Putting on a Hybrid Event?

Significant effort goes into producing a successful hybrid event. Even the most seasoned event organizer may overlook certain aspects. However, one consideration that must be top of mind is ensuring that everyone can participate with equity.   

As an accessibility partner for businesses around the world, Verbit’s team knows what goes into making a hybrid event inclusive. While supporting our customers’ events, or planning our own internal events, we’ve come across many hiccups. Now, we’d like to share some ways to prevent mishaps and provide effective communication for all audience members. Here’s a helpful guide to reference when you’re planning your next hybrid event.   

Select a Venue that Supports Accessibility

When planning a hybrid event, you need to consider ways to make the physical location accessible for people with disabilities. For instance, people with mobility related disabilities may need access ramps or spaces that allow wheelchairs to pass through. If it’s possible, visit the site and look for accessibility features. If visiting isn’t an option, ask the venue contact if these features are available:  

• Ramps or wide aisles for individuals with mobility challenges  
• Quality acoustics that won’t negatively impact the experiences for people who are hard of hearing  
• The ability to bring service animals  
• Electrical outlets that allow people using assistive technology or software like screen readers to plug in their computers or connect to the Internet  
• Strong connectivity that supports the streaming portion of the event, and allows for the use of assistive mobile devices, such as those that display real time captions  

Checking all these features at the time of booking will help make things run smoother on the day of the event. Careful planning is a great way to avoid stress and minimize glitches.  

Why are captions so important?

Captions are critical for audience members who are Deaf or hard of hearing. However, people often underestimate how useful they are for others. Lorene Eberhardt, Director of Operations at Rose Li & Associates, often plans events, and understands the value of live captions. 

Prepare Ahead by Scheduling Live Captioning

Captions are one of the most common accessibility accommodations. They allow people who are Deaf and hard of hearing to participate and improve engagement for everyone. For hybrid events, you’ll likely need to prepare live in-person captions and captions that stream for viewers at home.  

Assign a dedicated person onsite to handle captioning  

Someone should be assigned the responsibility of ensuring the captioner is connected. That individual should arrive early to prepare and test the equipment. It’s important that this person is familiar with the captioning process and the streaming platform you’re using. For instance, the person should know how to set up Zoom, if that’s what your platform of choice, and be able to connect to the captioner  

Bring the right equipment  

If you’re using an off-site captioner, you must have the right equipment and connection to get them real time audio. Make sure you have everything you need to display those captions on a screen at the venue as well as on your streaming platform. Finding a captioning provider that integrates with your chosen platform, like Zoom or Webex, will make this process easier.   

Get scripts from presenters to prepare captioners  

Captioners work fast and in real time for live events. As a result, they don’t have the ability to look up terms in the moment. Sending a script with proper names and niche terminology can avoid glitches and improve their accuracy on the day of the event. 

Check connections (and have a backup plan)  

Test out the Wi-Fi connection to make sure you can stream the event and connect to the captioner. Consider how you’ll handle potential connectivity issues. For instance, do you have a hot spot you can use in a pinch? Or can someone use their phone to connect if your connection isn’t working? Also, learn which networks work best for mobile devices in case your audience needs to use theirs to access captions.  

Use quality microphones and test them before the event  

If the presenters are using hand-held microphones, make sure they connect to the equipment and send quality audio to the captioner and virtual participants. Also, check the sound levels.  

“You might need to try to balance between not having the microphones turned up too high and then also not having the speakers turned up too high to avoid feedback. But that, in turn, can cause a problem with the captioners if the audio they receive is too quiet,” said Sean Haux, a Sales Engineer with VITAC, a Verbit Company.  

If you don’t find the right settings, you can end up with captions that say “inaudible.” Testing equipment and sound quality can prevent this unfavorable outcome.   

Know how you’ll communicate with your captioning provider if there’s a glitch  

During the event is not a good time to be searching for a support number. Make sure that you have the information handy in case your connection drops. Working with professional captioning providers helps because you’ll have tech support and backup captioners.  

Does your event need audio description?

Setting up the venue

On the day of the event, start setting up the equipment early and consider accessibility when deciding the layout. Here are some things to think about.   

Designate areas for people with specific needs  

The screen should be large enough for everyone in the room to have visibility. However, some people might need specific seating. Choose a place for people with low vision or those who need to see captions.   

Have the screen with captions placed near speakers  

People using the captions shouldn’t have to look away from the presenter. Set up the screen in a way that helps people see the captions while watching the presenter.   

Ensure that every speaker will be audible  

Perhaps microphones are ready for the presenters, but are they taking questions?  

“Make sure your questions and answers are miked. That’s always a big deal when I’m in captioned events, like when the speaker says, ‘ask me some questions’ and then the questions come from the audience and those people aren’t miked,” said Heather York, VP of Marketing and Government Affairs for VITAC, a Verbit Company.  

Avoid this problem by making plans to ensure that everyone can hear those questions. For instance, place a microphone in the aisle for the audience. Alternatively, as Haux suggested, have a microphone on every table that attendees can turn on only when they’re speaking. Even if you do take these steps, it’s still best practice for presenters to repeat the questions so that everyone hears, and to ensure they heard correctly.   

Connect with an ethernet cable when possible  

Ethernet cables still offer faster and more consistent connections than Wi-Fi. This setup is best for streaming. If the connection still seems slow, check your settings. Haux recalled trouble with a video feed that seemed lagging despite the computer being connected by an ethernet cable. It turned out that the settings still had that device connected to the Wi-Fi, leading to a slower connection. Fixing that glitch was as easy as clicking a box once he had identified the issue.   

If you take the time to set everything up in advance, you shouldn’t have much to do during the event. Still, have a support person on site in case of unforeseen glitches. Also, keep the numbers for any support services you might need close, so you don’t have to search for them.  

Reflecting on the event

After the event, you’ll have time to reflect. Downloading a searchable transcript can help you find specific parts of the audio that help you create content, follow up emails or refresh your memory. Also, consider surveying audience members for an outside perspective on how well you did and where you could improve. Experiences will likely differ between in person attendees and those who joined online. Make sure your survey results come from both groups. 

Finally, take some time to review the survey results and think about what you learned. Connect with other team members to review the information and record your thoughts. Once you’ve reviewed everything and found useful takeaways, start planning your next event!  

As an accessibility partner for businesses, universities and other institutions, Verbit works to make events more inclusive. Contact Verbit to learn how we help support your next in person, virtual or hybrid event.