it can also allow for people using screen readers to review the materials ahead of the meeting.

00:33:59:11 - 00:34:14:08
So uploading digital files of your slide decks, your boards, written documents is always a good idea.  Putting them on an easily accessible website so folks can download them ahead of time.

00:34:14:08 - 00:34:28:15
We'll look at one more common accommodation and that's Braille.  So Braille is a writing system that uses raised dots to represent numbers, letters, and punctuation.  So documents can be formatted into Braille.  

00:34:28:15 - 00:34:40:17
 Signs are often formatted into Braille.  And this looking to where you can get Braille materials printed often local libraries will have the resources to print Braille materials for you.

00:34:40:17 - 00:34:52:05
So again you can start building out your contact list there.  And working with your organization to see which materials you would format into Braille should they be requested.

00:34:52:05 - 00:35:06:00
Now, this brings us to undue burden.  So when we talk about providing accommodations, a lot of things that come up right after we talk about what accommodations are best to have, what accommodations might be required, 

00:35:06:00 - 00:35:14:11
 is that there's this tiny little what some people think is a loophole in Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

00:35:14:11 - 00:35:23:23
So Title II requires that state and local governments provide accommodations, unless it poses an undue administrative or financial burden.

00:35:23:23 - 00:35:32:18
So some people can really hang on to this idea, and say, oh, someone requested ASL interpretation for this event.  

00:35:32:18 - 00:35:39:02
 We don't have the budget for it.  That's an undue administrative or financial burden.  So we're not going to do it.

00:35:39:02 - 00:35:52:00
But that is not the case.  Because the following sentence inside Title II says that the local government still has an obligation to find an alternative to provide effective communication.

00:35:52:00 - 00:36:00:16
So what we do in this situation, if you find yourself someone requested an ASL interpretation, you don't have the time or budget to provide it, 

00:36:00:16 - 00:36:08:15
you reach out to the requester and you see if there's an accommodation that you can provide that can provide a suitable alternative.

00:36:08:15 - 00:36:24:16
We'll get into this a lot later when we talk about contingency planning and how you can be prepared for these situations but it's important to know that writing something off as an undue burden is not something that we can do and just wash our hands of it and walk away.  

00:36:24:16 - 00:36:33:20
The responsibility is still on us to provide effective communication.

00:36:33:20 - 00:36:46:10
So other considerations that are not necessarily considered accommodations but are great to provide in public engagement events or work into your budgets ahead of time.  One is providing compensation.

00:36:46:10 - 00:36:55:19
So the disabled community similar to a lot of other communities has a long history of exclusion, especially in public engagement events.

00:36:55:19 - 00:37:10:02
As Lizbeth spoke to earlier, the nothing about us without us mantra is an international mantra that was really made popular in the United States when the Americans with Disabilities Act was being passed.

00:37:10:02 - 00:37:26:02
And this mantra and the community action created around it is what allowed the law to have, or encouraged the law to have all these requirements in engagement written into the law itself.

00:37:26:02 - 00:37:33:19
So that's a huge step for including the disability community in things that may directly affect them.

00:37:33:19 - 00:37:52:13
So providing compensation, which could be in the form of cash stipend, a gift card stipend, writing a check to folks that participate in focus groups, is one way that we can really start building that trust up again between government entities and the disabled community.

00:37:52:13 - 00:38:03:01
Another one we're looking at is providing child care.  So this could be providing supervised child care, having children's activities at events. 

00:38:03:01 - 00:38:13:09
If you have an open house sort of event that you're hosting, having some kids' activities and then publicizing that to make it known that this is an event that you can bring the whole family to.  

00:38:13:09 - 00:38:21:10
We encourage caregivers and parents to attend, and that there will be additional activities.

00:38:21:10 - 00:38:35:10
Providing a sensory room.  This is highly encouraged, especially if you are hosting, say, a long event, like a long town hall meeting or something, where there could be an instance of overstimulation.

00:38:35:10 - 00:38:47:15
So a sensory room is typically a small, low lit, relatively dark space that has no sound or a sound machine, if there is a lot of noise outside.  

00:38:47:15 - 00:39:00:03
There can be sensory activities, like tactile activities that can be included in these rooms.  And this is just really a place for people to step away when they feel overstimulated, to reset.

00:39:00:03 - 00:39:06:01
And it is highly encouraged for these longer events that you might be hosting.

00:39:06:01 - 00:39:19:19
Ensuring that it's a scent-free area is another thing that we encourage, especially post pandemic with long COVID, we're seeing more and more that scents are a real trigger for people.  It could be a trigger for migraines.

00:39:19:19 - 00:39:29:01
So what this could look like in our case is if you're hosting a meeting at a public library and they have a room freshener in the room or something.  

00:39:29:01 - 00:39:40:13
While you're setting up, you're moving that out of the room, you're opening some windows, you're airing it out a little bit.  Just to try and remove those strong scents that might be existing in the area.

00:39:40:13 - 00:39:49:17
Providing food or snacks is always a great idea.  And having additional activities that are just for fun, like a hot cocoa bar or giveaways.

00:39:49:17 - 00:40:00:09
Providing accommodations and providing these other considerations is not only a part of our job and a part of our responsibility, but it also brings more people to our events.  

00:40:00:09 - 00:40:11:17
It gives a better turnout, which in turn benefits our work as well.

00:40:11:17 - 00:40:13:24
>> LIZBETH CARRAZCO:  This is Lizbeth.  Thank you, Fiona.

00:40:13:24 - 00:40:24:17
So we walked through the steps of selecting the right format for the type of meeting that we're hosting, and then planning for some of the more common accessibility requests we might receive.

00:40:24:17 - 00:40:36:15
In this next section, we're going to be going over how to ask for accommodation requests in the meeting notice and what that could look like in different meeting formats.

00:40:36:15 - 00:40:43:04
So when we're beginning outreach for our events, we're creating invitations for the public to join us in the planning process.  

00:40:43:04 - 00:40:50:20
You have to make sure that when we're conducting outreach, we're conducting it to the fullest extent of our reach.

00:40:50:20 - 00:40:59:20
So this looks like connecting with local organizations, schools, youth groups, and more to make sure that they know the event is happening.

00:40:59:20 - 00:41:06:24
When we create materials for promotion, we can share those assets with our project and community partners to share with their networks.  

00:41:06:24 - 00:41:23:11
Bonus points for dropping off any physical flyers near the event or project area to make sure that people who aren't on social media or maybe aren't signed up for your newsletters yet always know what's happening in the community and in the area of the project.

00:41:23:11 - 00:41:30:17
So with that, the most basic information, like date, time, location, are all readily available with your invite.  

00:41:30:17 - 00:41:37:20
But the invite is the first touch point in building trust with the community, and making sure that everyone feels welcome.

00:41:37:20 - 00:41:51:20
So with that, beyond the when and where of the event, we need to be adding the what and how.  What accommodations are available and how do I request additional accommodations?

00:41:51:20 - 00:42:01:10
The available accommodations will depend on the format of your event.  For in-person meetings, we should be sharing where the events are taking place, and how to get there.

00:42:01:10 - 00:42:08:23
And also what type of accommodations you're planning to have, like an ASL interpreter, or large print materials.

00:42:08:23 - 00:42:19:17
For virtual meetings, you want to provide how the information will be available post meeting, whether it's a recording, a recap summary, or a memo.

00:42:19:17 - 00:42:30:07
You also want to provide what accommodations will be available, such as CART or interpreters.

00:42:30:07 - 00:42:37:09
Even if we're thinking ahead, and planning for a handful of accommodations, there's no telling what someone might need.  

00:42:37:09 - 00:42:44:23
 So when creating your invite, there needs to be a way for the community to reach out about additional accommodations that they might need.

00:42:44:23 - 00:42:51:01
Here's some example text for sharing how and who to contact for accommodations.

00:42:51:01 - 00:43:01:16
When creating this how and who to contact, our example here, Jane Doe, Jane Doe may become the point person for accommodations for this event moving forward.  

00:43:01:16 - 00:43:16:17
If she's who can help secure accommodations, she would know what's available day of the event, and we'll get in later in hosting an event, why that's important to have a point person for accommodations.

00:43:16:17 - 00:43:36:23
If you're planning on collecting RSVPs for an event, there's an opportunity to ask for accommodation needs from participants as they're reserving that they'll be at the event.  Here's an example of how you can ask what kind of accommodations people might need.

00:43:36:23 - 00:43:47:12
So your invites now include the when, where, what time, what accommodations are available, and who I contact for additional accommodations.

00:43:47:12 - 00:44:00:02
Sometimes though the barrier to coming to an event is the unknown.  We want to provide as much information up front as we can so people feel comfortable getting to and participating in an event.

00:44:00:02 - 00:44:17:17
This looks like including information on getting to the event, if there's public transit nearby, what the parking situation is, and ensuring that the location is accessible.

00:44:17:17 - 00:44:28:11
You can also share information on what the engagement activities might look like, what the the goal of the the event is and the types of activities people might get into.  

00:44:28:11 - 00:44:40:13
Is it one-on-one conversations?  Maybe Zoom polls or just an open house for people to walk around?

00:44:40:13 - 00:44:58:00
Great.  So as we're following the path to accessible engagement, we are now moving from planning an engagement two to three months before our event, to preparing for an engagement one to two months before an event.

00:44:58:00 - 00:45:01:08
>> DHARA SHAH:  Thanks, Lizbeth.  This is Dhara here.

00:45:01:08 - 00:45:11:08
Okay.  Let's get into preparing for an engagement.

00:45:11:08 - 00:45:22:13
So there's three steps in this section as well.  There is developing accessible materials, conducting a dry run, and then planning for contingencies.

00:45:22:13 - 00:45:37:24
So in the first step, we thought of the logistics, and the container to hold our event, and in this section, we fill that container with content, interactions, and making sure of course that it's all accessible.

00:45:37:24 - 00:46:00:16
Okay.  So we'll talk about the web content accessibility guidelines, version 2.1, level AA, as it relates to different common materials that would be developed for a public engagement, like agendas, reports, memos, slide decks, display boards, and online communications as well.

00:46:00:16 - 00:46:16:03
The WCAG section as we're calling it is pretty hefty, and we like to eat dessert first, so we're going to wait until the end of the training to get into the nitty-gritty of that.

00:46:16:03 - 00:46:20:11
Okay.  So let's talk about having a dry run.

00:46:20:11 - 00:46:37:07
I'm someone who loves to have a dry run for any type of engagement, and there have been times where I haven't, and have deeply regretted it, so please learn from me (chuckling), and have a dry run for your meeting, whether they're in-person or virtual.

00:46:37:07 - 00:46:50:05
It really gives you an opportunity to make sure that you have your speaking points ready, do any accessibility checks, to make sure that you can see your captions, you can see your ASL interpreter, 

00:46:50:05 - 00:47:02:19
iron out any issues you might have with activities, and make sure that everyone has an understanding of what their role is in the meeting or event to make sure that it's successful.

00:47:02:19 - 00:47:18:15
So you want to make sure that the right people are there.  Anyone with a speaking role, it's important for them to know what's going on.  Any person that's in the support role, whether that's tech, someone running the slides, or a facilitator for engagement.

00:47:18:15 - 00:47:39:10
Facility staff is also really great to have for an in-person dry run or walkthrough to make sure that again your elevators are working, your accessibility entrances are open, and also invite your interpreters and live captioners as well so they can get familiar with materials.

00:47:39:10 - 00:47:56:07
What else to do during a dry run?  So make sure that your tech is working.  So your microphones are working, your microphones are charged.  I've been there where the microphone wasn't charged.  Not super fun.  Not a fun situation to be in.

00:47:56:07 - 00:48:03:16
Make sure that your captions are visible with the correct contrast, and we'll talk about contrast in just a second.

00:48:03:16 - 00:48:19:16
Your activities, tools, and your aids are all working as planned.  So double-check your links, open your files, and make sure your activities have a backup plan in case they don't work for a participant.

00:48:19:16 - 00:48:31:15
For a meeting location, make sure that your accessible entrances are labeled.  This is why we said up front, make sure you can put signage in your location so people know where to go.

00:48:31:15 - 00:48:38:16
Make sure that all non-accessible entrances have signage pointing to where the accessible entrance is.

00:48:38:16 - 00:48:49:17
When you're going into a building, you might want to have signage that points to where your meeting location is as well.  Again we want people to arrive stress free with lots of ease.

00:48:49:17 - 00:49:04:01
This is where you'll create your floor plan and do your walkthrough to make sure that your tables, activities, anything that you're doing has that 36 inches for wheelchairs to move comfortably 36 inches, three feet.  

00:49:04:01 - 00:49:14:00
And that your way finding signs for the elevator and bathroom and accessible exits are also all available.

00:49:14:00 - 00:49:29:03
When it comes to the actual presentation and facilitation aspect of your event, during your dry run, you're going to want to practice your speed to make sure you're going slow enough for ASL interpretation and realtime captioning.

00:49:29:03 - 00:49:36:17
I'm just like Fiona.  I probably just slowed down a little bit right there to make sure I'm not going too fast.

00:49:36:17 - 00:49:43:23
Practice saying your name when the microphone is passed, and the lead facilitator should practice reminding people.

00:49:43:23 - 00:49:57:05
 It’s kind of an awkward position, but you might have to interrupt someone and say, hey you didn’t say your name, can you restate your name so the people in the audience can hear you and know who’s talking.

00:49:57:05 - 00:50:14:05
Take breaks to monitor the chat.  It's human nature to speak really fast and get through a section, but we want to make sure we're interacting with people, so making sure you're monitoring the chat, practicing a Q&A cadence or even having a plan for that is really great.

00:50:14:05 - 00:50:28:05
And if you're in person, practice repeating questions back for the audience.  It's always hard when there's one person in the front of the room who asks the question and the person in the back can't hear, so just repeat the question that’s being asked.

00:50:28:05 - 00:50:33:17
And check in with your interpreters to make sure your speed is going well.

00:50:33:17 - 00:50:38:03
Jody, how is my speed today?

00:50:38:03 - 00:50:52:06
Great. That is preparing for an engagement.  I'll pass it over to Fiona to talk about contingency planning.

00:50:52:06 - 00:50:55:07
>> FIONA KENNEDY:  Great.  Thank you, Dhara.  This is Fiona.

00:50:55:07 - 00:51:04:23
Okay.  So we'll get into contingency planning a little bit.  This is a really important part of preparing for your event.

00:51:04:23 - 00:51:14:19
So why have a contingency plan?  As we all know, even the most detailed event plans should have strategies in place in case something goes wrong.

00:51:14:19 - 00:51:26:12
In the accessibility space, what that might mean is tech is not working, an accommodation is not meeting the participants' needs or there's a last minute request we have to address.

00:51:26:12 - 00:51:33:01
So when you're creating a contingency plan, we have a couple of questions that you should ask yourself:

00:51:33:01 - 00:51:42:22
The first question that you should look at and these questions are in your toolkit as well, is who is the point person for accommodation requests or questions?  

00:51:42:22 - 00:52:00:01
This is important as if somebody attends your event that has requested accommodations, as Lizbeth's example in the invitation had, Jane Doe who who is going to be the person who is receiving accommodation requests, making sure that Jane Doe is there at the event

00:52:00:01 - 00:52:10:01
that everyone knows that Jane Doe is the point person that someone has arrived who requested an accommodation or someone has arrived who needs an accommodation.  

00:52:10:01 - 00:52:22:16
 Jane Doe knows what is needed and what we can provide so everything goes to Jane and everyone working the event knows that, okay, we can have Jane get right on this.

00:52:22:16 - 00:52:26:16
The second question is what accommodations are available at the event.  

00:52:26:16 - 00:52:39:20
This is important for everyone to know, that staffing the event, any partners you have attending the event or supporting the event, to be aware with the accommodations that are available should be asked.

00:52:39:20 - 00:52:51:13
And then this is also a part of making sure that you have an access check at the beginning of your meeting, so then you're stating aloud what accommodations are available for all to know as well.

00:52:51:13 - 00:53:02:14
And finally what are the key pieces of information communicated at the event and this question is important and not something you would typically think would be in your contingency plan, 

00:53:02:14 - 00:53:16:15
but understanding what the key purpose of the event is and the key information that you want someone to walk away with can help you in an instance where someone has requested an accommodation that was maybe too late.

00:53:16:15 - 00:53:21:14
They never requested it, they just arrived and asked if you had an accommodation.

00:53:21:14 - 00:53:28:15
So when you're greeted with that situation what you want to do is look at all of the resources that you have available.  

00:53:28:15 - 00:53:35:01
 Do you have maybe not a lot of budget for the event, but you have a lot of staff?  Okay, you can use that.

00:53:35:01 - 00:53:47:18
What's being said in the event, so if it's a one-way communication event where you're not really getting feedback from the public or the audience, then that kind of can change your approach.  

00:53:47:18 - 00:53:58:18
So you can say we can provide a transcript for you after the event.  We could have a staff member join you as a companion and walk through the event with you.  Something like that.

00:53:58:18 - 00:54:08:04
If the key point of the event is that there are two way communication happening, and we want to gain feedback from the audience, then that's a different approach that you take.

00:54:08:04 - 00:54:23:01
So understanding the type of event that you have, the key pieces of information, either communicated or brought in is really important for your contingency plan so you know how you should approach a contingency event.

00:54:23:01 - 00:54:28:23
So we're going to look at a couple of scenarios, and walk through these together.

00:54:28:23 - 00:54:38:14
So the first scenario is you are hosting a meeting with a budget of zero dollars.  We've all been there.  And only digital materials.

00:54:38:14 - 00:54:46:07
Okay.  A participant requests ASL interpretation 24 hours ahead of the meeting.  How would you respond?

00:54:46:07 - 00:54:57:03
So at this point in the training, you can pause the video if you'd like, take a minute, talk to your neighbor, talk to your co-worker, see how you might respond in this instance.

00:54:57:03 - 00:55:02:07
But we'll jump right to our potential approaches to this scenario.

00:55:02:07 - 00:55:10:09
So there are a lot of approaches that you can have.  One of them is provide a written transcript of the meeting afterwards.

00:55:10:09 - 00:55:17:16
Another one could be providing a staff member as a note taker companion to support communication throughout the event.

00:55:17:16 - 00:55:32:08
And then finally it would be sharing that more than 24 hours notice is needed to secure an ASL interpreter, and keeping that communication going.  

00:55:32:08 - 00:55:37:16
So sharing that typically we require two weeks to secure an ASL interpreter, and then understanding how can you strengthen that relationship now, 

00:55:37:16 - 00:55:47:16
so what other events are they attending, would they like to attend so that you know in the future that this might be a common accommodation request that you're receiving for events.

00:55:47:16 - 00:56:03:17
So what's important to note with contingency planning is a lot of what we're doing is looking at all of our available resources and trying to patch together a way to provide equal access to the material that we're providing.

00:56:03:17 - 00:56:20:07
But this is not the ideal.  The ideal would be providing the accommodation that is requested, but this is just something that is good to have ready in the moment for when an accommodation is requested that you're not able to provide or haven't prepared for.

00:56:20:07 - 00:56:37:23
But typically with these contingency plans as you're developing them and going through scenarios yourself, you're learning what accommodations are important to have maybe at all events, and then you're strengthening the ability for your team to respond in these situations as well.

00:56:37:23 - 00:56:41:23
So let's take a look at another scenario.

00:56:41:23 - 00:56:53:23
So scenario two, someone who identifies as having a visual impairment attends your meeting and requests large print materials.  However, you're all out of large print materials.

00:56:53:23 - 00:57:02:23
So again you could pause the training here, take a moment to think.  But we'll go straight into approaches.

00:57:02:24 - 00:57:06:03
So approaches to this scenario could be a couple of things.  

00:57:06:03 - 00:57:16:19
 You could offer to read the display boards and activities out loud.  You could offer to be their meeting companion throughout the meeting to offer questions and clarify any information.  

00:57:16:19 - 00:57:22:16
You can offer to follow up with a large print copy of materials after the meeting.

00:57:22:16 - 00:57:29:11
And then there are a lot of other approaches that you could do, depending on the resources that you have available in the moment.

00:57:29:11 - 00:57:42:15
So that goes back to creating this contingency plan ahead of time and understanding what do you have at your fingertips that you could use to provide, for example, large print materials if they're required.

00:57:42:15 - 00:57:53:00
Are you hosting an event at a library where they have a printer?  And you have additional staff that could go over and print additional copies of the large print materials?  Things like that.

00:57:53:00 - 00:57:59:24
So understanding what's available at your event that you could leverage should you need to.

00:57:59:24 - 00:58:09:20
We'll take a look at one more scenario.  Okay.  You are in a virtual meeting and a participant is not able to use the Zoom polls.

00:58:09:20 - 00:58:18:20
So here again you could pause, think about this situation, but we'll jump to approaches.

00:58:18:20 - 00:58:29:10
Okay.  So a couple of things you could do in this situation.  You could invite the participant to share their response out loud, in the chat or via a private message.

00:58:29:10 - 00:58:36:23
The meeting recorder can make sure to include the response within the Zoom polls after the event is over.

00:58:36:23 - 00:58:44:19
So we've actually had a situation like this occur where someone came off mute and said, I'm not able to access the Zoom polls.  

00:58:44:19 - 00:59:00:23
 And so in that situation, what we did is we had done a pre contingency plan.  It's something we do in all of our online meetings, is we have one staff member that's assigned as tech support, or ask me for help and their name is changed.

00:59:00:23 - 00:59:20:04
So in that situation, if you're the facilitator, and someone comes off mute and says I can't access the Zoom poll, rather than kind of pausing the entire process to try and address the situation, you have someone on deck ready to go that can reach out to the person and say, not a problem.  

00:59:20:04 - 00:59:25:23
Here are the options available.  Would you like to type your responses to me in a private message?

00:59:25:23 - 00:59:36:09
We've had a situation once where our tech support was chatting with a person, and said I'll just give you a call on the phone, and we can talk through the Zoom polls together.

00:59:36:09 - 00:59:46:21
And then tech support was on the phone with the attendee, while the facilitator was still able to go through the meeting and continue the cadence of the call.

00:59:46:21 - 00:59:57:04
And then that person was reassured that your responses would be included in the polls afterwards.  We would make sure that your responses are in our final data collection.

00:59:57:04 - 01:00:17:20
So that's another element when you're doing online engagement, having the staff available to jump in so the facilitators of the meeting can continue moving through the content.

01:00:17:20 - 01:00:20:19
>> LIZBETH CARRAZCO:  This is Lizbeth.  Thanks, Fiona.

01:00:20:19 - 01:00:32:19
So we are now moving from preparing for an engagement and we're at the week of the day of the event.  Congratulations, everyone.  We have made it!

01:00:32:19 - 01:00:41:05
So checking in on the agenda, we moved on from contingency planning and we're moving on to hosting an engagement.

01:00:41:05 - 01:00:59:18
We'll be walking through hosting an engagement and sharing that we'll be a good host, calling back to all of those events that we might be hosting in our personal lives and then following our day of to do checklists which are all available in the online toolkit.

01:00:59:18 - 01:01:06:18
Before we jump into hosting, let's realign with how Title II applies to hosting a meeting.

01:01:06:18 - 01:01:18:01
The principles of Title II incllude non-discrimination, equal opportunity and program accessibility, that means people with disabilities can participate fully in all activities.

01:01:18:01 - 01:01:24:23
So let's check out how to plan and organize a meeting with accessibility in mind.

01:01:24:23 - 01:01:38:23
So a good host is available and around.  A couple of important touch points include having a greeter at the door to let people know that they're at the right location for the meeting and make people feel welcome coming in.

01:01:38:23 - 01:01:50:08
You can build in time for casual conversation, like Dhara mentioned earlier, sometimes really important project points come out as you're having a casual conversation off to the side.

01:01:50:08 - 01:01:58:02
You can position the accommodations lead at the front table, like we've mentioned a couple of times, having someone that knows what accommodations are available, 

01:01:58:02 - 01:02:08:20
 and how to use them is important to have right kind of at the beginning and front of a meeting so people who need accommodations are able to find them almost immediately.

01:02:08:20 - 01:02:23:19
With that, you want to make sure you're communicating directly with the participant who is using the accommodation, and then checking in with them throughout the event to make sure that the accommodation is still working for them and using to the best of their ability.

01:02:23:19 - 01:02:32:10
You want to ensure that there are access checks at the beginning, the same way we did here, letting everyone know that there was an ASL interpreter and CART available.

01:02:32:10 - 01:02:42:10
And then including breaks.  Allowing people to step out without missing any of the important information you might be sharing.

01:02:42:10 - 01:02:53:04
So for in-person meetings, you want to make sure you're having a check-in with all the staff to review the accommodations that are available, and a brief understanding of how to use them.

01:02:53:04 - 01:02:58:09
That way if a participant is new to an accommodation, any staff is able to help.

01:02:58:09 - 01:03:05:13
Before beginning any presentation, or at the check-in table, make sure to announce that there are accommodations available.

01:03:05:13 - 01:03:17:13
And then as the event is progressing, making sure that all participants are able to understand the materials and everything is legible.

01:03:17:13 - 01:03:26:22
For the setup of the event, create way finding signage for things like how to find the event, all the way from the accessible entrance to the actual event.  

01:03:26:22 - 01:03:34:00
You don't want just a sign on the door and then people enter the building and they're not sure where to go once they're in the building.

01:03:34:00 - 01:03:41:00
You should have signage for restrooms, also signage for accessible entrances and exits.

01:03:41:00 - 01:03:54:24
If you're able to have reserved accessible seating, creating signage for that too ensures that everyone is aware that that seating is reserved for those who need it.

01:03:54:24 - 01:04:12:24
For online engagement events, you want to be mindful of sound, so check out your noise suppression, ensure that CART Captioning is available if you have it and need it, and providing an access check very early on before getting into any introductions, just to make sure that no information is skipped.

01:04:12:24 - 01:04:20:15
And reminding people to state their name before speaking.

01:04:20:15 - 01:04:31:12
For hybrid events, we have to combine everything that we learned from in-person and online events.  You also want to make sure that your microphones and your other equipment is charged and ready.

01:04:31:12 - 01:04:44:11
As Dhara was mentioning, there should be someone in person acting as a connection to the online participants.  They can read the chat if there are questions and make sure the online people can understand and hear the in-person group.  

01:04:44:11 - 01:05:00:15
Don't be afraid to repeat yourself for both the in-person and online participants.

01:05:00:15 - 01:05:02:05
>> FIONA KENNEDY:  This is Fiona.

01:05:02:05 - 01:05:14:23
Thanks, Lizbeth.  We are moving right through the training and we are at our final section, if you can believe it, and it's my favorite section of the entire training.

01:05:14:23 - 01:05:18:11
So right now we're going to talk about creating accessible materials.  

01:05:18:11 - 01:05:26:17
This section looks at the web content accessibility guidelines, or WCAG, which we referenced a couple times today.  

01:05:26:17 - 01:05:34:04
 WCAG is a set of regulations that we're required to follow to provide equal access to all online content.

01:05:34:04 - 01:05:43:08
It's an international standard that continues to be updated as new technological advances pop up that may present accessibility difficulties.

01:05:43:08 - 01:05:56:05
So in the toolkit and in the training, you've heard WCAG version 2.1, level double A referenced a lot and what this is, it's just the version that we will be required to comply to.

01:05:56:05 - 01:06:05:10
So as the international guidelines continue to develop, the U.S. government will select a version and a level of compliance that we're required to follow.

01:06:05:10 - 01:06:15:05
So every ten years or so, the government updates the level that we're required to follow, and right now we have found ourselves in one of those in between times.

01:06:15:05 - 01:06:27:14
So by 2026, or 2027, depending on your jurisdiction size, you're required to comply to the guidelines in WCAG version 2.1 Level AA.  

01:06:27:14 - 01:06:34:07
 So if you have a population smaller than 50,000 people, you have until April of 2027 to comply.  

01:06:34:07 - 01:06:40:20
 If you have a population greater than 50,000 people, you have until April 2026 to comply.

01:06:40:20 - 01:06:48:07
While these specifically relate to online communications, we recommend that you follow these guidelines for all materials that you create.  

01:06:48:07 - 01:07:01:01
 Nowadays anything could end up being online following a meeting, you may upload your slides, your agenda, et cetera.  So following these guidelines for everything you create will help you in the long run.

01:07:01:01 - 01:07:12:09
Inside your toolkit, you'll find a toolkit inside the toolkit.  So on page 34, this is an entire section dedicated to any materials that you might make for an engagement.  

01:07:12:09 - 01:07:22:21
There are detailed checklists for the guidelines you need to follow to create written documents, like agendas, slide decks, display boards, and social media posts.

01:07:22:21 - 01:07:32:18
As we walk through the following slides, just know that all of this content and more lives inside that section of your toolkit that you can continue to reference.

01:07:32:18 - 01:07:39:24
So with that, we are going to watch a quick video.

01:07:39:24 - 01:07:51:01
(Video playing.)

01:07:51:01 - 01:07:57:09
>> A close up of  a computer screen shows with a red box  selecting the option to read the entire document

01:07:57:09 - 01:08:21:17
(Video playing.)

01:08:21:17 - 01:08:26:14
>> A close up of a computer screen with text being highlighted by the screen reader software.

01:08:26:14 - 01:08:38:18
(Video playing.)

01:08:38:18 - 01:08:44:04
>> She uses image detection on her phone to select text from a photo to be read outloud.

01:08:44:04 - 01:08:56:08
(Video playing.)

01:08:56:08 - 01:08:58:13
(End of video.)

01:08:58:13 - 01:09:14:03
>> FIONA KENNEDY:  So this video shows Keris, who is a teacher's assistant at a university, and she walks us through a couple of the different resources that she uses to read documents if an inaccessible PDF is sent to her.

01:09:14:03 - 01:09:25:16
We share this video because she could be navigating on any government website, trying to learn more about a public meeting coming up, trying to download the meeting agenda, and so on.

01:09:25:16 - 01:09:44:05
So it really illustrates the importance of having all of our online content set up accessibly, and also that these are required for us to do so so that when someone gets to our website, they're able to quickly and easily navigate through the content.

01:09:44:05 - 01:09:58:17
So there are a couple of different types of mediums that we have structured the toolkit and this training around.  And that is specifically mediums that public servants, planners, local governments are creating.

01:09:58:17 - 01:10:06:19
The WCAG guidelines are large.  There are a lot of them.  So what we have done is we've gone into the guidelines.  

01:10:06:19 - 01:10:16:17
We've broken them down into what guidelines actually refer to the types of mediums that we'll be creating on a day-to-day basis.

01:10:16:17 - 01:10:33:10
So this is meeting agendas, informational posters, activities at an event, videos, audio files, like a podcast, any social media posts, images, including maps, and many more.

01:10:33:10 - 01:10:44:01
So in the toolkit, you'll see that the elements of accessible materials are kind of broken out.  So we have four elements that we look at specifically.

01:10:44:01 - 01:10:48:01
The first one is document structure, so setting up your document.

01:10:48:01 - 01:10:52:01
The second one is color scheme, where we're going to talk about contrast.

01:10:52:01 - 01:10:57:10
The third one is images, where we'll get into text alternatives, et cetera.

01:10:57:10 - 01:11:03:04
And the last one is content, making sure that the content in all of your materials is accessible as well.

01:11:03:04 - 01:11:11:04
And the toolkit uses these four categories as well to break out all of the different regulations that you need to follow.

01:11:11:06 - 01:11:17:06
So the first one we're going to go into is document structure.  There are two key elements to document structure.

01:11:17:06 - 01:11:25:04
The first is setting up an information hierarchy, and the second is using accessible fonts and text properties.  

01:11:25:04 - 01:11:32:03
We're not going to go into accessible fonts and text properties too much today.  Those can all be found in your toolkit.

01:11:32:03 - 01:11:38:01
But we're going to dive into setting up an information hierarchy.

01:11:38:01 - 01:11:50:13
So what is an information hierarchy?  An information hierarchy is a fancy word for structuring information in a manner so that readers can easily follow the information being presented.

01:11:50:13 - 01:11:55:13
So an information hierarchy is often something that we are already using.  

01:11:55:13 - 01:12:11:02
 So for example, on this slide, we have the text information hierarchy in a larger font.  It's bold.  So that says to us that this may be the title of the slide or something of more importance.

01:12:11:02 - 01:12:30:11
Why setting up an information hierarchy is so important is that if a screen reader encountered this slide and it wasn't set up properly on the back end, it wouldn't encounter the text  information hierarchy and see that it's larger and bold and assume that it's the title of the document.

01:12:30:11 - 01:12:40:05
So screen readers can detect titles and section headings when they're called out in the back end of the document, so that they can very easily navigate the content.

01:12:40:05 - 01:12:52:12
So what this looks like is if this slide is set up properly on the back end, which we'll get into in a second, a screen reader would see the slide.  It would make almost its own table of contents.

01:12:52:12 - 01:13:09:12
So it has information hierarchy as the title of the page.  Document structure is a subheading, and then these two questions that people could either skip through or if that's the information that they're looking for, they can go through and read the information.

01:13:09:12 - 01:13:17:12
So by setting up documents in the right way on the back end, it provides these bites of information that are easier to digest.  

01:13:17:12 - 01:13:26:11
And with a lot of the content that we're creating as local governments, there are long plans that could have hundreds of pages.

01:13:26:11 - 01:13:39:17
So making sure that document is set up on the back send provides that experience that readers can skim through or look at bites of information when using a screen reader.

01:13:39:17 - 01:13:46:22
So the first one that we're going to look at for information hierarchy is identifying the titles and headings in your software.  

01:13:46:22 - 01:13:53:17
So we're going to watch a quick video, which is looking at a document that is not set up properly in the back end.

01:13:53:17 - 01:14:44:10
(Captioned video.)

01:14:44:10 - 01:14:51:20
>> FIONA KENNEDY:  So that's an example of a document where when looking at it, it looks like this information hierarchy is set up.  

01:14:51:20 - 01:15:06:15
California beaches is larger at the top.  So we can assume that's the title.  It has these two columns, but what it's not set up properly in the back end as we just saw, it doesn't flow through the document like it's meant to be.

01:15:06:15 - 01:15:16:24
So it went from most popular beaches to temperatures, rather than understanding that that's a column, and you'll go from most popular beaches to the following paragraph.

01:15:16:24 - 01:15:26:08
So this is really important in a lot of back end work when you're setting up your document, and so what does that mean?

01:15:26:08 - 01:15:36:22
Luckily it's not that difficult of a feat, because a lot of the existing software that we have already has built-in systems for organizing this content.

01:15:36:22 - 01:15:59:15
So this is an example on Microsoft Word.  It's very similar on Google Docs as well, where using the styles pane, which pops up in the home screen, the home tab on your window, you can select what text is a title, what's a subtitle, what are headings, and list paragraphs, et cetera.

01:15:59:15 - 01:16:21:12
So as you're creating your document, you can have these settings already set up, so it will not only change your text so that your time matches your style, which is a larger font, maybe it's a darker text, but it will also tell your document in the back end that this is a title and should be treated as such.

01:16:21:12 - 01:16:33:07
So one thing that you can do for your organization, if it doesn't exist already, is set up a template for what your titles look like, your subtitles, your headings, et cetera.  

01:16:33:07 - 01:16:45:21
Save it as a template, and then everyone can use that as they're creating materials, and then when they're exported, they'll have that content already in them that this is the title and so on.

01:16:45:21 - 01:16:56:19
So now we'll look at a video where a document is set up properly.

01:16:56:19 - 01:17:39:19
(Captioned video.)

01:17:39:19 - 01:17:40:19
(End of video.)

01:17:40:19 - 01:17:47:22
>> FIONA KENNEDY:  So there's an example of the same document that potentially when it's created, that is already set up.  

01:17:47:22 - 01:17:58:07
So it isn't a lot of work after the fact, going into a PDF after you've already exported it and highlighting which information is a title and what's a heading.

01:17:58:07 - 01:18:07:07
If you set that up ahead of time, inside your document as you're editing it, when it's exported, it will have all those properties in it.

01:18:07:07 - 01:18:19:07
Now, there's a second element to creating an information hierarchy, and that's looking at the names of titles, headings, and sections that need to be meaningful to the reader.

01:18:19:07 - 01:18:29:02
So as we just talked about, what a screen reader will do, is it will take all of the titles, all of the headings and create its own table of contents, and that's great. 

01:18:29:02 - 01:18:37:10
So maybe you've set up your document perfectly in the back end.  You have all of your headings and titles tagged.

01:18:37:10 - 01:18:48:05
When the screen reader grabs the document and goes to make its table of contents, if it's greeted with a section title called about, or why do we need this?  

01:18:48:05 - 01:18:57:03
Those might not say as much information about what content is going to be under those section headings as why is compliance important.

01:18:57:03 - 01:19:11:06
So when looking at these three headings and asking yourselves which of these headings is acceptable, these are three examples that I am positive I have used before, and all three of them could have the same content under them.  

01:19:11:06 - 01:19:31:04
But choosing a heading title like why is compliance important provides much more information about what is going to be referenced below that heading.

01:19:31:04 - 01:19:38:12
>> DHARA SHAH:  Hi, everyone.  This is Dhara.  And thanks, Fiona, for walking us through information hierarchy.

01:19:38:12 - 01:19:43:12
Now we're going to talk about color scheme and what to know about color.

01:19:43:14 - 01:19:56:20
So there's two elements in this section.  One is understanding color contrast, and two is thinking about how to use color to convey information.

01:19:56:20 - 01:20:05:00
Okay.  So on the screen you see an image, a flyer that you might see on the website, or even in person.  

01:20:05:00 - 01:20:13:20
Now, as you can see, the text itself kind of fades away.  The text is in the foreground and it fades away into the background.

01:20:13:20 - 01:20:23:06
And while we may not have done black text on a navy background, we probably have done black text on a dark blue background.

01:20:23:06 - 01:20:32:18
So this is in some ways illegible because you're not able to distinguish the information on the foreground from your background.  

01:20:32:18 - 01:20:42:16
 So let's look at an example when you add a little bit more information or a little bit more design elements to be able to make the information legible.

01:20:42:16 - 01:20:49:09
Here the text is white with a black outline, and it still has the same background.

01:20:49:09 - 01:21:02:10
This is called color contrast, and there are strict recommendations and guidelines around what a color contrast ratio is.  You don't have to pull out a calculator and do the math yourself.  

01:21:02:10 - 01:21:14:12
There are different tools that can help you, as we like to say, there's an app for that.  So we highly recommend the color contrast analyzer which is a desktop tool you can use.

01:21:14:12 - 01:21:25:12
And being able to make sure that your foreground and background meets the WCAG criteria of a 4.7:1.

01:21:25:12 - 01:21:42:00
Level AAA, or AAA, which is the highest level of conformance that you can achieve, it's not required, but that level is 8.1:1, so if you want to test that out and make sure you're okay, that's a good thing to take a look at.

01:21:42:00 - 01:21:49:04
But making sure you have good color contrast, make sure that your text is legible, that people can understand the information, 

01:21:49:04 - 01:22:03:03
and this is really important to do at the beginning stages of your project, when you're thinking about color schemes or, you know, what your marketing strategy might be to be able to get ahead of it.

01:22:03:03 - 01:22:09:03
Okay.  Now we'll talk about relying on color to convey meaning.

01:22:09:07 - 01:22:16:07
So people who are color-blind can miss critical information when the only way to distinguish information is color.  

01:22:16:07 - 01:22:27:23
And we've all been there, right?  We've said let's make this red and let's make this green in order to make it distinguish between two different things.

01:22:27:23 - 01:22:41:24
However, for people who are color-blind, sometimes when we remove all of the colors in the image, all they see is grayscale.  This is an example on the left in full color.  

01:22:41:24 - 01:22:54:11
This is a map that is describing the amount of bikes at different stations across Chicago.  So green is full, purple has just a few, and red is no.

01:22:54:11 - 01:23:06:21
So if you were to turn your image into grayscale you would see there's really no differentiation between the three colors.  So what exactly are we looking at?

01:23:06:21 - 01:23:18:15
There are a few different ways you could re-do this map. In addition to using color, you can use symbols or numbers to convey meaning.

01:23:18:15 - 01:23:33:21
There is an exception to this rule and that is heat maps.  WCAG hasn't necessarily offered how to make heat maps more accessible but heat maps are an exception to this rule where you can use color to convey meaning.

01:23:33:21 - 01:23:45:17
So what are some of your thoughts on how we can communicate what this map is trying to achieve without or in addition to using color?

01:23:45:17 - 01:23:59:00
Okay.  Now let's talk about images.  There is two things we want to consider for images.  There is text alternatives, and then there's also avoiding images of text.

01:23:59:00 - 01:24:14:06
So text alternatives also known as alt text, are -- it's text essentially that is visible only to assistive devices or screen readers.  So there's two types of ways that you can describe an image. 

01:24:14:06 - 01:24:26:11
 One is that alt text option, which is embedded into the photo itself, and the other is an image description, which is actually written into the caption and something that's visible to everyone.

01:24:26:11 - 01:24:38:07
In general, you want to keep descriptions short and focused.  Again we want to avoid using AI-generated text, and I'll show you why in just a second.

01:24:38:07 - 01:24:51:14
If there's text on an image, then the description should be word for word.  You want to avoid repeating information that's already found in the main text.  You want to avoid unnecessary phrases.  

01:24:51:14 - 01:25:02:21
 You want to avoid describing physical appearances, and if the image is purely decorative and doesn't convey any information, you don't need the alt text.

01:25:02:21 - 01:25:20:02
Right now our recommendation is to do both alt text and image description only because there isn't too much information available on how people are using each one separately.  Might as well go for the most amount of accommodations.

01:25:20:02 - 01:25:26:15
Let's look at some examples so that we can see how AI supports us or not in this section.

01:25:26:15 - 01:25:42:01
So here's a picture of a photo.  We described it as large pink flowers with green leaves and thorny stems that are digitally manipulated into the side profile of a statue against a black background.

01:25:42:01 - 01:25:58:00
We asked Microsoft PowerPoint for their automatic generation of what the alternate text would be and it says a close-up of a flower, so not exactly accurate to what we're seeing, right?

01:25:58:00 - 01:26:19:10
This might be something that planners would more likely put into their different reports or documents.  So we generated alt text that said this is a digital illustration of a busy suburban intersection with a roundabout, a designated sidewalk, and pedestrians walking around.

01:26:19:10 - 01:26:30:16
Microsoft PowerPoint said this is Winter Garden, Florida, after photo, rendered drawing, livable communities, and suburban streets.

01:26:30:16 - 01:26:45:07
Now, if I were a participant and this is all I could learn from a photo, it really wouldn't tell me much, would it?  So really important for us to be specific and detailed on our alternative text.

01:26:45:07 - 01:26:50:15
We're going to look at another example to talk about how context is important.  

01:26:50:15 - 01:27:00:04
So especially for planners if we're communicating out with the public and we want to get information on something, context is so important, right?  

01:27:00:04 - 01:27:17:09
In that last photo, we could have talked about the roundabout, the bike lanes, the sidewalks. So what we decide to describe within our alt text or in our image description is what people would hold on to.

01:27:17:09 - 01:27:38:02
So for example, this photo the context is that this is in a report of installation of new pedestrian infrastructure.  So the alt text could be a residential street with curb bump out narrowing the street as it approaches the sidewalk.

01:27:38:02 - 01:28:00:16
Okay.  Same photo, different context.  This photo is referring to a report on storm water infrastructure in the city.  So this text alternative would be residential street with a poured concrete curb bump out, separated from the curb, six inches to allow for storm water drainage.

01:28:00:16 - 01:28:11:12
Now if we're asking for feedback on something that is related to street safety or storm water infrastructure, that context is important.  Right?  

01:28:11:12 - 01:28:23:08
So important to keep things short, succinct and also draw the user's or the viewers attention to what they're wanting to pick up.

01:28:23:08 - 01:28:43:04
Okay. Last thing on this is to avoid images of text.  So this is a screen shot from our toolkit that we're using as an example in our presentation.  This doesn’t look too bad, t's a little blurry, but somewhat legible, right?

01:28:43:04 - 01:28:54:06
However, people who have limited vision or challenges with vision should be able to zoom up to 200% and be able to fully read the document.

01:28:54:06 - 01:29:18:15
So, if we were to Zoom 200% of that screen shot, it's no longer legible, right?  So it's really important for us to recreate images rather than just taking screen shots of text when possible so that we can zoom in all the way and make sure that the text is legible.

01:29:18:15 - 01:29:31:09
Okay.  I'm going to pass it over to Lizbeth.

01:29:31:09 - 01:29:33:11
>> LIZBETH CARRAZCO: This is Lizbeth. Thanks Dhara.

01:29:33:11 - 01:29:44:06
So we’ve learned how to set up our images and our color to ensure that they are WCAG level, and now  we have to make sure our content is following.

01:29:44:06 - 01:29:54:22
So when you're creating content and writing, you want to make sure that you're replacing phrases and words that are super technical with more plain language. 

01:29:54:22 - 01:30:06:07
 It's hard to avoid.  We do work with a lot of engineers and architects, so if you do have to use those complex terms it's important to define them on the page, rather than in the glossary.

01:30:06:07 - 01:30:19:14
So having the content right available as you are using the words is a great way to make sure that everyone is able to follow along and really know what you are saying in the context.  As opposed to having to flip to a glossary and come back.

01:30:19:14 - 01:30:42:13
Another tip is using fewer words and making sure that what you're saying is able to be said concisely without using large jargon terms.

01:30:42:13 - 01:30:44:13
>> DHARA SHAH:  Thanks, Lizbeth.

01:30:44:13 - 01:30:49:13
Okay.  Now we're going to talk about hyperlinks.  This is Dhara.

01:30:49:13 - 01:30:58:09
So how many times do we write in an email or a document, learn more here, or click here? 

01:30:58:09 - 01:31:08:08
So as we learned earlier, the screen reader is essentially creating a table of contents for the information that you're viewing.

01:31:08:08 - 01:31:20:22
If we write our links as saying learn more here or click here, the reader doesn't actually understand or would know what this hyperlink is leading to.

01:31:20:22 - 01:31:30:16
So the recommendation is to make sure to write a descriptive hyperlink so that the person who is using a screen reader can easily navigate to the links.

01:31:30:16 - 01:31:44:24
I know for myself, if I'm navigating a local government website, I'm just going to go straight to look at the link I need.  I might not read any text around it, so think about it that way.  It's a common practice.  

01:31:44:24 - 01:31:58:24
 So if someone wanted to go to a website and look at a report, you would say to learn more, view the existing conditions report, the hyperlink is descriptive and it takes you exactly where you need to go.

01:31:58:24 - 01:32:15:09
All right, and then for those of you creating audio and visual types of media, we'll go into the next section.

01:32:15:09 - 01:32:27:06
Great.  Okay. So in general, you want to make sure that your audio and visual files longer than three seconds must have the ability to pause or stop.  

01:32:27:06 - 01:32:43:12
This is already a common feature on some of the common platforms, like YouTube and Instagram, but it's really helpful to double-check this feature because it can really significantly affect a viewer's ability to understand information on a page.

01:32:43:12 - 01:32:56:10
For example, if you have ever had an ad pop up on a website that you're trying to read an article on and it just doesn't go away, that's kind of what these videos are like if you're not able to pause them.

01:32:56:10 - 01:33:06:21
So the viewer would not be able to look at anything else on the page.  It can be quite frustrating, so its something to double-check.

01:33:06:21 - 01:33:27:13
For any videos with sound, you want to make sure you provide captions.  This includes speech, sound effects or music.  So earlier on we looked at a video that had -- that said elevator music when Bob was in the elevator.  That would be a type of caption you would want to include.

01:33:27:13 - 01:33:44:24
You would also want to include a transcript alongside the video when it's embedded into a website.  This is common.  We'll see this on different news sources.  Now they do video along with the transcript as well.

01:33:44:24 - 01:33:54:04
If you have video without sound, you want to provide audio descriptions of what's occurring.  It's like alternative text but out loud.

01:33:54:04 - 01:34:17:01
So for example what this would look like, if there's someone who is walking down the street, and it's just a video of them walking down the street, maybe using a curb cut, the caption would say, "a person walking down the street."  And that's it.  So you still describe what's happening even if there's no conversation.

01:34:17:01 - 01:34:28:01
And if you are just having audio, kind of like a podcast, you would provide a transcript.

01:34:28:01 - 01:34:47:18
And then finally you want to avoid having more than three flashes per second in a video, and you want to avoid any quick movements.  Basically don't create flashy videos with lots of lighting changes.

01:34:47:18 - 01:34:58:16
All right.  We are nearing the end of our training.  And I want to make sure that we're able to share some additional resources with you all.

01:34:58:16 - 01:35:16:18
So part of this training, we also have a toolkit that is on the CMAP website.  It goes through even more detail about what the requirements are, what best practices are.  It even breaks down what's required by the law versus what's best practice.

01:35:16:18 - 01:35:42:17
There's a lot of resources available on the CMAP website as well.  And we understand that some of these accessibility requirements can be difficult to navigate on your own, so we also included some content, if you wanted to contract out what that would look like and what information to include in your RFP.

01:35:42:17 - 01:36:02:08
And that brings us to the end of our training.  We wanted to thank you so much, and thank you to our CART captioners and our ASL interpreters for helping make our training today accessible.