Present as if you were on a radio show

For those of us without disabilities, it’s very hard to imagine what it’s like to live with a constant impairment. Imagine getting up in the middle of the night in pitch darkness and trying to find your way around your bedroom. Even though you know where everything is and you’re in a familiar surroundings, it’s still a challenge to find your way out without bumping into or stepping on something.

Now, imagine that’s how you lived your entire life. One could easily feel that even the smallest tasks would seem insurmountable, but if you ever speak to people who are, you’ll soon realize it really isn’t as bad as it might seem, as long as your environment is conducive to your success.

Those who were born blind or became blind through circumstances have learned to adapt, so they can still thrive in their everyday life. They’ve learned to control their environment, so they can be as successful as they need to be. But when they’re sitting in your audience, they’re stepping in your environment. They’re foregoing their control for the promise of something spectacular coming out of the ideas you’re about to share from the platform.

Are you living up to that promise?

As a professional communicator, it’s your responsibility to gear your presentation to include audio cues and descriptions. If you don’t, you are literally just leaving them in the dark. From the minute you step out onto the stage or show up on camera, you must take into consideration how people with vision issues will receive your information. If you’re starting with a joke that requires sight, you’re already guiding them toward the exit to Fadeout Town… and you’re barely minutes into your presentation. Not a great way to start.

All of those beautifully crafted slides you’ve painstakingly prepared are useless to anyone who can’t see them. So, you must include auditory narratives throughout your entire presentation to ensure that your message is reaching those who live with visual disabilities. There are varying degrees of blindness and sight loss, but if you formulate your material with what may seem to some as an extreme scenario in mind, you stand a much better chance of reaching the widest percentage of people who chose to spend their time (and probably money) to listen to your message.

The responsibility for inclusion is ours alone

It should always be the responsibility of the speaker to craft their subject matter in a way that won’t leave any of the attendees feeling like they’ve not been considered or cared for. We must always strive to include everyone, no matter what their disability might be. And as we’ve previously discussed, you never know what issues people are dealing with, because the vast majority of disabilities are simply not visible to the naked eye…

According to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), an estimated 1.5 million Canadians identify as having significant levels of sight loss, and another 5.5 million Canadians have eye diseases that could ultimately lead to sight loss.

These numbers alone should inspire you to take action in creating more accommodating presentations that don’t exclude those who live on the extremes of the human experience.

But it doesn’t have to be just about severe visual disabilities. For many people with less severe vision loss, such as wearing high prescription glasses, or simply being older, presenting on a larger screen and using larger fonts in printed materials will also prove extremely helpful and will be greatly appreciated.

For those whose needs and expectations require more consideration on our part, it certainly pays to take the time to think about how you can better and more meaningfully engage with them.

A sure-fire way of ensuring that people with visual impairments are included in all of your materials is to present them as if you were speaking on a radio show or podcast. Take the time to visually describe what you are alluding to, referring to, or pointing to.

Sure, it takes a bit more planning on your part, and it might require rethinking your approach to content a little, but will make a world of difference to anyone with sight deficiencies, which in turn, will allow these same individuals in your audience to truly connect with you and your message.

Remember, the more descriptive and conversational you are in your presentation, the more you’re acknowledging visually challenged members in the audience. That goes a long way to increasing the reach of your message to them, but it’s just as beneficial to anyone who is more of an auditory learner, or anyone who has their attention divided between you, the materials you’re sharing, and their own phone or tablet!