Sharing Screens on Zoom for the Visually Impaired
Do you know what a Zoom webinar looks like in a Screen Reader?
That was a trick question. It doesn’t look like anything. It sounds like something.
A Screen Reader interprets website and application elements, and translates those elements into audio sounds. This enables a blind user to navigate a web page using their keyboard and their ears.
For many blind and visually impaired people, a Screen Reader is the primary tool they use to navigate the internet.
They use a keyboard to navigate, and the Screen Reader describes what is highlighted with an audio description. If the images on a website page have alt tags, then the screen reader will read those tags as the blind user navigates over them.
Using Zoom with a Screen Reader
The Zoom interface shows visually-abled people a grid of other participants, and a toolbar of functions. This interface is compatible with Screen Readers. Blind users can navigate the functions of the Zoom app without vision.
