DIS2020

DIS2020 accessibility and diversity

The open exchange of ideas and the freedom of thought and expression are central to the aims and goals of the DIS 2020 conference. The DIS community commits to providing a harassment-free, accessible, and pleasant conference experience with equity in rights for all. We want every participant to feel welcome, included, and safe at the conference. Moreover, we will do our best to accommodate specific needs such as accessibility, or dietary requirements. We cannot promise to solve every issue, but will try our best.

We aim to provide a safe, respectful, and harassment-free conference environment for everyone involved regardless of age, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, nationality, marital status, military status, veteran status, religious beliefs, dietary requirements, childbirth- and pregnancy-related medical conditions or childcare requirements. We also respect any other status protected by laws of the country in which the conference or program is being held.

We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants. Harassment includes but is not limited to overt and/or covert acts of:

• Verbal accusations or bullying
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following both in person and online
• Harassing photography or recording
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events
• Interference with a person’s participation or opportunity for participation
• Inappropriate physical contact
• Sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

We expect all interactions between attendees to be respectful and constructive, including interactions during the review process, at the conference itself, and on social media. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference (without a refund) at the discretion of the conference organizers.

Please see the DIS Accessibility FAQ for more details.

Anyone witnessing or subject to unacceptable behavior should notify the Conference Chairs (chairs@dis2020.acm.org) or the Accessibility and Diversity Chairs ( accessibility@dis2020.acm.org, diversity@dis2020.acm.org).

This statement was adopted from the Diversity and Inclusion Statement for ACM SIGCHI 2017.

Presenters: How to Deliver an Inclusive Presentation

The DIS conferences are becoming increasingly diverse, with attendees from all over the world who represent varied gender, racial, ethnic, disability, and other identities. As a presenter, there are steps you can take to ensure that your message can be heard and understood by the widest possible audience. The following guidelines draw from and extend Kyle Rector’s Accessible Presentation Guide. Please refer there for more details.

Please see the DIS Accessibility FAQ for more details.

Designing Accessible Slides

When designing your slides, please:

• Use large font (size 30+) and high color contrast.
• check that slides are suitable for color blind audience members. Consider using a simulator like Color Safe or Color Check Contrast.
• Include captions in videos for deaf and hard of hearing members.
• consider using Google Slides as it includes an automatic captioning option which can be useful for deaf and hard of hearing members.
• When presenting your slides to the audience, please:
• Warn the audience if you will be presenting violent or sensitive content in your talk.
• Speak clearly into the microphone. Please test and adjust before you begin. Be careful not to turn your head away as you speak when, for example, referring to the projection.
• Speak at your normal speed, unless a sign language interpreter asks you to slow down.
• Speak every word on the slide, or otherwise verbally cover all the information, for people who are blind or low vision or deaf (so they do not have to split attention between slides and the interpreter)
• Avoid using too much jargon or regionally-based idioms that may confuse an international audience.
• Ensure that any audio in your presentation will be processed through the room’s speakers and audible to hard of hearing audience members.
• Ensure that you verbalize a description of the diagrams, photos, and videos in your presentation which are used to convey important information (not just decorative). This will assist blind and low vision audience members, as well as those who do not have a clear line of sight to the projection.
• Ensure that any audience questions can be heard. If an audience member does not speak into the microphone, always repeat the question into the mic before answering. This will assist those who are hard of hearing and those who are using amplified hearing devices that rely on the microphone feed.

These suggestions were adopted from the Diversity and Inclusion Guidelines for ACM. If you have any questions or concerns about accessibility, please feel free to reach out to this year’s Accessibility and Diversity Chairs:

Session Chairs: How to Run an Inclusive Session

The DIS conferences are becoming increasingly diverse, with attendees from all over the world who represent varied gender, racial, ethnic, disability, and other identities. As a session chair, there are steps you can take to ensure that the session for which you are responsible is as inclusive as possible for attendees. The following guidelines complement Emory Berger’s Guide for Session Chairs towards promoting increased knowledge sharing and engagement of all our community members. These guidelines are derived in part from the Accessible Conference Guide.

Please see the DIS Accessibility FAQ for more details.

In advance of the session, please ask presenters to review the Accessible Presentation Guide. In preparation for introducing the presenter, ask the author what pronouns they use, to avoid misgendering. Also ask how to properly pronounce their name.

• Ensure that aisleways are kept clear and that there is room to seat wheelchair users. If the presenter is not speaking directly into the microphone, briefly halt the presentation to adjust the microphone / audio levels before proceeding.
• Remind the audience to use a microphone to ask questions, so that everyone can hear. Remind them to state their name before speaking, for the benefit of those who cannot see who is speaking or those who are new to the community. If questions are asked without a microphone, repeat the question into the microphone for the benefit of those using hearing technologies.
• If there is an interpreter or captioner present, the lighting should be good enough that they can be easily seen by the deaf attendee(s). Explain to presenters that they should speak with a normal tone and pace, unless asked to slow down by the interpreter. When speaking with deaf presenters or attendees, always face them directly and do not face the interpreter.
• A presenter with a visual impairment may request assistance from a student volunteer to advance slides. To signal remaining time for presenters, ask the presenter what they prefer; a tap or double tap on the table/floor can be an effective alternative to visual cues. The session chair, or a volunteer, can also facilitate question asking.
• If one of the presenters requires a stool on stage or a ramp to enter the stage, please double check that these are in place and remain in place during the session. The Accessibility and Diversity Chairs will also be working to ensure proper room setup, and we appreciate your help.

If you have any questions or concerns about accessibility, please feel free to reach out to this year’s Accessibility and Diversity Chairs:

Gender Inclusivity Guidelines

Please refer to the HCI Guidelines for Gender Equity and Inclusivity, generated by the SIGCHI community, for more guidance and discussion in looking at gender inclusivity

DIS2020 accessibility and diversity chairs

Daniel Tetteroo
Eindhoven University of Technology
Sowmya Somanath
University of Victoria

accessibility@dis2020.acm.org

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