Nonverbal cues play a critical role in everyday communication, yet much of this information remains inaccessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals, particularly in digital and remote settings. The study explores how alternative auditory strategies including tone of voice, sound effects, music, and verbal descriptions can potentially support the interpretation of nonverbal information in online communication platforms. The study investigates how these modes function in relation to key dimensions such as iconicity, affordance, multimodality, and embodied meaning-making. To examine perception, media clips from films and animated shows were used to identify how nonverbal cues are interpreted through characters’ vocal tone, body movement, and facial expressions, and to analyze how integrated audio elements such as music and sound effects contribute or disrupt meaning. Through co-designing, these examples helped participants reflect on their own sense-making processes and highlight which cues were perceptible or missed. To transition to more real-life contexts, scripted Zoom call scenarios were introduced to simulate online communication, allowing participants to experience and evaluate how auditory cues adapted from their media interpretations could function in relatable, remote conversations. Findings reveal that each auditory alternative contributes differently to meaning-making: tone of voice offers expressive immediacy, sound effects can convey action or emotional tone (with varying levels of abstraction), music supports mood-setting and affective interpretation, and verbal descriptions help fill semantic and contextual gaps. Tables composed of summarised findings and future recommendations were developed for a deeper understanding of the affordances and limitations of the sound cues in nonverbal cue accessibility for BLV individuals and also to serve as a foundation for designing more inclusive communication systems in online communication spaces.