Hard of hearing or Deaf attendees

Again, working with attendees who are hard of hearing will go best with a flexible coach. Speak to your coaches about using text-based communication rather than voice chat during the tutorial for attendees who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Remind coaches to look at their camera when speaking to attendees, as there may be people who read lips. Also, find out if any of your attendees will be working with interpreters; you will want to provide them with the same access to your online resources and conferencing software!

Ask your presenters to speak slowly and clearly (sometimes people speak more quickly when they get nervous!), and remind them to either provide a digital handout for their presentation with notes or script. Some conferencing software will have the ability to provide live captions when people are speaking to help attendees who are Deaf or hard of hearing follow the conversation without having to rely on audio alone.

Remember that being hard of hearing doesn't always mean total hearing loss. People who are Deaf or hard of hearing, find it hard to concentrate in loud rooms. Ask attendees to mute their microphones when not speaking so background noise is reduced. You can ask your coaches to control group discussions by queueing in attendees who want to speak, to reduce the risk of people accidentally talking over each other. People who are Deaf or hard of hearing, or for whom English (or whatever language your workshop is in) is not their first language can all benefit from these tips.