I might regret writing this, but I'm doing it ➡️ fellow scientists and (especially) science communicators, I'd like to call you all in.

Let's talk about how we can be more inclusive when it comes to #SciComm & meetings —specifically: language, emojis, ALT text and live captions:
We're all on Zoom these days. If you're giving a talk, you're likely using Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides or *insert Mac equivalent I don't know about.* Please turn on your live captions! You don't need a fancy microphone. Your headset or laptop microphone will work fine ☑️
For PowerPoint, head to Slideshow & select "Always Use Subtitles." You can decide caption placement or pick a mic using Subtitle settings. You can even add captions to embedded media: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-closed-captions-or-subtitles-to-media-in-powerpoint-df091537-fb22-4507-898f-2358ddc0df18

Here's how to turn on Google Slide captions: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9109474?hl=en
Turn on your captions at lab meetings, during talks, panels, everywhere. Teams has a live captions feature too!

Have you been invited to speak? Ask the organizer about whether you can screenshare or what options are available for captioning. It's a virtual world — it's possible.
If there's no option for captioning, what can you do? Get creative! For example, I ask whether recordings will be captioned (answer is almost always yes!). If I'm submitting a video, I'll manually add captions to it.

My Android app suggestion for manual captioning: Inshot 🤳🏽
Next: emojis! I like using emojis here and there in my tweets, especially as bullet points. However, over-using emojis isn't the way to go — consider how it sounds on a screen reader. Use your 280 characters wisely!

@DanielleSipsTea explains it well ⤵️ https://twitter.com/DanielleSipsTea/status/1354898037383036935
Language is just as important — please be mindful of the words you use! E.g. Do you need to use the word "crazy" or is there a better word? (Context: https://www.dictionary.com/e/s/better-words-to-use-instead-of-crazy/)

We also don't need to use war metaphors to describe the COVID-19 pandemic: https://theconversation.com/war-metaphors-used-for-covid-19-are-compelling-but-also-dangerous-135406
War metaphors used for COVID-19 are compelling but also dangerous

The war metaphor may be appealing as a tool of political rhetoric, but it hides several pitfalls that, in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, are dangerous.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/s/better-words-to-use-instead-of-crazy/
I know we all know better than to use jargon without context/explanation, but I still see this happen on Twitter e.g. when you excitedly share your new study & write out the entire title...nine times out of ten, I have no idea what it means or why it's important 😅 Tell us!!
ALT text: it only takes a few seconds to add in an image description for your photo/GIF! Best practices by @nocode_dc et al:
📍 Avoid redundancies between image descriptions & tweet text (no 'Photo Of..')
📍 Place links in tweet, not ALT text
📍 Be concise https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19640-w
Using alt text to make science Twitter more accessible for people with visual impairments

Scientists increasingly post images and photos on social media to share their research activities. However, posting images and photos could potentially exclude people with visual impairments. Here,...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19640-w
To be clear, I'm still learning & I will continue to make mistakes. These are mistakes I constantly see within my own feed. I've DM'd folks in the past to point this out, but perhaps these best practices aren't as well-known as they should be.

What else can we do better?
Here's an entire thread from Danielle to continue learning best practices:

[Quoted Tweet below] https://twitter.com/DanielleSipsTea/status/1358119469592248323
One more: Zoom has now enabled "AI-powered live transcription for all paid accounts." This should work for a lot of folks with education/licensed accounts from their institution - I just turned mine on!

h/t @sSO_raven

Link: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207279736-Getting-started-with-closed-captioning#h_01EWPB8PQWZQ2WAGKHQMBCKMM9
Closed captioning and live transcription

Overview Closed caption allows the host, another meeting attendee assigned by the host, or an integrated third-party closed captioning service to add closed captioning in a meeting. In a webinar, c...

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207279736-Getting-started-with-closed-captioning#h_01EWPB8PQWZQ2WAGKHQMBCKMM9
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