Our programming is entirely virtual on two platforms: Gather Town and Zoom.

Contents

Gather Town – General Information

Gather Town is an interactive virtual space that simulates real-life, in-person interactions. With an 8-bit pixelized video game aesthetic and familiar online video and chat features, Gather Town allows users to move through online spaces using their arrow keys for keyboard controls. Users create an avatar who can seamlessly move in and out of interactions and conversations with other participants they encounter and explore galleries of digital objects such as videos and sound files.

screen capture of two users on the Gather Town platform — A screenshot of the General Entrance room for our *Practicing the Social* Gather Town with two small avatars labelled Marnie and Jodie on a green space. Beside them is informational text “Use arrows keys to move” and at the top of the image are two side-by-side video screens showing Marnie’s and Jodie’s faces.

Things to Know

Once you register, you will receive a password that will allow you access to our Gather Town rooms and galleries.
For the best experience for all users, Gather Town recommends using Chrome as the web browser.
It is not recommended that you use a mobile phone or tablet to enter Gather Town.
PLEASE ONLY OPEN ONE PLATFORM AT A TIME. You may need to close your Zoom application. If you are having issues, you may want to restart your computer.

Entrances for Gather Town

All events in Gather Town will have two entrances:

Access Support Entrance
General Entrance

If you have arranged or require ASL or AD interpretation, please enter using the link to the Access Support Entrance.

At both entrances, volunteer ushers will be waiting and ready to support everyone during our scheduled events and escort you to the Theatre or Wiki Room.

ZOOM option (view livestream only) for Gather Town Events

Have low bandwidth? Prefer a low stimulation online space? Just want to listen while doing other tasks? Can’t access the Gather Town platform? Watch livestream on Zoom.

If you don’t want to access the 2-D map experience, we will livestream our three main Gather Town events on Zoom. You will find the Zoom links on the schedule on the Restricted Access webpage.

Accessibility Support

Gather Town is working on the accessibility of their platform. It currently has limited interaction with Jaws and NVDA. We will have ASL interpreters, Audio Description interpreters, and volunteer ushers to assist any participant navigate our Gather Town online space.

To arrange access to an interpreter, you will need to indicate an access request on your registration form. If you have questions about our access support staff, including volunteer ushers, for Gather Town, please email revision@uoguelph.ca.

Getting to Know Gather Town

Videos – Information on our Gather Town

NOTE: For video closed captions, access videos on the playlist in Youtube.

Entering Gather Town (1:06) – This short video explains how to get into our Gather Town space for Practicing the Social events.

Quick Tips for Gather Town (0:42) – This short video provides a few useful tips for moving through the Gather Town space.

Follow Feature for Gather Town (0:57) – This short video illustrates how to use the follow feature in Gather Town to navigate through the space with someone else.

Events held in Gather Town

Gather Town – Event Guide to Practicing the Social (5:07) – This video provides a comprehensive overview of the three main events that we will host in Gather Town, plus it provides guidance on how to navigate to the event rooms.

You can also view online or download a screen-reader PDF version of this video for reference. This multi-page document contains information on the three scheduled events we are hosting in our Gather Town space, plus the schedule and a map of the rooms. Click the link below.

Gather Town – Full Event Guide_AODADownload

This map provides an overview of all the Practicing the Social rooms. There are four main spaces: the Entrance which includes the Access Support Entrance and the General Entrance; the Main Hub which links to all of the main spaces; the Theatre which will be used for the book launch and the dance party; and the Main Gallery which links to Wiki Room and multiple gallery rooms with our multimedia exhibitions
NOTE: All rooms interconnect with each other. — This map provides an overview of all the Practicing the Social Gather Town rooms. There are four main spaces: the Entrance which includes the Access Support Entrance and the General Entrance; the Main Hub which links to all of the main spaces; the Theatre which will be used for the book launch and the dance party; and the Main Gallery which links to Wiki Room and multiple gallery rooms with our multimedia exhibitions. NOTE: All rooms interconnect with each other.

You can also view online or download a screen-reader version of the map of rooms.

Gather-town-Map_AODADownload

Advance Practice Sessions

We will offer all participants opportunity to enter Gather Town in advance of the event to gain familiarity with the platform, test assistive technology for navigation, or to meet our access support staff and volunteer ushers.

Drop-in sessions will be held on the following days and times:

Tuesday, January 18, 2022 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Thursday, January 20, 2022 from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Creating your Avatar and Entering Gather Town

IMPORTANT: You do not need an account to access Gather Town.

You can make an avatar immediately before entering the space without creating an account, but your avatar will not be saved for the next time you enter Gather Town. If you want to customize your avatar, allow yourself a few minutes to do so.
If you want to create and save your avatar in advance, you will need to create an account for Gather Town.
For our videos on entering and navigating Gather Town.

NOTE: Screen readers users do not have access to the avatar creation options. Practicing the Social participants, who have indicated on their registration that they will be attending specific events in Gather Town, will be paired with an Usher at the Access Support Desk who can escort them to the scheduled events.

Image description: A small avatar with green hair is located in a blue box with selection tabs below for “base,” “clothing,” “accessories,” and “special.”

Microphone and Camera Access

You will need to provide gather.town access to your microphone and camera if you use a microphone for communication and/or would like others to see you. A pop-up will appear on your screen prompting you to permit access.

Image description: A pop-up window for Gather Town reads “gather.town want to Use your microphone / Use your camera” with two buttons that read “Allow” and “Block.”

Audio and Video Troubleshooting

Visit the Audio and Video Troubleshooting Steps page if you have difficulties.

Additional Access Tips

Download Gather Town’s Guest Guide to Gather.

1. Add Icons to Your Name

Participants can add emoji symbols to their name to provide more info about themselves and for quick visual cues of their role.

You can add an emoji directly to your name using the emoji picker on your operating system.

Mac: use ctrl (^) + cmd (⌘) + space
PC Windows: Use Windows key + period (.)

Then search for the emoji you wish to add to your name. This symbol will show up next to your name.

Legend

⭐ = Staff

🖐 = ASL Interpreter

👁‍🗨 = Audio Description Interpreter

❔ = Volunteer Usher

🎤 = Presenter/Performer

2. Use the Follow Feature

The Follow Feature can be especially helpful for participants who are neurodivergent, Deaf, or blind/low vision.

An ASL interpreter can “follow” a signing Deaf participant, and the ASL Interpreter can use their hands to sign instead of focusing on the keyboard to navigate.

Anyone who doesn’t wish to navigate themselves through the space and low vision participants can “follow” a volunteer usher who can escort you to the main scheduled events.

3. Disable Smart Zoom

Some users, especially those with low vision, may prefer to view a zoomed-in version of the map.

In the Bottom Command Bar, click on your name and open your User/Video Preferences. You can disable Smart Zoom and can then choose to incrementally zoom into the map.

4. Interpreter Areas

For keynote speeches, we will spotlight ALS Interpreters so they show up as one of the prioritized videos in the video carousel.

Select the interpreter’s individual video to view in the full screen mode.

5. Private Areas

All participants can enter Private Areas to focus on interpreters. These areas are helpful for anyone wanting to take a break from the sights and sounds of the event.

Live Transcription for Gather Town Events

To share live transcription for our Gather Town events, our transcribers will be using Googledocs.

Link for Book Launch – Live Transcription googledoc
Link for Dance Party – Live Transcription googledoc

Gather Town – Accessibility Best Practices For Site Builders

Gather Town website has a list of best practices based on collaborative conversations with various event hosts about creating more accessible and intuitive Gather Spaces. For information, visit Making Your Space More Accessible | Gather.Town

Access Guide Pages – Navigation Menu

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