All annual meeting presenters, whether in-person or virtual, are requested to join us in supporting collective access (a term by Mia Mingus and Sins Invalid).
While preparing for your session during the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting, please review this page so that you learn more about the accessible practices required and recommended during the meeting. This page outlines the practices and links to other pages that provide specific tips, tricks, and tools for how to incorporate these practices, and must be considered following the acceptance of your proposal when uploading your materials to the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting Speaker Portal and during your session.
All presentation documents and materials are required to be submitted in the Speaker Portal by Friday, October 8, 2021.
Interactive Table of Contents
What do I need to prepare for my session?
Select the type of session you are presenting to learn what you need to do and prepare to support collective access as a presenter.
I am presenting…
- in an oral presentation session.
- in a roundtable/town hall.
- in a conversation or debate.
- in an interview.
- in a podcast.
All presentation documents and materials are required to be submitted in the Speaker Portal by Friday, October 8, 2021.
Accessibility Support Webinars
Do you have questions or need clarification about how you can best support collective access in your presentation? We invite you to join us for the accessibility support webinars available to all meeting presenters! Whether you plan to join us for the Annual Meeting in Baltimore or online, these webinars will take you through our accessibility requirements, recommendations, and what resources are available to help you prepare all your materials and host the most accessible session possible. All accepted participants will be invited to register for their appropriate webinar(s).
- Accessibility Support Webinar for View-on-Demand Presenters
- View the recording for View-on-Demand Presenters on the AAA YouTube Channel!
- Accessibility Support Webinar for Live In-Person and Virtual Presenters
- View the recording for Live In-Person and Virtual Presenters on the AAA YouTube Channel!
- Accessibility Support Webinar for Executive Session Presenters
- The AAA Meetings Team is reviewing the recording and will post its link as soon as it is available.
At least one participant from each session is expected to attend the webinars or review webinar materials. We recommend the attending participant to be a leading participant for your session, but invite everyone to join us for these webinars.
Access Notes:
- Real-Time (CART) Captioning will be available during these webinars.
- Webinars will be hosted on the Zoom Meetings platform.
- No slides will be used during the webinars, but screen sharing will take attendees through the resources available on the AAA website.
- A recording will be available on the AAA YouTube Channel approximately 3 business days after each event.
- Additional accommodations, such as ASL, may be requested during the webinar registration process, or by messaging the Accessibility & Meetings Manager as soon as possible so we can support you.
Accessibility Features for Live (In-Person or Virtual) Group Sessions
All live group sessions require speakers to prepare their material in advance to offer access copies through the virtual platform and to also support ASL interpreters and CART captioners. We also remind speakers to utilize accessible practices throughout their sessions.
All live group session presentation documents and materials are required to be submitted in the Speaker Portal by Friday, October 8, 2021.
Which session types are considered live group sessions?
- Oral Presentation Sessions (including those made of individually volunteered papers) (In-Person)
- Session Length: 105 minutes for entire panel
- Maximum Time per Presenter: 15 minutes per paper presentation or discussant
- Roundtables/Town Halls (In-Person AND Virtual)
- Session Length: 105 minutes for entire panel
- Conversations or Debates (In-Person AND Virtual)
- Session Length: 105 minutes for entire conversation/debate
- Interviews (In-Person AND Virtual)
- Session Length: 105 minutes for entire interview
Required Features for Live Group Sessions
- List of Terms
- Why? A list of terms helps support CART captioners, ASL interpreters, and others who may need support with language.
- Accessible introductions of all speakers
- Why? An accessible introduction helps support blind and low-vision attendees, as well as others whose processing requires additional auditory information of visuals and provides visual access to each speaker.
- Avoid speed talking/reading
- Why? Speed talking/reading makes it difficult for a variety of people to follow a presentation and understand the most critical information you want them to leave with.
- Announcement of each speaker prior to speaking (i.e. “This is Ed.” “Nate speaking.”)
- Why? Announcements prior to speaking helps people who are D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, low-vision, or have an auditory processing disorder more easily follow the conversation.
- Visual description of relevant visual moments
- What are “relevant visual moments”? Relevant visual moments are moments in which the visual during the video changes.
- This may be something such as you as the speaker lifting up a model of an artifact and describing the artifact (e.g. “I am now holding up to the camera a model of a skull of an Australopithecus afarensis. The skull is narrow and includes a smaller neurocranium, or braincase. There are also large canines visible and the jaw juts out forward. The parts of the model which indicate having been found are in a rough texture, whereas the rest of the model is a smooth plastic.”)
- Alternatively, this may also include a complete change in scenery. (e.g. “I am now walking outside, wearing a mask, on a beautiful sunny day, and the green lawns of the university campus surround me on either side of the walkway. Three people may be seen walking in a group at a distance wearing masks.” or “A scene pans to the front podium of an otherwise empty classroom. The black chalkboard includes in writing “2019 Words of the Year” underlined, followed by a list: (my) pronouns, they, quid pro quo, ok boomer, and I oop-, nobody, people of means, im [drawing of a peach].”
- Why? Visual descriptions helps support blind and low-vision attendees, as well as others whose processing requires additional auditory information of visuals, gain access to the visuals of the video.
- What are “relevant visual moments”? Relevant visual moments are moments in which the visual during the video changes.
- If slides are used: Accessible slides provided in advance in PPT and/or PDF format
- Note: PPT can be checked for accessibility using the “Accessibility Checker” feature. PDF must be confirmed for accessibility using Acrobat Pro.
- Why? Developing accessible slides helps people who use screen reader; are blind, low-vision, or colorblind; and who need visuals that are not overwhelming and easy to follow.
Recommended Features for Live Group Sessions
- Session outline provided in advance as an accessible Word document
- Why? An outline of your session supports CART captioners, ASL interpreters, and others who may need support with processing content.
Accessibility Features for Individual In-Person Sessions
All live individual sessions require speakers to prepare their material in advance to offer access copies through the virtual platform. We also remind speakers to utilize accessible practices throughout their sessions.
All individual in-person presentation documents and materials are required to be submitted in the Speaker Portal by Friday, October 8, 2021.
Which session types are considered individual in-person sessions?
- Flash Presentation Sessions (In-Person)
- Maximum Time per Presenter: 5 minutes
- Session Length: 105 minutes
- In-Person Posters (In-Person)
- Session Length: 105 minutes, presenters can engage with attendees at their posters throughout this time
Required Features for Individual In-Person Sessions
- Visual descriptions practices when referencing and discussing visuals on your slides or the poster
- Why? Describing visuals, such as graphs, maps, pictures, cartoons, etc., and reading text on your slides or poster helps support people who are blind or low-vision, who have a visual processing disorder, or who better process information through verbal explanations of visuals gain access to the visuals of the poster.
- Accessible slides/poster and PDF (PDF must be confirmed for accessibility using Acrobat Pro) – these will be shared on the virtual platform
- Why? Developing accessible slides/posters helps people who use screen readers; are blind, low-vision, or colorblind; and who need visuals that are not overwhelming and easy to follow.
Recommended Features for Individual In-Person Sessions
- A QR code or short link to direct people to a digital access copy of your slides or poster
- Why? Providing a QR code or short link can help guide people who use a screen reader to a version they can engage with outside of the physical presentation space.
Accessibility Features for All View-on-Demand Sessions
All view-on-demand sessions are required to fulfill the accessibility features listed below. Please note that if you do not fulfill these expectations, your submission will not be included in the view-on-demand events library.
All view-on-demand presentation documents and materials are required to be submitted in the Speaker Portal by Friday, October 8, 2021.
Which session types are considered view-on-demand sessions?
- Podcasts (Virtual)
- Maximum Recording Time: 40 minutes
- Virtual Posters (Virtual)
- Maximum Recording Time: 10 minutes
- Talks (Virtual)
- Maximum Recording Time: 20 minutes
- Three-Minute Thesis Competitions (Virtual)
- Maximum Recording Time: 3 minutes plus introduction
Required Features for View-on-Demand Sessions
- Transcript
- Why? A transcript ensures that people who are D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, DeafBlind, or have an auditory processing disorder are able to engage with the audio of your recording.
- Avoid speed talking/reading
- Why? Speed talking/reading makes it difficult for a variety of people to follow a presentation and understand the most critical information you want them to leave with.
- If slides are used:
- Accessible slide(s) and PDF (PDF must be confirmed for accessibility using Acrobat Pro.)
- Why? Developing accessible slides helps people who use screen reader; are blind, low-vision, or colorblind; and who need visuals that are not overwhelming and easy to follow.
- Visual description practices when referencing and discussing visuals on your slides or poster
- Why? Describing visuals, such as graphs, maps, pictures, cartoons, etc., and reading text on the slide helps support people who are blind or low-vision, who have a visual processing disorder, or who better process information through verbal explanations of visuals gain access to the visuals of the poster.
- Accessible slide(s) and PDF (PDF must be confirmed for accessibility using Acrobat Pro.)
- If video (of the speaker or surroundings) is used:
- Accessible introduction
- Why? An accessible introduction helps support blind and low-vision attendees, as well as others whose processing requires additional auditory information of visuals and provides visual access to each speaker.
- Visual description of relevant visual moments
- What are “relevant visual moments”? Relevant visual moments are moments in which the visual during the video changes.
- This may be something such as you as the speaker lifting up a model of an artifact and describing the artifact (e.g. “I am now holding up to the camera a model of a skull of an Australopithecus afarensis. The skull is narrow and includes a smaller neurocranium, or braincase. There are also large canines visible and the jaw juts out forward. The parts of the model which indicate having been found are in a rough texture, whereas the rest of the model is a smooth plastic.”)
- Alternatively, this may also include a complete change in scenery. (e.g. “I am now walking outside, wearing a mask, on a beautiful sunny day, and the green lawns of the university campus surround me on either side of the walkway. Three people may be seen walking in a group at a distance wearing masks.” or “A scene pans to the front podium of an otherwise empty classroom. The black chalkboard includes in writing “2019 Words of the Year” underlined, followed by a list: (my) pronouns, they, quid pro quo, ok boomer, and I oop-, nobody, people of means, im [drawing of a peach].”
- Why? Visual descriptions helps support blind and low-vision attendees, as well as others whose processing requires additional auditory information of visuals, gain access to the visuals of the video.
- What are “relevant visual moments”? Relevant visual moments are moments in which the visual during the video changes.
- Accessible introduction
Recommended Features for View-on-Demand Sessions
- A reminder for the audience to find digital access copies on the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting virtual platform
- Why? People who need additional time to review content or who use a screen reader can then access your presentation materials in their own time and engage with it at their own pace.
Notes for Three Minute Thesis Competition Submitters Only
We recognize that the three-minute thesis competition has its own rules, and we would like to provide further explanations for how to implement the required accessible features while being respectful of the minimal time of your presentation.
- Accessible Introduction Note: You are welcome to keep the accessible introduction short and minimally detailed. This includes your name, pronouns as comfortable, gender and race and/or skin-tone as comfortable. In essence, think of what key visuals are provided by your appearance.
- Avoid Speed Talking Tip 1: Write a script, and practice it multiple times. If following a practice round your script is longer than 3 minutes, edit for length by removing non-essential content, or any content that may be considered “fluff”, and avoid speaking more quickly to fit more information into three minutes.
- Avoid Speed Talking Tip 2: A reasonable presentation speaking rate will be between 100-150 words per minute (wpm). This means your script should be between 300-450 words. Cut your script if it is longer than 450 words.
- Visuals Tip: Keep the visuals minimal so that you do not need to take too much time describing each visual. Keep the text on your slide minimal so that you may take the time to read it and expand on each point you discuss. You do not need to read the text directly from the slide. We encourage you to invite the audience to review the slide using the file available in the platform. (e.g. “You may review these slides by downloading the file from the 2021 AAA Annual Meeting virtual platform.”)
Questions?
If you have any questions about these collective access practices for presenters, please reach out to the Accessibility & Meetings Manager using the form below.
[contact-form to=”accessibility@americananthro.org” subject=”Collective Access for Presenters Question”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea”][/contact-form]