Guidelines

Deadline for submission is June 20th, 2020.

Technical requirements

  • Length
    • contributed: 10-15 minutes
    • lightning: 3-5 minutes
    • poster: 1-3 minutes
  • Video should be picture in picture (slides in the background, speaker smaller in the foreground), or slides and speaker should be on splitted screens.
  • We suggest the following tools:
    • Zoom (share only the slides)
    • Kazam
    • Simple Screen Recorder
    • OBS Studio
  • Please let us know if your video requires a content warning (e.g. due to unavoidable presentation of offensive or sexualised material, or due to flashing images).
  • Submit your presentation/poster in markdown as it will enable blind people to use screen reading software or braille displays to follow the details (e.g. code) of talks.
  • Submit your video in one of these formats:
    • .MOV
    • .MPEG4
    • .MP4
    • .AVI
    • .WMV
    • .FLV
  • Maximum upload size is 50 MB for the .zip file

Video of the speaker

  • Poster presentations can be though of as short talks. Feel free to also supply a poster.
  • Best would be a neutral background and low or no background audio.
  • Note that virtual backgrounds can create flicker - test first to check.
  • Your face should be clearly visible (people who are deaf or hard of hearing may be able to lip-read).
  • Speak clearly.
  • Please pace yourself, so the audience can integrate both audio and visual information. Graphics, pictures, videos, and memes should be described audibly.
  • Test your audio and video beforehand to see whether everything works properly.
  • Speak every word on a slide, read long excerpts aloud.
  • Verbally describe images.

Slides

  • Use large sans serif fonts (as a guide 28-32pt or above for regular text).
    • This applies also to code. Use fewer characters per line than you normally would, e.g. max 50 characters per line of code.
  • Use high contrast (you can use https://contrastchecker.com/ to check).
    • Consider the theme used for code blocks/screenshots.
  • Make sure slides are discernable for color blind users (you can use https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/ to test screenshots and https://wave.webaim.org/ to test files in the browser).
  • Use more than color to communicate information (color coding cannot be understood by people who are blind or colorblind).
  • In addition to verbal emphasis, one could use bold, italic, underline, asterisks, etc. to convey emphasis.
  • Keep text brief.
  • Make graphics simple.
  • Do not use flashing videos or images.
  • Avoid using animations (Unless with a detailed audio description).
  • Avoid images of text.
  • Provide a text equivalent for graphics, but not for graphics that are only meant for decoration.

Downloadable resources

  • Submit your presentation/poster in markdown as it will enable blind people to use screen reading software or braille displays to follow the details (e.g. code) of talks.
    • Latex is an acceptable alternative if you have equations in your presentation, and don’t want to convert to markdown.
    • Ppt and pdf are the worst if you have code or equations in the text.
  • Use large sans serif fonts (as a guide 28-32pt or above for regular text)
    • This applies also to code. Use fewer characters per line than you normally would, e.g. max 50 characters per line of code
  • Use high contrast (you can use https://contrastchecker.com/ to check).
    • Consider the theme used for code blocks/screenshots.
  • Make sure slides are discernable for color blind users (you can use https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/ to test screenshots and https://wave.webaim.org/ to test files in browser).
  • Use more than color to communicate information (color coding cannot be understood by people who are blind or colorblind).

  • Consider submitting a simple copy of your talk with large print so audiences can follow along on screen or print out.

  • Add alt-text descriptions for graphics, images, memes, screenshots, and other graphically-presented material.

Further recommendations can be found on the Perkins School for the Blind website: https://www.perkinselearning.org/technology/digital-transitions/creating-accessible-powerpoint-presentations-students-visual and on SIG ACCESS:

All speakers are reminded to review the Code of Conduct when constructing your presentation.