Accessibility

​We are committed to hosting a conference that is considerate of accessibility issues. The following accessibility measures are planned, and we encourage you to do what you can from an attendee and presentation standpoint:

​ What we are doing
  • ​Auto-captioning of presentations - where possible, auto-captioning of virtual and in-person presentations will be organized during the zoom sessions and in-person concurrent sessions.  If you are giving an in-person talk, please use powerpoint to present, which allows auto-captioning to increase accessibility.  Video's posted to YouTube will have the ability for captioning to be turned on.
  • Quiet Room - A quiet room will be available during the main in-conference dates (June 21-24).  This is a minimal noise room, with dimmed lighting (if it's possible, according to convention center light settings).
  • Accessibility requests - During registration and abstract submission, there will be an option for you to provide information about accessibility needs you might have (e.g. I need a chair at my poster).
  • Badge accessibility notes - During registration, there will be an option to include a phrase on your name badge for items you would like others to know that will increase accessibility for you (e.g. 'hard of hearing', 'I read lips', 'please offer me a chair', etc.).  These will be printed on your name badge.
  • ADA seating - All rooms will have ADA seating, at the front and the back of all concurrent session rooms, accessible from the middle aisle or near the door to the room.  Larger rooms will also have spaces in the middle row, aisle.  
  • ADA compliance - The venue has been visited to ensure ADA accessibility of spaces is working.  If you notice an issue during the conference itself, please let us know at the registration desk!

​What you can do
  • Make your talk more accessible - for guidance on preparing your talk, including making it more accessible, review these Best Practices for Preparing Your Oral Presentation. 
  • Use the microphone to ask questions - have a question for the speaker?  Please use the microphone at the front of the room to ask, so that others can hear easily.  If you are the speaker, it helps to repeat the question into the mic, particularly if the questioner has not used the microphone to ask.
  • Pay attention to name tags - some name tags may have accessibility notes saying 'hard of hearing' or 'please offer me a chair' or other guidance - please check and follow guidance.
  • Quiet room - Please be considerate and refrain from talking/making noise in the quiet room, and keep lights low.  Do not use the room for zoom or in-person meetings.
  • Keep ADA seating accessible - There are ADA seating spaces in the front and back (and sometimes middle) of presentation rooms, placed near the middle aisle of a row. They usually look like there's 2-3 missing chairs in these rows and will be marked if possible (but this is not always possible).  Please be aware of where they are and do not block, stand or move seats or microphones to these areas.
  • Be aware & considerate - This one seems obvious, but helps to say anyway. 
  • Provide feedback with issues we might not have considered - We're always balancing needs. Sometimes we make decisions that make it easier for some accommodations but harder for others (e.g. a quiet room farther away from noise is harder to get to for those with mobility issues; captioning makes slide images slightly smaller for those with visibility issues), and sometimes the convention center has a less than perfect option for spaces.  But sometimes we've failed to notice an issue and potential solution - we welcome your input either way to help make future meetings more accessible!!