To ensure that everyone can participate, understand and contribute to all Mentimeter presentations, we've compiled this guide for creating accessible and inclusive presentations.
You can find detailed information about accessibility and download our VPAT for menti.com at www.mentimeter.com/accessibility.
Creating a presentation
To reach your entire audience, you, as a presenter, need to prepare and present your presentation in such a way that all users can perceive it.
There are different things you’ll need to think about: Is it for an online meeting, a meeting with the audience in the same room, or is your presentation a survey that voters can access in their own time. Maybe it's a mix of everything!
As a presenter, it is important that you convey your content clearly and help the user to take part in it. This includes to relaying the information that other participants contribute by sharing user responses with the whole audience.
Revisiting the presentation
The presentation can also be viewed afterwards by interested users who did not have the opportunity to be present during the presentation or who want to review the information. In this case, it is good if the presentation is more self-explanatory for the user to understand the entirety of the presentation.
Choosing a theme
We recommend using our most common themes, such as Menti Dark or Menti Light. In these themes, we have created an experience that is easy to use due to clear typography and good contrast for text and interactive objects.
When making your own theme, make sure that you have enough contrast (4.5:1) between the background and text color, as well as the background and bar color. The bar color is used for most of the buttons in menti.com, and the text color on the buttons will either be black or white depending on which of them contrasts better with the button color.
Text content
Use clear and concise language and reduce the amount of text by focusing on what is the essential information. Large blocks of text can be complex for the audience to read and understand, especially if the text content has a small font size.
Headlines and bulleted lists are good options to structure the content and increase readability.
Make text big enough to be readable even from a distance, such as the back of a meeting room.
Avoid using abbreviations
Abbreviations, like The United Nations (UN) or The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) can cause problems. Some users may need help understanding the abbreviation or have difficulty interpreting it correctly.
We recommend writing out all acronyms in full the first time they are used in your presentation.
Images and graphics
Limit the number of images and graphics so you don't overwhelm the audience with information.
Images should have an alternative text, or "alt text," that describes the purpose of the image so that visually impaired people know what the images conveys.
If you use an image for decorative purposes, like a border, banner, or logo, then the image doesn't need an alternative text.
If you use images from our image library, they all come with pre-filled alternative text that you can use or edit if you need a better description.
Graphs and charts should also be described and summarized.
Animated GIFs
Animated images, or GIFs, are often used in Mentimeter presentations and can really bring presentation to life.
However, animated GIFs can be perceived as disturbing by specific user groups and can also distract users from the presentation. In addition, some people with seizure disorders can have a seizure triggered if the animated content strobes or flashes rapidly.
Feel free to use animated GIFs, but be aware that users can be affected by them. Choose GIFs that have a leisurely pace and don't have too much movement. Use them in parts of the presentation where they don’t take away the focus from other content.
Color contrast
Sufficient color contrast between text and background is essential for the reading audience and especially readability for people with impaired vision. It is essential to consider this when using images that have text in them.
Our default Menti themes (Menti Light and Menti Dark) have a great color contrast by default.
Don't rely on colors
Don't use color as the only method for distinguishing information. Instead, use color distinctions together with text and icons so that users with color blindness or impaired vision can easily understand the content.
👆 Comparison of two pie charts. Left chart is without color-blindness. Right chart is with green color-blindness.
Video
Ensure that videos are captioned and also strive to have audio descriptions.
A good gesture is to briefly describe the content in the video before it's played. It will help severely impaired users to understand the context in the video.
Accessibility check
In the Settings menu, you can find an Accessibility check, where you can see how inclusive your presentation is and get recommendations for how to improve it.
Simply open the Settings menu in the top left corner of the screen and select Accessibility:
The menu that opens will give you an overall accessibility score, as well as information about text contrast, alt texts for images and other accessibility concerns. You can also find recommendations on how to improve these features:
When presenting
As a presenter, you are responsible for conveying your message so that everyone in the audience can understand and take part in the content. Here, there is a balancing act between clarity, pace, and description of the content in the presentation.
Joining a presentation
Read out and share the instructions on how you can join the presentation. It is an advantage to describe the different options, such as following the URL, scanning the QR code or inputting the voting code in menti.com, so that users can choose the alternatives that suit them best.
Repeat what you are showing on screen
Most people have at some point been in the back of an audience and experienced troubles following what's being shown on the screen. Make sure to repeat what's actually written out loud before you comment on it. This will also help those who might be distracted to get back into the conversation.
This also applies to graphic elements such as pictures, diagrams and icons that are included in the presentation. When it comes to graphic objects, it is important to consider whether the object is significant for the content or just decorative. If the object is considered decorative, there is no need to convey the meaning to the audience.
Give users enough time to answer
Different people may need more time than others to answer questions, so it is a tricky balancing act to figure out the pace and time required for each question.
In Quiz Competitions, which are time-based, you can allow a longer time to answer questions when there is, for example, a lot of text to read or if you want the audience to type in their answers.
Questions and answers
Ensure that there is enough time for questions and answers. It's important to repeat the questions for the audience so everyone can hear them.
Video
A good practice is to briefly describe the content in the video before it's played. It will help severely impaired users to understand the context of the video.
Using menti.com with a screenreader
Menti.com is keyboard operable and includes additional aria-labels and alt text (if the presenter has provided this information) for the voter to understand the interface.
Questions or feedback
We are always striving to improve Mentimeter from an accessibility perspective, so please contact us if you have any further questions or feedback regarding accessibility in Mentimeter!