AbilityNet Webinars FAQs

Webinars are online events that are delivered through your internet browser or a piece of software downloaded to your device. Webinars are a great way of learning and allow us to share our expertise with you in an engaging and interactive way. On this page we have answered some frequently asked questions (FAQs) we get about the webinars we run: 

If you're unable to find an answer to your question please visit the Zoom help centre or contact us.

How do I find out about upcoming webinars?

To stay up-to-date with the latest news from AbilityNet, including our events and free webinars, we encourage you to join our mailing list. You can also find information about our upcoming webinars and past webinar recordings under the 'Free Resources' section of our website.

I'd like to join your upcoming webinar, but I'm busy. What can I do?

All our webinars are recorded and the recording is shared a few days after the live event. We encourage you to register for the webinar even if you're unable to attend live, as both attendees and absentees will receive automated emails linking to the recording and supporting materials.

What do I need to be able to join in on a webinar?

You don't need a video camera or any special equipment - just connect through the internet, follow the presentation on your screen and use headphones or speakers to listen to what's being said. We use the Zoom webinar client and you may be prompted to download a piece of software at the point of joining a webinar. We encourage you to join via a desktop computer to take full advantage of the features and interactive elements of our webinars. There is information about joining a webinar as an attendee on the Zoom help centre website, including troubleshooting for if you experience issues.

I'd like to join but I'm worried about being on camera/speaking...

Webinars are different to other meetings in that only the host and presenters will be speaking audibly and appear on camera. This allows us to control background noise, and prevent the webinar software from crashing due to having too many people on camera. So feel free to join us on our next webinar without fear of being seen or heard - but also rest assured that Zoom has functions that allow you to communicate with others if you do want to ask a question or have a typed chat with other attendees.

How do I join a webinar?

To join one of our live webinars you'll need to register in advance. Upon registering you’ll receive an email confirmation which will include a link you will use to join on the date/time of the webinar - it will not work before. Please note this email comes from an unmonitored Zoom email address (no-reply@zoom.us) and you may need to check your spam email folder. You will also receive a reminder email 1 week, 1 day and 1 hour before, which also includes the link you'll use to join the webinar. It is possible, depending on the security settings on your email account, that you won't receive the emails with joining instructions. This is most common if you have used an email address supplied by your employer to register, as these typically have increased security settings. If this is the case we recommend using a different email address or contacting the relevant team at your organisation that can make the neccessary setting adjustments to allow you to receive these emails going forward.

What can I expect from an AbilityNet webinar?

In all our webinars we start with introductions, so you know who is presenting on the webinar. Typically we will have a host and one or two presenters. The host will give some information about the webinar and any instructions for attendees, such as what to do if you are experiencing any technical issues. Our presenters will then share information on the given topic of the webinar and there is usually a question and answer session where attendees can pose questions to the presenters. The webinar will typically end with a summary and/or a suggestion for some next steps you can take.

I've joined the webinar but something's not working!

If you've successfully joined the webinar but something isn't working look for the Zoom menu bar with controls. If you can't hear anything it's very possible you need to select an audio output to hear the presenters.

From the menu bar (usually found along the bottom of your screen within the Zoom page) you can also access the 'Chat' panel which you can use to let us know you are having an issue. If you're having issues joining a webinar please read the information about joining a webinar as an attendee on the Zoom help centre website. 

Please do consider whether it's possible the settings on your device are preventing you from joining our webinar, perhaps because you are attempting to join from a device where there are security measures in place that prevent you from visiting the Zoom website or downloading the Zoom webinar client software. If after some time you are still unable to join, remember, all our webinars are recorded - so even if you can't get the technology to work on the day you should still be able to view the recording at a later date.

The webinar host/presenter has asked me to do something, but I can't see how!

Sometimes our presenters will ask you to type something in 'chat' or interact with a 'poll' or they'll ask you to use the 'Q&A' window if you have any questions. Depending on how you've joined the webinar it's very possible you might not have these options on your screen, perhaps because you've dialed in from a phone to listen to audio only or perhaps you have joined from a mobile device. All the same you should look for the Zoom menu bar with controls and take action where possible, but rest assured - if you can't follow the presenter's instructions they will still be able to continue with the webinar.

The presenter didn't answer my question!

On our webinars we typically have hundreds of interested people joining us live and on our most popular webinar topics we will have plenty of questions coming in throughout the webinar along with those captured at point of registration! We do our best to answer as many questions as possible. To ensure your question has the best chances of being answered please use the 'Q&A' panel on the Zoom menu bar, not the 'Chat' window which is reserved for more informal conversations between attendees. Make your question short and concise, that you ask as early on as possible, and consider if it is something that would be relevant to other attendees or is perhaps very specific and could be better answered if you contact us directly.

How do you make your webinars accessible?

We aim to make our events, including our free webinars, as accessible as possible. We have chosen Zoom as our webinar client because we know it's one of the most accessible webinar programs currently available. We upload the slide deck for the webinar to the 'Webinars' page under the 'Free Resources' section of our website so that people can follow along with the presenter. We offer live captioning from a human stenographer via My Clear Text - please note the instructions on the Zoom website about turning captions on.

In our post-webinar follow up we will make the transcript for the webinar available, along with a captioned video recording.

 

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