[nfbcs] accessible webinars

[Elizabeth Campbell]

Hello everyone,

 

I have a quick question about webinars.

My employer is requiring us to take several online training courses in order
to earn certificates showing that we are proficient in areas such as social
media and writing.

The webinars are presented in Adobe Flash, and I'm finding that the
information and controls aren't as accessible as I thought.

I am completing the courses at home using my Windows 8 laptop and JAWS 14.

Note, that these are not live webinars, but replays of materials from
previous lectures.

I'm curious to know how others on the list have taken webinars and did you
have access issues?

Some of the controls in Flash such as volume and rewind don't seem to be
accessible. About the only thing that I can do is pause and play the
lecture.

Also, the lecturers often refer to PowerPoint slides that are shown on the
screen. My sighted colleagues can look at the screen and take notes on the
materials from the slide presentations which is something I can't do. After
each webinar, we are required to take timed exams, and some of the questions
are taken from the information presented on the PowerPoint slides. One
question asked which symbol is used at the beginning of a tweet to send it
out to a broader audience? I simply had to guess, as there was no way for me
to know that.

I sent an email to my employer pointing out my concerns ad that I felt that
I wasn't getting an equal playing field so to speak. I suggested that the
training company include a link where one can download the PowerPoint
presentation for reviews, as I have the Office 13 suite.

If anyone has suggestions, I would truly appreciate hearing from you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Liz Campbell