By Kris Schulze, Experience IT Manager, and Jennie Delisi, Accessibility Analyst

Ever want the inside scoop on Microsoft Teams accessibility? On October 12, 2022 Microsoft gave a training for State of Minnesota employees. They had the opportunity to learn the latest of what is available in the version of Teams they use – part of the Government Community Cloud (GCC). We collected the questions they asked, the answers we got, and we are sharing them with you! 

We shared the first part of the answers in the November edition.  And, now we bring you even more Teams accessibility information!

Many thanks to the subject matter experts that contributed to these responses, including:

• Macauley Kloetzly, Microsoft.
• Jay Wyant, Chief Information Accessibility Officer.

Scheduling inclusive remote meetings

“Please share boilerplate language we can use to help attendees request and set-up appropriate accommodations.”

"If you are a person with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact [Name] at [email address] or [phone number]." 

• Include a date by which you need a response. 
• Include information about accommodations already provided. Example: if you will have CART for the meeting, let everyone know. 

The facilitator’s role for accessible meetings

“How can the facilitator maximize use of available options for those who are hard of hearing or deaf? For people with other types of disabilities?”

• Pause when asking if anyone has questions. Let there be air silence for at least 15 seconds before moving on. This benefits multiple people, including people who are deaf, hard of hearing, use a communication device, or have some type of cognitive disability.
• If you call on someone using the raise hand option, there may be a delay before they speak. Pause and give them time to respond. The delay could be because:
  • They use a different access method and need time to get to the unmute button.
  • They have a sign language interpreter who voices for them. They are communicating to the interpreter what they would like spoken aloud.
  • They are reading the captions which have a slight delay. They want to finish reading what was last said before they begin to speak.
• When you display an on-screen item such as a whiteboard, spreadsheet, etc., pause for at least five seconds before discussing it. Give an introductory phrase to let everyone know you are reviewing the item. You can say, "Would anyone like me to make this larger on the screen? Just a quick reminder that you can each select Ctrl + the scroll wheel to zoom in on shared content.    Let's pause for a few seconds to let everyone take a look."  
• Always encourage speakers to say their names before speaking. Even when Teams displays the person’s name and highlights their image while they are speaking, it helps:
• People learn how to pronounce your name.
• People learn to associate your name with your voice.

Live Captions and CART

“What are the options for live captions and Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) in Teams meetings?”

As an attendee, you may choose to turn on the auto-generated captions for yourself. It’s important to remember that live auto-generated captions will not be as accurate as CART captions, and are not a replacement for accommodation requests for CART captions.

• To turn on live auto-captions in a meeting, select More Options… from the meeting control bar. Choose Turn on live captions.

As the meeting planner, it is important to consider the choices you make that can impact accessibility. If you will provide CART captions for your meeting, you have options to: 

• Provide them in a separate Streamtext browser window.
• Set up CART captions within the Teams meeting.  

If you provide both options, attendees can choose whether to view the live captions or the CART captions within the caption field in the Teams meeting. Whether you choose one of the above, or both, you must communicate your specific request when coordinating with your caption provider.

Some users may prefer to view CART captions in a separate browser window (like Streamtext). This enables users to pay attention to what’s on the screen and read the captions, as well as adjust text size, font, and color. On-screen captions within Teams appear two lines at a time and if you miss the text, it's gone. If you offer CART, plan to make it available both within Teams and via a separate link.   

You may want to review Microsoft’s guidance: Set up CART captions in a Microsoft Teams meeting.

ASL Interpreter

“How  can I keep the ASL interpreter’s video in the same window as the meeting?”

Your meeting may provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting. If so, the attendee can Pin the ASL interpreter video and Fit to frame so that videos aren't cropped. To select these options, right-click (Shift + F10) on the More options ellipses… in the video feed next to person’s name that you would like to pin.

We’re looking forward to Microsoft’s new Sign Language View in Teams Meetings that will roll out to the Government Community Cloud (GCC) in December 2022. This new feature will let viewers keep the ASL interpreter prioritized on center stage in consistent locations throughout every meeting. Learn more about this new feature in this Microsoft Community Hub post: Introducing Sign Language View for Teams Meetings. 

Collaborative Features Like Whiteboard 

“Using whiteboards in meetings seems to be a struggle for people who use keyboard shortcuts, navigate with a screen reader, and see colors differently (some colors appear as grayscale tones). Do you have any tips?”

Here are some resources you might find helpful:

Microsoft offers tips in their article Tips to make whiteboards more accessible. Before your meeting, you can provide attendees with information on how to use the Whiteboard app with a screen reader.   

Here are some other considerations:

• Some team members may need extra time to complete this task. Remember that some team members are listening to their software while trying to review items on the whiteboard and add their own. 
• Completing whiteboard tasks may be more difficult for some people with cognitive disabilities or people that use alternative access methods. Larger groups can make it even more difficult for people to ask for more time, and to read and contribute. Consider providing an option to complete parts of the whiteboard ahead of the session. This may help people that need more time or don't do well when lots of things are shifting on the board. 
• When discussing what is on the whiteboard, and moving or grouping items, describe them. This helps many people follow what you are doing. 
• It may be difficult for some people if others are talking while they contribute to the whiteboard. If participants are using captions or a sign language interpreter, this requires them to focus on either the whiteboard or the communication happening through speech.  
• It is difficult for some people to listen, think about what they will contribute, and add to the whiteboard. Consider your goals for the time. Designate times for people to listen versus think and contribute. This helps everyone, including people that use screen readers, or have cognitive disabilities.

Chat During a Meeting and Accessibility

Note: Microsoft releases new features and functions all the time.  This content is current as of December 2022.

“Can you review how to mute meeting chat notifications?”

One quick way to mute chat notifications for yourself is to change your Teams status to Do not disturb. This will mute all notifications, except those from the meeting you are currently in. Be sure to change your status back after the meeting. Here’s how (two ways):

• Open the Teams search box (Ctrl + E) at the top of the Teams app and type /DND. 
• Change your status in Teams - Microsoft Support.

Want to stop chat notifications for one specific meeting? Example: a meeting you are not attending? 

• Navigate to Chat on left navigation of Teams. 
• Select the ellipses next to the chat you want to mute. Choose Mute to stop chat notifications. 

“Can you talk a little more about the problem (for people using screen readers) with attendees chatting in the chat during a presentation?”

Have you ever tried to listen to a presentation while someone is talking to you? Some people use screen readers or other text-to-speech tools. These assistive technologies read text aloud to them. Sometimes the assistive technology reads the messages automatically. In these moments when information is being automatically read, the person is now listening to: 

• The meeting audio.
• Their assistive technology.
• They may also be thinking about quieting their assistive technology for the moment using a keyboard command. 

This can take their attention away from the meeting.

There are some new features available for screen readers to improve their experience, but each person will have a different level of comfort using these features for a variety of reasons.

This issue may not impact only people using text to speech tools. Some people who have challenges with focus and attention, like attention deficit disorder or who have had a concussion, may also find the stream of chat messages distracting.

“Meeting chats are distracting when I’m using the screen reader. If I mute chat notifications will this help? Or, if I use the Don’t show chat bubbles option and leave the chat panel closed?”

“Can I have my meeting participants use chat during a meeting? Will this be accessible?”

The answer is complicated. If you are the host of a meeting, it is important to know how your choice to use meeting chat can impact your attendees. 

As the attendee, you should try the solutions, then choose what works best for you. Here are some things to consider:

• If you choose “Don’t show chat bubbles” and leave the chat panel closed during the meeting, you will not have any visual   distractions. However, there is no notification (like a state change, or change to the chat icon) that tells you there are new messages. You get either 100% of the notifications, or none. 
  • You must remember to check the chat panel every once in a while for messages. For some meeting participants, this can be hard to remember.
  • When you open the chat panel to hear the “Last read” notification where the new messages start, you must navigate backward through the new messages. 
  • You must use the virtual PC cursor setting to navigate the chats, something that may be less common for some screen reader users. 
  • Once you arrive at the “last read” notification, this will not update until a new message arrives. If no new message has arrived, you must listen to the existing messages again, and remember that you have already heard them, to determine these are already read messages.

Meeting hosts may choose to use one or more strategies such as these to help make chat use easier for everyone:

• Have a one person dedicated to reading chats to the group during specific times in the meeting agenda. This helps people focus on the meeting content. It is especially helpful during hybrid meetings for several reasons: . 
  • It provides clear times people can use the chat. 
  • It reads the chat aloud for those who prefer to keep chat silenced visually or auditorily.
  • It helps ensure everyone has a chance to be heard.
• Have times in the agenda dedicated to participants reviewing chat for themselves. At this time, there can be no audio occurring so people can focus on reading chat.

“How do I mute chat notifications, and use the ‘Don’t show chat bubbles’ option?” 

Using these two options together will stop both the chat notifications within the meeting for people using screen readers, and the chat bubble notifications. Each person must set these options for themselves. Here’s how: 

• Select the More options ellipses next to the meeting chat in the left navigation of the main Teams Chat window (not within the meeting itself). 
• Choose Mute to stop any chat notifications coming in. This stops the screen reader from announcing chat. The chat bubbles still appear. 
• To turn off chat bubbles, go to the More actions ellipses in the Teams meeting window. Select the option for Don't show chat bubbles near the bottom of the list.