We’re committed to making Gatheround accessible to everyone so your gatherings can be as inclusive as they are fun and impactful.
There are a variety of resources at your disposal to ensure the Gatheround experience accommodates all participants.
Closed Captioning
Disclaimer: These settings must be done on an individual basis in order to view closed captions.
On Gatheround, you can enable captions during any meeting.
To enable captions, navigate to the lower right hand corner of your Gatheround event screen and click the button to see more options. From there you'll see the option to turn on captions.
Captions will remain enable for the rest of the event including in breakout rooms. For more information on captions, please see our Help Center article.
Interpreters & Transcription
We recommend enabling closed captioning (above) for those who are hearing-impaired to ensure you can participate in every moment of an Gatheround. However, the use of an interpreter or transcriber is also possible while in the main event room.
Hosts can open the stage or designate hosting permissions for an interpreter, who can then go live. When live, the host can pin the interpreter's video to ensure their visibility to the whole of the event and can sign all communication that takes place on stage or in group share.
We also offer the ability to transcribe events. Once this setting is enabled, hosts and participants can access the transcription in the event recap. For more information on transcription, please see our Help Center article.
Note: Given the nature of conversation activities (both 1-on-1 and small group) wherein participants are matched with a different person or people each new round, it is not possible to ensure the interpreter accompanies individuals who are hearing-impaired into every round. We recommend Chrome-enabled closed captioning for these moments throughout the event (see above). Additionally, transcriptions are only available for conversations held the main room; Gatheround does not transcribe breakout conversations.
Screen Readers
Text throughout Gatheround events—from buttons to prompt cards and more—is compatible with screen readers. We do not use images to convey any written communication; all relevant fields are embedded on the site as text-based copy.
Enlarging Text
To resize text on Gatheround, zoom into or out of your browser while on your computer. For best results go full-screen, and then:
On Mac, for most browsers the shortcut to resizing text is Command (⌘) then Plus (+) to zoom in, and Command (⌘) then Minus (–) to zoom out.
On Windows, for most browsers the shortcut to resizing text is CTRL then Plus (+) to zoom in, and CTRL then Minus (–) to zoom out.
In addition to zooming into or out of a page, you can also change your browser’s default font size. For in-depth instructions on enlarging text and images across different browsers, we recommend this article.
Enlarging Video
To resize videos (both YouTube streams and people live on stage) in the main event room, participants click the light grey line that divides the room horizontally. Drag the line up and you’ll see smaller videos and more of the chat; drag it down and you’ll see larger videos and less of the chat.
Accommodating Color Blindness
Though color is not critical to navigating Gatheround events, to improve the experience for participants with deuteranopia and protanopia (red-green colorblindness), we recommend using Chrome and downloading the Color Enhancer web extension.
Video Backgrounds
We strive for all participants to authentically connect with each other in Gatheround events, but we understand that some participants may require the ability to alter their background in order to comfortably join gatherings and present as their authentic selves. In any Gatheround event you can opt to blur your background or choose from a selection of background images. You can enable your background in the "Camera & mic" settings in any event.
Accommodating Speech-Impairments
During conversation activities (both 1-on-1 and small group), matches are able to communicate with one another via video and/or audio; however, we do not yet have live text-based communication functionality available. For those with speech impairments, we recommend that participants install a third-party text-to-speech program to communicate during matches. Alternatively, for participants who are unable to communicate via video or audio, we recommend supplemental programming in the main event room.
For questions, clarifications, or recommendations on these guidelines, please contact us directly at accessibility@gatheround.com