Accessibility in Our Programs
This page outlines information on accessibility for our online media spokesperson trainings and the spokesperson network.
This page lists the baseline arrangements that we will have in place for every training. It also covers information on the Spokesperson Network.
If you have different access needs, or need other measures put in place in order to full participate in our trainings or Spokesperson Network, please let us know when applying for the training and we will be in contact directly.
Different arrangements may apply for standalone trainings, trainings hosted by external organisations or trainings that run in person. In all cases, we will work to make our training accessible to all participants to the best of our ability.
If you have any questions relating to accessibility info, please reach out to us directly.
How we ask about access needs:
When you submit an expression of interest for media spokesperson training, there is a question asking “Anything else to share? Including any needs or requests around accessibility for the online training.)”
When we accept you for a place in a training, we will double check if you have any additional access needs that we are not yet aware of. We will then confirm any arrangements that we will have in place with you e.g. what date will we send slides ahead of time, what type of captioning is needed, etc.
If you have any questions ahead of time, or would like to speak with us about access outside of these channels, the team member responsible for access and inclusion at the trainings is Jess Herne from the Australian Progress team. You can reach Jess at jess@australianprogress.org.au. Jess is available to speak over email, phone, text or other preferred method of communication.
What we typically have in place:
The Economic Media Centre’s media spokeperson training is run online over Zoom so that you can participate remotely, from anywhere in Australia.
We provide the full training agenda in advance.
The training is split over two half days (typically running from 10am - 2pm each day). We have breaks every 45-55 minutes for the whole group.
Auto-captioning in Zoom is enabled by default. We can organise live captioning with sufficient notice.
We can provide access to the slides and worksheets ahead of time in the format that is most accessible for you. As mentioned below, we typically use Google Slides and Google Docs, but can provide alternate formats e.g. Microsoft Powerpoint, Word, PDF.
All images in the presenters’ slide deck have alt-text. The facilitators will also describe any visuals verbally to participants at the point they are used in the slides/presentation.
We make sure our content is accessible to screenreaders and can make additional changes based on what program you are using e.g. we can adjust any content typically formatted in tables to display in dot points instead, if you use a screen reader that is incompatible with tables in slides or documents.
We allow participants to turn off their cameras / to go off screen during 'teaching from the front content' and encourage you to do so if it is helpful for your wellbeing during the training.
We build group agreement, established at the start of the training, that includes saying our name before speaking, norms around camera on/off, and other group norms depending on the needs of the cohort.
We build in flexibility in the program, as we go based on the needs of the cohort.
ONLINE PLATFORMS FOR TRAININGS
The media spokesperson trainings are run online over Zoom. We typically use Google Docs, Google Slides, and Formassembly when running these trainings.
Zoom: Zoom is a video conferencing platform. We will be using Zoom for breakout sessions that require high levels of interactivity, including breaking participants out into smaller discussion groups.
Zoom is compliant, with exceptions, with the following standards:
WCAG 2.1 AA Standards
Revised Section 508 Standards
EN 301 549 Accessibility requirements
Full accessibility documentation for Zoom can be found here; including list of keyboard shortcuts here.
Google Docs: The training involves a number of worksheets typically shared via Google Docs, so that participants can download the worksheet or make their own copies and edit directly in Google Docs. We also share the participant welcome pack via Google Docs. We are able to provide worksheets and the welcome pack in alternate formats, e.g. PDF, Word Document.
Google Slides: The training team will use Google Slides for a presentation throughout the training. This slide deck is shared using Zoom Screenshare, but can also be shared directly to participants ahead of time via Google Slides, as a Microsoft Powerpoint or in another format as needed.
FormAssembly: We use FormAssembly for the training expression of interest form, participant agreement and feedback survey. If you are unable to access FormAssembly, you can also reach us directly to express interest in the training via this email.
SPOKESPERSON NETWORK
In addition to the above, we also run a closed Slack channel for the Media Spokesperson Network as part of the Australian Progress Network Slack. Accessibility information for Slack can be found here; including a list of keyboard shortcuts here.
We also share major updates to the spokesperson network via email, so if you are unable to join Slack, you will still be able to receive information as part of the Spokesperson Network.