GUIDELINES FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THEIR PRESENTATIONS. JMIH ORGANIZERS, THE JMIH SOCIETIES AND SPONSORS OF THE MEETING ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT.

*** Office 365 auto closed captioning will be used for all presentations ***

Contributed paper sessions will take place daily from the afternoon of Thursday, July 13 through Sunday, July 16 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Oral presentations that are not part of a symposium are grouped by subject matter.

Academic meetings are most successful when their content is accessible to all attendees, allowing everyone a meaningful opportunity to engage with current research. These guidelines aim to help speakers reach the broadest possible audience.

The recommendations are intended to provide guidance for designing oral presentations for people with a broad range of characteristics such as native language, gender, race, ethnic background, age, sexual orientation, and physical diversity. This resource is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather, an evolving document.

To best serve all attendees, we recommend the following guidelines to create a more accessible oral presentation.

Recommendations for slides:

Use 16 x 9 format in either PowerPoint or pdf.
Consider using accessible slide designs. You can download free templates and learn about how to create accessible graphs, presentations, etc. For example, How to Create Accessible Designs [Tips + Templates].
Check that your colors have the right amount of contrast to work in dim and bright rooms. Audience members with low vision, color blindness, and/or deaf or hard of hearing will appreciate it. Below are websites examples with more information on accessible color palettes, and a tool to choose color combinations:

Consider this post from BrightCarbon on accessibility for those with dyslexia:

Accessibility in PowerPoint: Presentations and dyslexia

Perform an accessibility check on your presentation: in Microsoft Office and Adobe in the Tools menu under Check Accessibility or Accessibility.
Ensure that the key points of each slide are given in visual form (text and/or pictures) as well as verbally.
Use more than color to distinguish information (e.g., shapes and/or labels).
Bold is generally easier to read than highlighting, underlining, or italicizing.
Use large (at least 24 point), simple, sans serif fonts (e.g., Arial, Verdana, Helvetica) that can be easily read by most individuals from the back of a large room. It reduces the reading load and helps to avoid text merge or distort.
To increase accessibility for dyslexic viewers, left align text, without justification. This makes it easier to find the start and finish of each line and ensures even spacing between words.
Avoid text that is angled or uses special effects, such as shadows.
Limit the color palette for your presentation; the fewer colors in your design, the fewer chances there will be for confusion.
Images should be described so that people who are blind or visually impaired will know what image is being displayed.
Verbally describe images, graphs, and charts. Limit use of a pointer.
Control the speed of animations so they can be described fully.
Make sure that videos are captioned, and audio described. A brief description of what is in the video before it is played will help audience members who are blind or visually impaired to establish context for what they will hear.
In newer versions of PowerPoint, you can use automatic subtitles when presenting your talk, This can help accommodate individuals in the audience who may be deaf or hard of hearing, or more familiar with another language.

Present with real-time, automatic captions or subtitles in PowerPoint

Considerations for talks:

Time limits will be strictly enforced: 15 minutes total (12 minutes for presentation and three minutes for questions).
Over 10% of our membership is hearing impaired. Use of the microphone is required. Questioners will also be using microphones. If a question is not spoken into a microphone, please summarize the question in the mic and then answer it.
Make sure that videos are captioned and verbally described. A brief description of what is in the video before it is played will help audience members who are blind or visually impaired to establish context for what they will hear.
Be visible, face the audience, and use the microphone when speaking. Try to stand in good light when you talk, so participants can see your face. This helps people hear and understand better, including those who are hard of hearing to lip read or have difficulty understanding accents.
Use simple language. Avoid or explain jargon, acronyms, and slang.
Adopt good practices for gender-inclusive language. These practices are not always intuitive or automatic. The links below aim to raise awareness and guide learning:

Avoid Sexist Language, by Jennifer Klein, Hamilton College

Good Practices: Inclusive Language, by University of Maryland

LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE DOs and DON’Ts, by The Safe Zone Project

Talking About LGBT People & Equality, by MAP and GLAA

Submitting slides for presentation:

Submissions should be delivered in person to the on-site receiving A/V room - Washington.
Use the following format to name your files:

Session # - Military Time - Last Name

Examples:

12 - 9:45 – Smith

43 - 13:30 - Berry

Onsite oral presenters should submit their presentations to a speaker ready room representative at least a half day preceding their presentation. Before arriving, be prepared with the file format naming information–see above.
The Speaker Ready Room will be set up in Room Washington to receive presentations at the following times:

Wednesday, July 12: 12-6 p.m.
Thursday, July 13: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Friday, July 14: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 15: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday, July 16: 7-11 a.m.

Options for practicing talks:

Speaker Prep Rooms will be available in Room Tyler & Monroe.
They will be equipped with computers, screens, and projectors available for speakers to practice their presentations.
A sign-up sheet will be posted outside each room.
Speaker prep rooms are available:

Wednesday, July 12: 12-6 p.m.
Thursday, July 13: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Friday, July 14: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 15: 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday, July 16: 7 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Session Moderators

Session moderators have been designated to facilitate each session. The names of moderators are noted in the session schedule.

AFTER MAY 1, if you plan to cancel your presentation, edit your title, change speakers, change presentation dates, etc., please fill out the JMIH 2023 Abstract Changes/Cancellations Form or click the button below. If you are making a change to more than one presentation (such as a Poster and an Oral), fill out the information separately (i.e., fill out the information for the oral presentation, then on another line fill out the information for the poster presentation). Updates will be made as soon as possible and will be noted on the document when the request is completed.

Most of the ideas summarized here come from resources from different private and public institutions, and personal experiences. Please refer directly to the links shown below if you want to learn more:

Links to Additional Resources

This document is the result of joint efforts and contributions of the four DEI’s societies (ASIH, HL, SSAR, and ASE). We would like to thank you Dr. Lynne Parenti for constructive comments and edits to the final version of the document.