Lessons Learned at an Accessibility Conference

Accessing Higher Ground Takeaways

Speaker: Rosa Calabrese

December 5, 2024

Accessing Higher Ground

Accessing Higher Ground (AHG) is an annual conference in Denver about accessibility in higher education that draws attendees from across the country.

AHG is put on by AHEAD - the Association on Higher Education And Disability, with collaboration from ATHEN - Access Technology Higher Education Network.

Following are some of the most important and interesting takeaways that I have from the meeting.

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Agenda

• Accessibility Conferences Must be Accessible
• Takeaways from Training, the Keynote, and Sessions
• Training: Accessible documents using Adobe InDesign
• Conference keynote on disability justice
• Session topics
• Accessibility training programs

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Accessibility Conferences Must be Accessible

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Fundamentals of Accessible Conferences: Physical Spaces

Main conference spaces are physically accessible:

• The registration desk uses a low-top table so it can be accessed by people in wheelchairs.
• Food serving tables are wheelchair accessible.
• Spacing between tables and other physical barriers are far enough apart to allow wheelchair movement.
• Meeting spaces (such as hotels) meet physical accessibility standards. For example, elevators are available to all meeting areas, bathrooms are accessible on every level, doorways are accessible, etc.

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Fundamentals of Accessible Conferences: Presentations

Live conference presentations are accessible:

• Microphones are used whenever presenters or attendees are speaking to the group. One person is assigned for every session to carry a microphone around the room to attendees for questions and comments.
• A person is in every session room to provide live transcription. The live transcriptions appear in large font on a TV at the front of the room, and can also be accessed by link for attendees so attendees can see the live transcription on their own devices.
• Presenters describe the content of their slides, and they repeat any significant sounds or questions that may have been missed by the transcription.
• Live sign language interpreters available.

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Fundamentals of Accessible Conferences: Other Features

Other important features of accessible meetings:

• The meeting space is physically accessible by inexpensive transportation.
• There are service animal relief areas outside of the meeting space, and there are water bowls for service animals scattered throughout the space.
• Face masks, ear plugs, and fidget toys are all available at registration.
• Mobility scooters are available through the hotel/meeting space.
• Print and mobile programs are available to attendees.
• Food options in support of different dietary needs are readily available.

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Tools for Accessible Conferences

• Microphones for every speaker, and at least one extra per conference room to be used for audience questions.
• One or more TVs for each room to display the live transcript.
• A strong internet connection so attendees can access the live streaming transcript on their own device.
• Low tables instead of high-top tables.
• Supplies for service animals.

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Individual Responsibilities for Accessibility

• Presenters should design presentations to be accessible both during and after the presentation, regardless of the format they use.
• Presenters should emphasize the importance of microphone use for all questions and comments.
• Attendees and presenters can be more open about the disabilities that they have than within many other spaces without being made to feel like a burden.
• However, attendees must still be courteous and recognize the way that different disabilities can impact each other.
• All participants must utilize shared spaces in ways that are courteous and keep differences in abilities and disabilities in mind.

These are minor requests for what presenters and attendees need to do, but it can create a significant change in culture.

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Takeaways from Training, the Keynote, and Sessions

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Training: InDesign Document Accessibility

A few lessons learned from a one-day training on InDesign document accessibility:

• In the menu, select Type then Show Hidden Characters to display characters that are normally invisible like space, tab, and enter.
• Only use unicode fonts so that each character - including bullet points - are correctly embedded.
• Export as an interactive PDF and select “Create Tagged PDF” in the pop-up window. Be sure to add metadata when saving.

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Keynote: Disability Justice

The keynote speaker was Ashley Shew, professor at Virginia Tech and author of the book ‘Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement’.

• Details the ways that technology is often used to try to fix people with disabilities.
• Opposes the medical model of disability and supports a social model of disability.
• Where and how does web accessibility intersect with the topics that she discusses?
• Connections between disability justice and the Empathy Lab.

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Conference Session Topics

Although Accessing Higher Ground is focused on higher education, many sessions emphasize web accessibility generally and have takeaways for any industry.

Session subjects include:

• Document accessibility, including within PDFs, Word processing documents, and slideshow presentations.
• Using color in accessible ways.
• Designing training programs for staff to learn web accessibility.
• Writing useful alternative text.
• Accessibility testing with assistive technologies.

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Accessibility Training Programs

Advice from a conference session on managing an accessibility training program:

• Promote accessibility training programs to different departments individually by being a guest at the start of staff meetings.
• Promote training programs through articles, blogs, and newsletters.
• Get advice from Human Resources about how to reach different departments, as they have experience trying to reach different groups for training already.
• Consistently, people give the feedback that they want more training in video format.
• Use accessibility roles and responsibilities mapping to determine which staff members require which types and levels of training.

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Conference Resources

• Conference materials are available within the Accessing Higher Ground schedule (some are more accessible than others).
• The keynote speech recording is available to watch on the Accessing Higher Ground website.

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Questions?

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If you’re thinking it… most likely someone else is as well.

Reach out to the Technology Accessibility Program at OIT_Accessibility@state.co.us.