How to Craft an Inclusive Presentation
- Nicholas Waggoner
- Jun 21, 2017
- 3 min read
Have you ever had to give a speech or a presentation before? I have, and if you are anything like me, you have probably spent the night before practicing and re-educating yourself on the topic. I find myself reiterating talking points in the mirror and (usually) scouring through my power point presentation. Although I usually feel extremely prepared on presentation day, I recently realized how much my speeches were co-dependent on my power point slides. Typically, I would think that this symbiotic relationship is not necessarily negative (considering the powerful impact a visual aid can have on a talking point) however recently I have been questioning this logic.
I considered what would occur if even one of a myriad of unforeseen technological mishaps presented itself and my slides were unavailable to my audience. Would my presentation become rendered ineffective? What if it didn’t take a mishap for my slides to not connect with my audience? What if someone could not hear or see my slides due to a disability? That last question was the catalyst that set me in motion. It became my goal to find a way to convey what was in my slides to those individuals with hearing and sight impairments. How can I effectively transfer such information without drastically impacting how my slides look or interact with the rest of my audience?
My initial thought was to go through my slides and make sure any audio and video content had captions. Additionally, I should create a slide or Word document which had those captions so I could distribute them in larger venues or those venues which have smaller projector screens. However, that only solved half of the problem. I still needed to address how to translate my visual information to those with sight impairments. I knew immediately that this problem would be a little trickier to fix.
My search for a solution originally started with incorporating new hardware into my presentation. However, it became readily obvious that another piece of physical technology was not the solution. I quickly concluded that almost everyone has, or knows someone who has a smartphone and that should be all the hardware someone should need. That is when I began research into software and apps that were available across multiple operating systems. Luckily, I found not only what I was looking for, but something that opened so many avenues of possibilities to those individuals with sight impairments.
The KNFB Reader is available on iOS, Android, and Windows. It works by allowing a user to take a photo of something they would like read aloud. The software will then identify objects and text within the picture and then dictate the results to the user. The app can handle virtually any type of printed text including mail, receipts, projected text (like power point slides) fliers, PDF documents, and so much more. The software features high-quality text to speech while accurately dictating the information in the photograph.
The program supports a large variety of different languages and was truly engineered with the visually impaired in mind. It is a great investment for those who are looking for a reliable way to dictate highly visual information. Additionally, it can be a great resource for institutions of all sizes due to its cost-effective nature, high accuracy, and ease of use. The product retails at $99 on the App store. On Android, there is a free demo that comes with 25 pictures so you can see if the product is right for you.
The next time that you plan to give a presentation, take extra care to consider how your audience will interact with all the elements that you will be presenting. Inclusivity can be as easy as turning the captions on during a video or audio segment. A simple click of a button can often create a more enriched environment for your participants and that couldn’t be more true with than with the KNFB reader. A simple action can have a drastic impact because every presentation is a branding opportunity and who doesn’t want their brand to be totally and completely inclusive?
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