Today I have listened in on #Clubhouse rooms with participants who
* have speech impediments after traumatic brain injury (TBI)
* are deaf / hard-of-hearing
* are blind or have visual impairments
Here is what I have learned:
Rooms are much more inclusive when people who speak always start by saying “This is NAME” and when they are done speaking clearly say “I am done speaking.”
Here is why:
A) Some people use closed caption systems that transcribe speech to text. Without expressed clarity on who is speaking there is just one stream of text without context, because these systems rarely differentiate voices.
B) People with speech impairments do not have to worry that people are politely waiting on them to finish when they are in fact done. They also aren’t interrupted before they are done. There is less confusion and people feel more safe when chiming in.
C) Generally, this benefits everyone as i) people do not talk over each other or interrupt each other unnecessarily and ii) it’s easier to follow along if you have your phone set aside and are not watching the “stage” or iii) when two people’s voices are very similar.
Tip: This habit can improve all meetings.
That is all.
#accessibility #inclusion