Webinars are a popular way for businesses to engage with their customers. But it can be hard to know where to start. You may have the most captivating content in the world, but if no one has signed up, or can’t access your content, then you’re not going to have much success. We’ve run lots of inclusive webinars for our clients, so we thought we’d share our top 10 tips for creating an inclusive webinar that will keep all of your audience engaged and coming back for more!
Our 10 top tips for inclusion
- Choose an inclusive platform
Not all webinar platforms are built using inclusive technology that meets the WCAG guidelines. Make sure you choose a platform that supports live captions and has been tested for accessibility – and when the time comes, remember to ask your audience what their accessibility requirements are. - Map out your content
Have at least 4 content topics you want to cover and then use social media or customer surveys to fine-tune your webinar programme to your audience’s wants and needs. By asking your audience what they’d like to have covered you will drive up engagement. - Panel diversity
Spend some time researching speakers or presenters from a diverse range of backgrounds. If you’re building a panel discussion, or sharing case studies, make sure you’re representing different lived experiences and cultures. A variety of opinions, experiences and voices will create a better and more engaging event. - Get a plan
Having a plan with all the details relating to your webinar is vital. Speakers, content and timings can change (a lot) so save your plan on a shared platform so everyone has access to it. It’s a good idea to book captions and or British Sign Language interpretation in advance as these resources get booked up quickly. - Grab people’s attention
An action orientated title like ‘How to….’ Or ‘The top ten ways to…’ is likely to engage your audience and give them the prospect of learning something new or solving one of their problems. Also, shorter, punchier titles are easier for everyone to understand and more inclusive. - Promote, promote promote!
Start your promotion around 4 weeks out and keep it going. Direct people straight to your registration page. Sign-ups can come through minutes before the session starts, so it’s never too late! Don’t forget to include alt-text on your digital images and check that your landing page is accessible. - Build your content
Interactivity is key! Webinars are ultimately about engagement so make sure you build interaction into the audience experience through methods such as Q&A’s or polls. Consider how your audience can participate in conversation so no-one gets frustrated or feels excluded – another good idea is to upload your slide deck in advance for people to access. - Practise makes perfect
Don’t worry too much about scripts or being word perfect, just focus on a rough outline that will help you or your presenters to feel confident in delivering the webinar. It’s also worth timing yourself to see how things will run on the day and that there is enough time for audience questions. - Don’t go it alone
It really helps to have at least one person other than the presenter managing the slides, polls, chat box and Q&A and helping your delegates with any access issues. Presenting is stressful enough…so get a good team in place! - Finish the job
After the webinar, send everyone that registered a thank you and the recording, asking them for feedback and ideas for future sessions. It’s also a good idea to upload the recording to your website with captions embedded and a transcript. Download the audience interactions and evaluate the data. Rinse and repeat!If you want help with the design and delivery of your next webinar, book a free consultation with us today.
Including A Neurodiverse Audience
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