At Handshake, we are committed to making virtual interactions accessible to all students. To do this, we have partnered with a consulting firm to review our product in its entirety.
To learn more about virtual accessibility on the platform, refer to Virtual Accessibility in Handshake.
For virtual interactions, using our Integrated Video on Handshake, we provide students with the opportunity to request a transcriber or ASL interpreter to participate in all virtual instances.
For more information on how to request a transcriber, refer to Requesting an ASL Interpreter or Transcriber for Virtual Interactions.
To uphold our dedication to accessibility, this article provides details on our guidelines, recommended best practices, and additional resources to ensure that everyone can actively engage in virtual sessions on Handshake.
Accessibility Guidelines
Read more about our commitment, efforts, and software conformance reports in Handshake's Accessibility Statement.
Recommendations
Below are a few recommended methods that your institution can implement to ensure that students who may require accommodations are aware of what to expect and can be prepared when participating in a virtual interaction on Handshake.
Event Disclaimer
Use the Event disclaimer feature to include accommodation and accessibility statements from your institution in the event settings.
To provide students with a clear understanding of how your institution supports them for virtual events, we recommend connecting with your accessibility office (if you have one), to develop official language that can be used in the event disclaimer.
To add an event disclaimer, refer to Institution Settings: Event Preferences.
Appointment and Career Fair Description
Similar to the Event disclaimer feature, you may choose to add an accessibility statement to your virtual appointment and fair descriptions.
We suggest working with your accessibility office (if available) to collaborate on creating language for your virtual interactions on the platform. This will give students a better understanding of how they can reach out to you to make arrangements for their participation requests.
Handshake Integrated Video
Handshake uses Daily as our video provider, which supports both transcribers and ASL interpreters to attend via video.
To support ASL interpreters, students can pin the interpreter's video tile on the screen — this will not pin the video for other student participants.
If a student requires a transcriber or ASL interpreter, reach out to our Support Team to receive assistance in setting up the interpreter for a video session hosted on Handshake.
For more information on how to request a transcriber, refer to Requesting a Transcriber or ASL Interpreter for Virtual Interactions.
External Video Host
Hosts have the option to host their video sessions outside our integrated video platform, using platforms such as Zoom. External video sites each have their own offerings to support accessibility.
To learn more about Zoom's accessibility features and how to make the most of it, check out their website dedicated to accessibility Zoom is for Everyone.
Additional Resources
To learn more about what we've done towards our accessibility goals, how we're continuing to evolve, and our updated VPAT, refer to Accessibility and VPAT.
For the student's process of requesting a transcriber or inquiring about accommodations, refer to Accessibility for Virtual Interactions on Handshake.