Embarrassing!

[RainbowBriteUk]

I have done a presentation at work and asked if everyone could see my screen over teams. A colleague in a different office said she couldn't because she was blind. I wasn't aware of this and I've never met her. I said I was sorry and was sure to read in detail each slide knowing she couldn't see but was there anything else I could've done? I was mortified!

I wouldn’t feel bad, you weren’t to know. I wonder whether you could follow it up by offering to send the content in a format which suits her.

You've nothing to be embarrassed about, how were you to know

You haven't done anything to be embarrassed about. You had no idea your colleague is blind, how could you?

I think you done the right thing at the time, by detailing what was on the slide, which is probably what she was hoping for when mentioning she was blind. No need to do anything further.

She could have given you a head's up before the presentation though so you'd have been prepared

Why is that embarrassing?
You didn’t assume everyone could - you asked, she told you, you adjusted.

I would call her now and say thanks for letting you know, and was there anything you could do as a follow up regarding your presentation.

It could be that she has reading software that copes better with some formats than others. Most likely she’s all sorted - definitely don’t suggest anything, she knows what she needs - just ask.

Bring all “omg I’m so mortified!” is a leetle bit All About Me.

What else could you have done? Presumably the attendee knows they can't see the screen so needs reasonable adjustments. You worked around as you could.

You've done absolutely nothing wrong, can you see me is a very typical turn of phrase in a virtual team meeting.

I'd be pretty pissed off that no one, the women included thought to let you know beforehand though. Surely it's reasonable to inform people so that they can make adjustments and plan the presentation to be inclusive. It's quite a crucial bit of information to withhold.

I think she was a bit off tbh - of course she couldn’t see it but I assume she knew you were going to do a presentation? What does she normally do in situations like these. I think the ball was in her court here to discuss with you beforehand. Or perhaps it’s something you need to discuss with the company that you weren’t aware of this and therefore doing you weren’t being inclusive and what can you do the business do to avoid this in the future. Perhaps a footnote at the bottom of zooms requests
Asking if anyone has any accessibility issues/ hearing/visual. Call them the person. One and see what the status que should have been.

What are you embarrassed about? That you weren't aware she was blind? How were you supposed to know if she works in a different office and you haven't met her before? Sounds like you handled it perfectly to me by asking first if everyone could see the slides and then making adjustments to your presentation to allow her to access the same info as everyone else.

You asked and she said no, nothing to be mortified about.

How bizarre. Unless that colleague is very new this must be a constant issue (even more so in the last year).

Reasonable adjustments need to be made, but I image that must include her making people aware that they will need to be made. Or maybe it's their manager's responsibility?

I think the way you and the blind colleague handled it was perfect. She was simply letting you know that she needed you to be more descriptive with the slides, and you were!