This year’s RSECon2022 is focused on building a conference which is as accessible as possible to our attendees.  While we are still undergoing assessments for both the on-site and digital capabilities available to our attendees the volunteer team is committed to putting on an inclusive engagement.  

This page covers the guidelines we, as a conference and a society, are working towards.  We hope that they provide those participating with adequate information to help them plan their time with us at the conference.

If you have any questions or notice anything missing please contact us at [email protected].

Our Accessibility Guidelines are divided into three categories:

  • Presentation Guidelines
  • On-Site Guidelines
  • Digital Guidelines

Presentations

In designing presentations our guiding principle is to make materials related to the conference such as any presentations, documents, posters, codes, tools (hereafter simply called conference-related material) accessible to as broad an audience as possible, while respecting the rights to ownership and to privacy. Since, at times, the two requirements can be difficult to reconcile with the limited resources that we have, we expect the stakeholders to strive towards increasing accessibility for all by following the guidelines below while maintaining an optimal level of privacy as covered by our Code of Conduct.

Here are some tips to help those putting together presentations:

On-Site

We are pleased to announce that this year the RSECon2022 committee is working to extensive guidance set out by the society, as well as maintains an EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility) Chair and volunteers.  We are currently assessing and will be working towards documenting the following:

  • Scheduling.  Including core conference hours and transitions between events.
  • Site Access.  Including public transportation, parking facilities, building entrances, ground floor access, seating arrangements and additional assistance.
  • Presentation Access.  Including presenter set-up, audio and visual capabilities.
  • Rest Facilities.  Including gender neutral toilets, disabled toilets, and quiet spaces.
  • Catering.  Including food choice offerings, timings, site accessibility and additional assistance.
  • Wayfinding.  Including maps, guides, and additional assistance.

Digital

We are currently assessing the digital capabilities that this year’s conference can provide.  As part of this assessment we are looking at the following:

  • Cost. Understanding the costs involved in bringing in a digital element and how that impacts our conference attendees.
  • Time. Understanding the level of professional and volunteer commitment needed to bring a high level of standard to the digital pieces we provide.
  • Ease-of-Use.  How simple it is for attendees and presenters to sign-up and engage with the platform.
  • Flexibility.  If this digital element will prove helpful to those attending onsite for some or all of the conference.

We will announce our digital elements, along with attendee and presenter guidance on how to make the most use of them shortly.

Is something missing?

Have we neglected something you need, or is there something not mentioned here that would make your attendance possible, or improve your experience of the event? Please let us know. We’ll do what we can to provide it.

Please contact the accessibility and diversity chair, Cristin Merritt, at [email protected], to discuss any particular accessibility needs or diversity concerns you might have.