Access Practices

Making this Event Safer and More Inclusive

People attending will be joining us from many different lands, territories, countries, and time zones. We strive to make our events as inclusive and accessible as is possible online. This guide offers an outline of how we will work towards this goal.

Here are some practices we will do:

• Have live audio descriptions for performances and ASL interpreters for all presentations.
• Clearly announce the currently active ASL interpreter and wait for participants to select and pin this person’s video. The active ASL interpreter will wait for confirmation from participants that they can proceed.
• Ask people speaking to say their name every time they speak, so live captioners and attendees alike know who is talking.
• Describe live scenarios.
• Describe any images, read any text that appears on screen, and describe anything that is gestured.
• Read chat messages aloud to everyone during the event.
• Provide ASL interpreters and visual support ushers for scheduled events in Gather Town.

We ask that you help us create a non-judgemental and inclusive space for everyone at this online gathering. Here are some suggestions for how we can do this: 

• Wait for people to finishing speaking before responding.
• Give space to people who participate differently than you do.
• Set computers and phones to vibrate to avoid sound interruptions. 
• Respect people’s gender pronouns. If people use pronouns that you are not familiar with, this Practice with Pronouns tool can be a helpful resource.
• Always talk into the microphone. This will help everyone hear what you’re saying and enable the live captioner to transcribe it.
• Inform people if you are going to speak about difficult things or if your comment or story may be upsetting to others.

Relaxed Space

We are hosting an online relaxed space event, which invites all participants to take a relaxed approach to how they participate in the online spaces and events. Feel free to be your whole self and do what makes sense to you and your individual needs. You are welcome to have the camera on or off, join by phone, move around, eat, rest, take breaks, pace yourself, etc. Please prioritize taking care of yourself throughout the duration of this gathering. If you need more breaks or something different than what is happening, please consider your needs.

A Note about ‘Crip time’

‘Crip time’ refers to the recognition that disabled, Mad, Deaf, and differently embodied/enminded people orient to time differently. We recognize that for some people, crip time can require a loose and flexible relationship to time, meaning starting late, going over time, and renegotiating time mid-meeting to allow for elaboration or in recognition that we need more time to work or more time to rest. For others, crip time can mean that we start and end on time and stick to the schedule.

During this event, we will stick to the schedule as best as possible, while also encouraging everyone to come and go and participate however best fits their own needs and schedules. Please feel free to let the group or the organizers know if you need to renegotiate time, at any point! 

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If you have other suggestions to help ensure this event is fully accessible to everyone, please email us at revision@uoguelph.ca. 

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