Accessibility

Contact

Contact code4lib.accessibility@gmail.com with any questions or concerns related to the conference's accessibility.

Live Captioning

During the general conference, Code4Lib 2020 will feature live captioning. Attendees, both local and remote, may view the text stream at: https://2020archive.1capapp.com/event/cod4lib/.

Use the Microphone

The single greatest act you can to do to promote accessibility at Code4Lib 2020 is to use the microphone. It doesn't matter if you think you are loud or you can project, you should use the microphone. It benefits everyone:

  • When a speaker uses the mic properly, you all hear them better.
  • When you ask a question with a mic, the speaker and everyone else hears your question.
  • Using the mic ensures everyone livestreaming or watching recorded talks can share the C4L experience.
  • Using the mic improves the quality of the live captioning feed.

Microphone Tips for Presenters

  • For both a podium mic and one on a stand, it should point towards your mouth. Adjust the height of the mic and angle its neck to point towards your mouth and nose.
  • You should place your mouth about 8-10 inches (20-25cm or two hand widths) away from the mic. You can get closer but you may find that it limits your natural movement.
  • If you move around the podium at all, you should adjust the mic as you move. You should always be talking directly at the head of the mic from the front. Never to the side.
  • If you are copresenting, you need to make sure the mic points at the speaker. Use the second mic on stage or adjust it to point at who is speaking. Standing side by side with the mic in the middle is not as effective as you may think.

Using a Handheld Mic

  • The line of the microphone should always point towards your mouth and nose. Do not hold it like an ice cream cone. Hold it more like a candy bar or at a 45 degree angle.
  • If you turn your head, the mic should also turn so that it stays pointed at your mouth.
  • You should hold the mic 5-8 inches (15-20cm) from your mouth.
  • Hold the mic firmly. Any shaking may be picked up and effect your voice quality.
  • If the mic is not working, wait for staff to offer a replacement or fix it. Do not just try yelling.

Accessibility Instructions for Presenters

All presenters should please review these accessibility requirements and presentation logistics. Make note of the four action items for your talk(s).

Action 1: PC/Mac Compatibility

Ensure that your slides will display correctly on BOTH Mac and PC. There will be a presenter laptop at the podium to streamline transitions and minimize tech issues. We don’t yet know if it will be a Mac or a PC. If you absolutely need to use your own laptop (e.g. a demo that only works on your machine), please let your Program Committee Liaison know ASAP.

Action 2: Submit Slides Early for Supporting Live Captioning

Code4Lib 2020 will feature live captioning during the three days of the general conference. In order to improve the quality of this service, we ask presenters to send their slides to us so that the captioners can use them as reference and improve the quality of the live text stream.

Please submit your slides to the Code4Lib 2020 repository or to () at least 24 hours before your presentation (the earlier the better).

NOTE: You can continue to edit and change your slides after submission. You do not need to resubmit any changes unless you feel you added any difficult words or terms that would be challenging for live captioning. Keep in mind that the captioners may not have domain expertise in libraries.

Action 3: Design a Visually Accessible Presentation

Presenters are encouraged to use the following guidelines to ensure that their presentations are visually accessible to attendees.

Fonts

  • Avoid fonts that use thin strokes in the characters.
  • Choose readable sans serif or serif fonts. Generally avoid script or monospaced fonts.
  • Suggested fonts include: Helvetica and its clones (Arial, Calibri, etc.), Gill Sans, Comic Sans (seriously!), Verdana, Franklin Gothic, Rockwell, Tahoma, Lucida, and Times New Roman.
  • Use underlining, italics, and boldface sparingly.
  • Aim for a font size of 20-30 point. Generally, do not go below 18-point for slide content (if you plan to share your slides with the community, it’s okay to use smaller fonts for references and URIs).

Colors

  • Choose text and background colors that have good contrast. You can use a contrast checker to check for good contrast. The web accessibility thresholds are not relevant to slide presentations, but higher contrast is still better.
  • For color blindness considerations, add patterns or labels in graphs and charts. This is especially important if are using either red-green or yellow-blue color combinations. These are the two most common types of color blindness. If you are uncertain about a color choice, a color blindness simulator may help.

Videos/Animations

  • Avoid blinking text and animations that endlessly repeat.
  • If your presentation features lots of animations, videos, etc., please include a warning at the start of your talk. This is especially needed if any contain lots of flicker.
  • If a video contains sound or dialogue, please try to use a version with captioning.

Sharing Slides