How all conference participants can contribute to an accessible event

We invite you to be conscious of these conventional accessibility measures:

  • Avoid all scented products while at the conference
  • Preparing for your presentation:

    • Bring the materials you need on a jump drive. Internet access may not be available in your presentation room
    • Bring a few print copies for audience members who would like to follow along
    • Offer large-print copies (17-point or larger) of your full presentation and handouts at your session (feel free to add a disclaimer: "Please do not distribute without the expressed permission of the author," and include your name and contact information)
    • Be prepared to project your full presentation should captioning fail
  • There may be CART transcription and ASL interpretation at this event. You can facilitate accurate CART transcription and ASL interpretation if you:

    • Deliver your presentation at a comfortable pace

    • Avoid using jargon

    • Allow time for eye contact and the spelling of proper names and terminology

    • Provide captioning of films and video clips

  • If you will be incorporating PowerPoint slides into your presentation:

    • Use a high contrast color scheme (example: white background, black font or the reverse)

    • Use a sans-serif font, such as Arial, and maintain a large font size

    • Provide minimal text on each slide (only a few points)

    • Incorporate audio description of all images, graphs, quotations, etc. on your slides

  • If you will be incorporating activities into your presentation:

    • Remember accessibility issues with any participant activities, such as responding to questions, arranging sticky notes, small group projects, etc.

  • Delivering your presentation:

    • Use the microphone. Note that if you ask "Can everyone hear me OK?" some people might be uncomfortable saying that they cannot

    • During the question period, repeat the question into the microphone

    • Be visible and in good light so participants can see your face when you talk. Be careful not to face away from the audience when reading projected material

  • Accessibility Resources

Science and Technology in Society Teaching Group

Interested in how science, technology, and society interact? Find out more information about the Science and Technology in Society Teaching Group professors and the undergraduate courses they teach at the University of Waterloo.

Feminism and Science Research Group

In the Feminism and Science Research Group we conduct research that is unified by attention to justice and the social nature of scientific, technological and medical research. We are interested in research policy, practice, education and implementation. Details