A Keynote Everyone Can Follow

Making a keynote accessible isn't a separate job at the end. Most of it is what good stage design already asks for: fewer words, stronger contrast, and a speaker who says what's on the screen. Here's a short checklist, based on W3C's guidance. WCAG was written for the web rather than the stage, but the thinking transfers well.

Readable from the back

W3C's checklist for events and presentations asks for text and key visuals that can be read from the back of the room. It doesn't give a number. For that, see the viewing-distance figures in Designing for the 40-Metre Screen.

Say what's on the screen

The same checklist asks speakers to cover all of the slide's content aloud. This helps people who can't see the screen well, and it helps everyone else too. "As you can see here" tells a listener nothing, whereas "sales doubled in the second quarter" works for everybody.

It also pushes you towards better slides. If the speaker has to read out a dense table, the table is the problem, and that's where subtraction comes in.

Contrast

WCAG 1.4.3 asks for at least 4.5:1 for text, or 3:1 for large text, which is the category most stage type falls into. Treat these as a floor, because contrast that passes on your monitor can wash out under the house lights. Grey on grey is a common casualty.

Don't rely on colour alone

If red means bad and green means good, add a label or a shape too. WCAG 1.4.1 says colour can't be the only way of conveying information. We go further into this in Grey by Default.

Watch the flashes

This one is about safety. WCAG 2.3.1 says nothing should flash more than three times in any one second, unless it's below the general and red flash thresholds. Stage content loves a strobe hit and a fast cut, and on a wall that fills your field of view the effect is greater. Check your big transitions frame by frame, and warn the audience if a lighting cue goes beyond this.

Captions

Live captions usually come from professional real-time captioners, in person or remotely. Book them early, send them the script and the names, and give their text a real place in the layout. Decide where captions go before you design, not on the day. If they get dropped on top of your lower thirds, one of them becomes unreadable.

Plan it in

All of this is cheapest when it's in the brief. Add it to the cue sheet and run it at rehearsal. It's part of how we approach conference content.