2018 Accessibility

The Thomas R. Watson Conference Team is committed to making arrangements that allow all participants to engage in the conference. Below we share accessibility information, best practices for presentations, and technology resources. Even though it is past the September 15 accessibility request deadline, if there is anything more that might help make the conference accessible for you, please let us know as soon as you can so we have time to address your needs.

Conference Spatial Layout

The conference meeting rooms are in two buildings: Strickler Hall and the Bingham Humanities Building, both located on the University of Louisville Belknap Campus. The keynote and featured sessions will occur in Strickler Hall near the registration, book vendor, and meal location. These spaces are all on one level. Wheelchair space is available. The concurrent sessions will occur in the Bingham Humanities Building. These spaces are across two levels and accessible via elevators or stairs. Wheelchair space is available in meeting rooms. These buildings are approximately a 2-block walk from each other, with ramps at elevated walking paths and entrances.

Gender Inclusive Bathrooms

Restrooms designated as “Gender Inclusive” will be available in both Strickler Hall and the Bingham Humanities Building. In Strickler, these are communal bathrooms located near the book vendors. In Bingham Humanities, these are single stall, lockable bathrooms located on the 3rd floor on the south side of the building, inside the east and west stairwells. For a full description and campus listing, please visit the UofL website: louisville.edu/lgbt/trans-uofl/gender-inclusive-bathrooms-on-campus.

Quiet Room

A dedicated quiet room will be available in 119 Bingham Humanities Building throughout the conference.

ASL and CART

ASL interpreters and CART captioners are available for all keynote sessions and for individual sessions that have requested them.

Lactation Rooms

Information about Lactation Rooms on the UofL Belknap Campus can be found here: louisville.edu/womenscenter/resources/lactation-information.

Please email us if you would like us to reserve a lactation room on your behalf.

Scent Free

To help those with allergies and chemical sensitivity, we ask conference attendees to be scent-free, which includes, but is not limited to, scented deodorant, perfume, cologne, hairspray/gel, and lotion.

Brown Hotel Accessibility

The Brown Hotel has elevators both to the Thursday reception and to all rooms.  Bathrooms are on the same floor as the reception.

Buses

A wheelchair accessible shuttle will run continuously between the Brown Hotel and the UofL campus. Two additional school buses will run during peak times: 8-9am Th-Sa; 5:30-6:30pm Th-Fri; 12:30-1:30pm Sa. Passengers of all shuttles will disembark at the same location on campus–Rausch Planetarium. It is a 2-block walk from Rausch Planetarium to Strickler Hall.

Presentation Best Practices

We ask presenters to make their presentations accessible to all conference participants, and we encourage you to visit Composing Access (u.osu.edu/composingaccess/) to learn more about best practices (e.g., building accessibility into your presentation; designing and distributing handouts; sharing presentations online; facilitating Q&A). Below we highlight a few best practices.

Audio

We will have microphones for keynote presenters and audience members during the keynote sessions. Even if you think you speak loudly, please use the mic to amplify your voice.

At concurrent sessions, presenters and/or panel chairs can describe presenters and their topics at the beginning of the session. When using audio and video in your presentation, be sure to describe any relevant items on your slides or media, both verbally and digitally (via alt-text).

Visual

Make visual communication available in multiple formats. This includes providing online URLs, handouts and large-font paper copies.

Inclusive Language

Inclusive language encourages people to not assume something about a person by the way they look (e.g., gender, sexuality, ability, race, class). For example, this may translate into everyday practices such as calling on “the person in the red shirt” instead of on “the man (possibly or not) in the red shirt.” (We’ll also have pronoun stickers available at registration in Strickler Hall.)

Trigger Warnings

Given how many keynote essays foreground trauma, we encourage participants to preface for the audience when addressing sensitive subjects (i.e., interpersonal violence, self-harm, or suicide).

TECHNOLOGY

Presentation Room Resources

All conference meeting rooms have built-in Windows 7 or 10 desktop computers that are connected to projectors with audio capability. These computers have the Microsoft Office Suite 2010, 2013, or 2016 and Internet access. All rooms also have built-in projectors and projector screens. We encourage attendees to use these built-in/already set-up devices for presentations by either bringing a USB Flash Drive or emailing yourself a copy of your presentation materials. Attendees are responsible for bringing any appropriate dongles or adapters if they would like to connect their own devices.

Printing

The Watson Conference will not have printing stations available. Those staying at the Brown Hotel can access printers at the hotel.

Twitter

To facilitate robust and engaging conversation not only in official sessions but also in digital spaces, we encourage attendees to tweet using both the official hashtag (#WatsCon18) and hashtags for specific panels (e.g., #A1, #C2.). These online conversations will also offer our friends and colleagues not in attendance an entrance into our discussions, allowing them to be part of making future matters at Watson.