GUIDELINES for ACCESIBILITY

These guidelines are adapted from the Children’s Literature Association Guidelines and were originally created by the ChLA Accessibility Committee.
PRESENTER GUIDELINES

Before Your Presentation

  • Prepare an access copy of your presentation, whether print or digital. An access copy should provide a transcript of your talk or paper; however, if you do not read from a paper directly, you can provide access to your slides or an outline of your talk instead.
      • You are welcome to distribute printed access copies at the start of your talk. You may choose to collect them again at the end.
      • Electronic access copies should be hosted on the individual’s preferred cloud platform (Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). Share the link (please use a shortened URL and/or QR code) at the start of your talk.
      • To address concerns about unauthorized distribution of access copies, note that on most cloud platforms, you can restrict viewers’ ability to download, print, or copy-and-paste text from your shared file; for example, please see these instructions for restricting sharing options on Google Drive files.
      • Attendees should also take note that all access copies are under the sole copyright of their respective owners and should not be shared without the express permission of the presenter. 
  • For designing slides:
      • Do not use Prezi or other media with motion, zoom, or strobe effects, as these pose accessibility problems. PowerPoint or a similar slide program is recommended.
      • Use a high-contrast color scheme, i.e. black background with white font or the reverse.
      • Use a sans-serif font, such as Arial. Maintain a font size of 18-point or larger.
      • Provide minimal text on each slide. 
  • If you want to provide any additional links or resources, you should provide them in your access copies.

 

During Your Presentation

  • When speaking, always face the audience; this is especially helpful for audience members who are lip readers.
  • Speak at a moderate pace, neither too slowly nor too quickly. 
  • Verbally describe all images, graphs, charts, or video included in your slides.  
  • If you think your presentation may contain potentially sensitive content, consider giving a trigger or content warning.
  • During Q & A, either you or the panel chair should repeat each question from the audience before answering.

  

MODERATOR GUIDELINES

Moderators are responsible for following the presenter guidelines and for ensuring that all presenters do the same. In addition, moderators are asked to facilitate access by implementing the practices below:

  • Before the session, ask panelists if they have any accessibility needs, and check in with panelists about their plans for providing access copies.
  • During the presentations, do your best to address any access barriers and needs as they arise. 
  • During the Q & A, either you or the presenter should repeat each question from the audience to ensure that everyone can hear it.

 

ATTENDEE GUIDELINES
    • Please avoid using scented products while at the conference.
    • Individuals attending sessions should feel free to stand, move about, get water, or vocalize as necessary during presentations.
    • If a service dog is present, be sure to approach the dog calmly and ask its human partner before addressing or touching the dog.
    • Do not touch or otherwise interfere with other attendees’ assistive devices such as canes, wheelchairs, walkers, listening devices etc., unless explicitly asked.