COVID-19: What You Can Do Before a Remote Meeting

NAD August 19, 2020 in ASL 18 Subscribers Subscribe

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What should you do before joining a remote meeting? Check out our guideline for accessible remote work meetings for deaf and hard of hearing employees: Link

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[TRANSCRIPT: As a remote employee who works from home, meetings look different. If you are not able to understand your remote work meetings, talk to your boss or the meeting host about what you need. They should know what you need to be able to share your thoughts and to understand. If you are deaf and have a mobility disability, perhaps you need a CDI and an ASL interpreter. If you are DeafBlind, perhaps you need large size captioning, a screenreader, or a Communication Facilitator (CF) to provide tactile interpreting. Keep in mind, your boss should make sure the CF has personal protective equipment (PPE) to use while at your home. There are many video platforms for remote work meetings. You should pick the platform that best fits your needs. Some platforms provide better access than others for deaf and hard of hearing people. You should compare which platforms will work better for you. We developed a grid that shows which accessibility features each platform has or does not have. The grid is available online and you can share this grid with your boss or the meeting host. We also developed recommendations for employers on how to host a video meeting if they have deaf and hard of hearing employees. There are different accessibility features -- it is important to make sure that the type of access your boss provides best fits your needs. Before the meeting, tell your boss or the meeting host which accessibility features you need that best fits you. Next, I will expand more on ASL access, video relay services, captioning, and resources available. If you need ASL access, the ASL interpreters should be on the video platform with everyone. Tell your boss to hire your preferred ASL interpreters or to contract with your preferred interpreting agency. If your preferred interpreters are not available, your boss should ask for a list of available interpreters. Your boss is responsible to pay for the interpreters. Before the meeting starts, discuss with the interpreters any important information they should know, such as specific signs for terms used and name signs of the people involved in the meeting. This information will help interpreters provide a smooth interpreting experience. Next, Video Relay Services (VRS) should not be used for any video meetings. Using VRS would mean the interpreter will not be in the video platform with everyone -- instead, they will be on a separate screen. This means VRS interpreters will not see what is happening. VRS interpreters may not be able to stay on for the entire meeting and may switch with another VRS interpreter, which means interpreters are not prepared for your meeting and interrupt your ability to participate in the meeting. VRS interpreters are randomly assigned and may not be qualified for the meeting. Using VRS may not provide a smooth meeting experience for you. Next, if you need captioning, you would use Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioning services. Similar to our recommendations for hiring interpreters, you can suggest your preferred captioners or captioning company with your boss. If your preferred captioners are not available, your boss should ask for a list of available captioners. Your boss should hire a professional CART company or captioner to join the meeting. Before the meeting, you should share with your captioner what topics will be discussed, names to expect, for the captioner to be better prepared for your meeting. With information, your captioner is able to provide you a smooth meeting experience with captions. If you work for the Federal Government, you may be able to get captioning for video meetings through Relay Conference Captioning (RCC) -- however, only some federal agencies provide this service. Check with your boss to see if your agency provides RCC. If you work for a private company, need captioning for your video meeting, and live in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, Montana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming -- you can use RCC. You can find more information on RCC in the recommendations for employers. Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Services (IP-CTS) should not be used for video meetings. Using IP-CTS means the captioner will not be in the video platform with everyone, they will be on a separate screen. This means IP-CTS captioners will not see what is happening. Next, we have a list of some CART, VRS, and IP-CTS providers in Appendix A which you can find online. We do not endorse these providers. We are sharing the list as a resource to help you find what you need. You can share the list of resources with your boss.]