Have you been in a meeting where cameras mysteriously turn off halfway through? Or when someone's clearly typing emails in the background. Or the very common "sorry, could you repeat the question?" when directly asked for input.
If yes, you'll recognise the simple fact that half your meeting just mentally left the building.
When you talk accessibility, this is particularly painful because everyone's engagement really matters. When the developer zones out during the screen reader demo, they miss why semantic HTML matters. When the content strategist drifts off during the alt text guidelines, your images stay meaningless.
I've been in lots of meetings like this. Why though? Why are we putting ourselves and the others through this ordeal?
I think the number one reasons is relevance. Irrelevant content kills attention fast. The graphic designer doesn't need to hear about backend keyboard navigation code. The developer doesn't need the full brand compliance discussion. Yet somehow they're both trapped in meetings covering everything.
WCAG guidelines, technical specifications and compliance requirements create dense conversations that overwhelm people quickly. If you start throwing in some legal jargon about lawsuits, you can feel brains start shutting down. Too much information is worse than no information.
And to top it all off, most meetings have no or poor structure that lets discussions feel without purpose. One person dominates the conversation while others wait for something relevant to their role. Eventually, they give up waiting and check out entirely.
To avoid this, I like to keep things relevant by stating clearly at the beginning of the meeting why each person is there. It really can be as simple as "Sarah, we need your input on the form design. Tom, you're here for the legal requirements." Dense accessibility content needs a bit of breathing room. Don't keep throwing knowledge at people for minutes on end. Break things up with questions, examples, demos and give different people the opportunity to speak.
The workshop tips to keep everyone's energy up apply to meetings as well.
Couple this with a clear structure and parking off-topic discussions, and you stick to what really matters for the people in the room.
Zoned-out participants make silly accessibility decisions. Keep them awake, keep them engaged.