Since the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of our meetings have switched to being held on Zoom. This has taken some accustomisation, and it is important that we continue to make the meetings as accessible and inclusive as possible. Here are some tips on how to do this:

• We now start our departmental meetings five minutes later and end them five minutes earlier to allow for a screen break before and after meetings. This is something you can introduce to your own meetings too.

• Make sure that you are signed into Zoom properly (see the guidance below) to allow your name to visible to other participants.

• If you would like to, you can add your pronouns to your Zoom profile. As always, remember to respect other people's pronouns.

• Sharing your camera is optional on Zoom. On one hand, it can be off-putting to someone speaking to a screen full of names with no faces, but on the other hand, some people find it easier to interact without the distraction of having their camera switched on. Be respectful of other people's preferences on this.

• If you are not actively speaking, remember to mute your microphone to avoid distracting background sound, particularly in a large group. You can also use the 'hand up' reaction to indicate when you want to speak.

• Speaking up on Zoom can often be harder than at an in-person meeting. The facilitator/host/leader of the meeting should be aware of this and encourage participation when necessary.

• Consider recording the meeting if there are people who are unable to attend and will want to listen later, or to make the meeting accessible to participants afterwards. 

• Keep meetings within 10am - 4pm (and avoiding lunchtime) wherever possible, and respect the participants' working hours.

• Make sure captioning is enabled for your meeting.

• If your meeting is hybrid, you can book the Owl webcam equipment to facilitate this.