Accessibility features in Adobe Connect

Learn how accessible Adobe Connect is, in visual, auditory, and mobility categories and how it complies with Section 508. Know how users with varied needs can use the pods.

People with disabilities, for example mobility impairments, blindness, and low vision require accessible documents or applications. Accessibility features in Adobe Connect enable people with disabilities to use the Meeting functionality as much as possible without a mouse.

In addition to the accessibility features below, Adobe Connect provides keyboard shortcuts that can help you complete commonly achieved tasks with a keyboard, navigate the pods and menus and select relevant options, and to do basic management of a meeting room. For more information, see keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Connect.

Note:

Adobe recommends using the application for desktop for better results with screen readers and other assistive technologies.

You can use a keyboard to navigate to the menus at the top of the Meeting client (Application Bar menus) and execute the menu options.

Note:

On Windows, if the audio conference dialog is displayed, Hosts can start the meeting audio by pressing Esc and then Ctrl+Space.

  • Ctrl+Space/Command+F2 brings focus to the navigation bar at the top.

  • Tab/Shift+tab keys allow users to navigate between the buttons in the top navigation.

    Ctrl+Space activates the Meeting menu. In Chrome browser on Mac, after joining a meeting, press Tab to activate the meeting menu and then use Ctrl+Space.

    • Note: If audio conference dialog is displayed, pressing Esc and then Ctrl+Space starts the meeting audio for Hosts.

  • The Left and the Right Arrow keys activate adjacent menus on the Application Bar. Use the Left arrow key to access the right-most menu and the Right arrow key to access the left-most menu.

  • The Down Arrow key activates the current menu. To select an item within the menu, use the Down, Up, Left, and Right Arrow keys.

  • Enter selects the current menu item.

  • Escape key closes the current menu.

Accessibility in the pods

You can navigate among the visible pods entirely by keyboard.

  • Bring a pod in the focus, use Ctrl + F9 keyboard shortcut. In Chrome on Mac, press Tab twice and then use Command + F9 to navigate through pods.

  • Keep pressing Ctrl + F9 for the focus to cycle through the available pods a meeting room. A colored border around a pod indicates that the pod is focused.

  • Certain pods have a default field that assumes focus. For example:

    Chat pod

    Focus defaults to the new message field. Alternatively, press Ctrl+;/Command+; to move focus to message field.

Chat pod is highlighted by a colored border when navigating using keyboard
Chat pod is highlighted by a colored border when navigating using keyboard

  • Once a pod is in focus, you can use Tab to navigate inside the pod or press Ctrl + F8 to access the Pod Option menu.
  • When you have highlighted a button, press the spacebar to activate it.
  • With focus on a tab, pressing the left arrow will move focus to the previous tab in the tab list. Pressing the left arrow when the focus is on the first tab in the tab list will move focus and activate the last tab in the list.
  • With focus on a tab, pressing the right arrow will move focus to the next tab in the tab list. Pressing the right arrow when the focus is on the last tab in the tab list will move focus to and activate the first tab in the list.
  • The Up and Down arrows are used to move the cursor up and down between the menu items, attendees and so on. Whereas the Left and Right arrows are used for switching between the tabs horizontally and to enter into sub-menus.
  •  If deletion of tab is allowed, pressing Delete with focus on a tab deletes the tab and the tab panel from the tabbed interface. If additional tabs remain in the tabbed interface, focus shifts to the next tab in the tab list.

On Windows, when the Adobe Connect client starts, the default focus is set to the Message entry area of the visible Chat pod, if one is available. If audio conference dialog is displayed, then the default focus is on the dialog.

The Adobe Connect client may lose focus (for example, if you switch to another application) and later regain the focus. In this case, the Meeting application defaults back to the Message entry area of the visible Chat pod. Alternatively, when the client loses focus, press Tab to highlight the Adobe logo in the top left corner. Now press Tab or Ctrl+F9 to proceed further.

Change the role of a participant from the Attendee pod

  1. To bring a pod in the focus, use Ctrl + F9 keyboard shortcut.

  2. Keep pressing Ctrl + F9 for the focus to cycle through the available pods a meeting room. A colored border around a pod indicates that the pod is focused.

  3. Once Attendee pod is selected, press Tab a few times to highlight the area listing the participants.

    Part of the Attendees pod is highlighted by a colored border when navigating using keyboard
    Part of the Attendees pod is highlighted by a colored border when navigating using keyboard

  4. Use Enter key to expand the relevant section, to highlight the user, and see the role.

  5. Use the Arrow keys to select a meeting attendee.

  6. Once the attendee is announced, press Ctrl + F8 to navigate to the Pod Options menu. Use the Arrow keys to navigate the Pod Menu options.

    Note:

    Alternatively, press Ctrl+F8 for the Pod Options menu. All the options available in the menu in the top left corner of the pod, are also available in the Pod Options menu.

  7. Once the Attendee Options submenu is announced, press the Right Arrow key to access the submenu and then press the Down Arrow key until you hear the announcement of the privilege you want to grant. Hit enter when you reach the appropriate option.

Answer a poll question in the Poll pod

  1. To bring a pod in the focus, use Ctrl + F9 keyboard shortcut.

  2. Keep pressing Ctrl + F9 for the focus to cycle through the available pods a meeting room. A colored border around a pod indicates that the pod is focused.

  3. After selecting the Poll pod, depending on the type of the poll created, do one of the following:

    Multiple Answers

    Press Tab to highlight the first check box and then Arrow keys to move to the other checkboxes on Windows and use Tab on Mac. Press Space to select a highlighted check box. The selection is automatically submitted. To undo a selection, highlight the check box and press Space.

    Multiple Choice

    Press Tab to highlight the first radio button, use Arrow keys to highlight the required option, and press Space to submit the selection. To change your submission, highlight a different radio button using the Arrow keys and press Space.

    Short Answer

    Press Tab to highlight the text field, type your short answer, press Tab to highlight the Send Answer button, and press Space to submit the answer. To update your submitted answer, retype a new answer and submit it. It overwrites your previous submission.

    Submission for a Short Answer type poll question using keyboard
    Submission for a Short Answer type poll question using keyboard

PDF Accessibility

Assistive technology such as JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver screen readers are now able to access the PDF documents in Adobe Connect. This includes making titles, text, hyperlinks, and alt-text from placed graphics available to screen readers for users who are vision impaired.

Adobe Connect Administrators can update a few account-wide setting to improve the accessibility of users using the deployment. The administrators can customize the color theme of the login screen, meeting rooms, and of the Adobe Connect Central user interface to better suit the needs of the users.

Also, administrators can change the color of the border to highlight the focused pods.

Customize the color of the border of the selected pods to improve accessibility
Customize the color of the border of the selected pods to improve accessibility