Accessibility

Ensure that you act in accordance with the following accessibility measures:

• Do not wear scented products while at the conference
• Preparing for your presentation:
  • Bring the materials you need on a USB stick (jump drive/flash drive). Internet access may not be available in your presentation room
  • Bring a few print copies for audience members who would like to follow along
  • Offer large-print copies (17-point or larger) of your full presentation and handouts at your session (feel free to add a disclaimer: “Please do not distribute without the expressed permission of the author,” and include your name and contact information)
  • Be prepared to project your full presentation should captioning fail
• There may be CART transcription and ASL interpretation at this event. You can facilitate accurate CART transcription and ASL interpretation if you:
  • Deliver your presentation at a comfortable pace
  • Avoid using jargon
  • Allow time for eye contact and the spelling of proper names and terminology
  • Provide captioning of films and video clips
• If you will be incorporating PowerPoint slides into your presentation:
  • Announce to the room that you will be using PowerPoint and have printed copies of the slides for people with photosensitivity
  • Do not use animated transitions
  • Use a high contrast color scheme (example: white background, black font or the reverse)
  • Use a sans-serif font, such as Arial, and maintain a large font size
  • Provide minimal text on each slide (only a few points)
  • Incorporate audio description of all images, graphs, quotations, etc. on your slides
• If you will be incorporating activities into your presentation:
  • Remember accessibility issues with any participant activities, such as responding to questions, arranging sticky notes, small group projects, etc.
  • Refrain from using interactive sites such as Kahoot! due to rapidly changing colours and transitions.
• Delivering your presentation:
  • Use the microphone. Note that if you ask “Can everyone hear me OK?” some people might be uncomfortable saying that they cannot
  • During the question period, repeat the question into the microphone
  • Be visible and in good light so participants can see your face when you talk. Be careful not to face away from the audience when reading projected material
• Accessibility Resources
  • These recommendations are partially drawn from two websites: How to Make Presentations Accessible to All, at the Web Accessibility Initiative and Accessible Presentations, at The Society for Disability Studies (which is currently being revised).
  • You can find more information on accessible conferences and presentations at Access, at Disability Rhetoric

Please note that all conference participants will be invited to identify ways that the conference organizers can help mitigate possible barriers to participation.

Note: Advice listed may change according to these suggestions.

Further information regarding venue accessibility to follow