We are no longer accepting new submissions.

ACAW Presenter Information Package

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Welcome and thank you for being part of the inaugural conference for Accessible Canada, Accessible World. We are committed to providing accessible material and media and being inclusive of diversity. These guidelines include resources to support you in creating a more inclusive and accessible presentation. Our goal is to include as many voices as possible; however, we reserve the right to refuse any submissions that do not align with the conference themes or inclusion values. All submissions must meet accessibility requirements.

About ACAW Conference Format

There are no formal presentations at the conference. The Conference is a flipped model where presentations will be available online ahead of time so attendees can view the ones that interest them, at their own pace, when it is convenient for them. Viewing content ahead of the conference is optional for conference participants, and participants can watch as many or as few videos as they would like. (while conference participants may not need to view content prior to the conference, we strongly encourage facilitators and provocateurs to review content that is relevant to the theme they will be leading in discussion). The conference has four parallel streams:

1. Who and what are we missing? What are the accessibility gaps or barriers missed?
2. Inclusive decision-making
3. Innovation in standards and policy  
4. Accessible and equitable communications

During the conference, a moderator and provocateur will provide an overview of the field and provoke discussion enabling attendees to participate actively in the discussions.

Types of Presentations

In addition to traditional accessible presentations, we are accepting other forms of expression related to the conference themes as long as they are accessible (we have guidance below to help you). Some examples are:

• English, French, ASL or LSQ presentation with or without a slide deck 
• Podcast 
• Conversation between two people 
• Poetry reading
• Expressive dance
• Narrative or stories
• Academic poster or paper
• Part of a book chapter

Note: All conference content will be published under a CC BY 4.0 attribution license. If the submission contains copyrighted material, ensure you have permission to share the work under CC BY 4.0 license.

Submission Process

We are no longer accepting new submissions.

Content Requirements

All submissions have French, English and Sign language requirements and must meet accessibility standards. Please check your content format section to understand what is expected with your submission. AI (artificial intelligence) language translation is acceptable. Most submissions will have multiple files, we recommend that you place all files in one folder for sharing with us.

You will need to give the file name for each file that you submit. Use this naming format for all files: last name_first name_short title_language. For example, an English language video presentation by Mickey Mouse would be named:

Mouse_Mickey_Adventures in Accessibilty_En.mp4

Slide presentations

If your presentation is a slideshow format, we recommend using PowerPoint software to build an accessible slide deck. PowerPoint has a built-in accessibility checker and language translation as well as support documents to help with the creation of your accessible PowerPoint slide deck. PowerPoint also enables recording and captioning of your presentation. 

Recording your slideshow presentation

• Ways of recording: 
  • PowerPoint (Record a slide show with narration and slide timings)
  • Zoom (Getting started with recording, Saving closed captions in a meeting)
• Tip: Before doing any recording, make sure to prepare your slide deck so there is room for the video image of yourself, so that your video won't be overlaid on top of any text or images. 

Video presentation requirements

• Name files as follows: last name_first name_short title_language 
• Recorded presentation: 5 – 20 minutes in length
• A closed caption file (.vtt or .srt file)
• A written transcript in both English and French. The transcript can be a text file of the captions. 
• If the video contains visuals, describe them in your presentation. For video presentations that contain visuals that are not described in audio, include a descriptive transcript in English and French. 
• For videos using slide presentations: an accessible slide deck file (PowerPoint)
• Optional: If possible, sign language interpretation in ASL for English video or LSQ for French video
• Place all files in one folder labeled with your name (last name_first Name)

Slide deck requirements

• Name files as follows: last name_first name_short title_language
• An accessible slide deck. 
  • Information to support creating an accessible slide deck can be found on this page under the heading Resources for Accessible Slides.

Audio presentation requirements

• Name files as follows: last name_first name_short title_language
• An audio recording 
• A text transcript file

Document requirements

• Name files as follows: last name_first name_short title_language
• An accessible text document (Word, Google Doc, PDF, etc.) 
• Consider keeping text submissions under 2,500 words or under ten pages
• Use simple language; avoid jargon, idioms, etc. (Plain language, accessibility, and inclusive communications)

Inclusive Content Tips

Tips for creating slides

• Follow WCAG requirements for digital content, as well as broader accessibility good practices for digital content
  • Ensure written content is easy to read 
    • Your slide deck will not be projected in a room with participants but rather engaged with on a personal device such as a tablet, desktop computer, or laptop.
    • Use a minimum font size of 19px (14pt). 21 to 24px (15 to 18pt) is even better. 
    • Use legible typefaces (sans serif in most cases)
  • Sufficient contrast on text and non-text content
    • If you have a minimum font size of 19px,  3:1 contrast ratio is required but  4.5:1 is preferred.
  • Limit animation and motion
    • No longer than 5 seconds
    • Provide a means to pause, stop or hide
• Run the PowerPoint accessibility checker before finalizing slides (Review > Check Accessibility)
• Title your presentation (File > Preferences > Summary > Title)
  • If this title isn’t set it will default to “PowerPoint Presentation”

Resources for Accessible Slides

PowerPoint Accessibility tutorial from WebAim is a clear and concise tutorial that includes visuals.

Best practices for making PowerPoint presentations accessible. This is a rich and extensive resource from Microsoft is for building accessible presentation decks from the maker of PowerPoint. Below is a curated list of how-tos with extra information and direct links from the resource.

1. Add alternative text to visuals.
   1. Include alternative text for relevant non-textual content
2. Set the reading order of slide content. 
   1. Make sure content on each slide can be read by a screen reader in the order that you intend
   2. Use built-in slide designs for inclusive reading order, colours, and more
3. Create accessible hyperlink text by adding meaningful and accurate hyperlink text.
   1. People who use screen readers sometimes scan a list of links. Links should convey clear and accurate information about the destination
4. Ensure that color is not the only means of conveying information.
   1. Coding of any kind, including color coding, can be difficult to decipher
      1. If you are using color as a way of communicating meaning add a secondary indicator so that the meaning is clear even when color information is removed. For example:  
         1. use texture, such as dots or lines within a bar graph 
         2. combine colors and symbols on maps (e.g., black star, orange circle, blue square) 
         3. label information with text
   2. Use an accessible presentation template to help make your slide design, colors, contrast, and fonts accessible
5. Use sufficient contrast for text and background colors.
   1. To find insufficient color contrast, use the Accessibility Checker
6. Give every slide a unique title. A title can be dragged off a slide if you don’t want it to show. The title will remain relevant for screen readers.
7. Avoid using tables but if you have to, create a simple table structure for data only, and specify column header information.
   1. Screen readers use header information to identify rows and columns
   2. Use table headers
8. Use a minimum font size of 19px (14pt). 21 to 24px (15 to 18pt) is even better (your presentation will be viewed at closer range than an in-person presentation, therefore, font size guidelines are different than what is being recommended by Power Point), sans serif fonts, and sufficient white space.
   1. People who have dyslexia describe seeing text merge or distort.
   2. Use accessible font format and color
9. Make videos accessible to people who have a vision or hearing disability.
   1. Include closed captions: transcription of dialogue and descriptions of audio cues. Good practice is to use video description within your audio narration. These descriptions are inserted into natural pauses in the program's dialogue.
   2. If you embed a video into your Power Point, make sure it is also accessible.
   3. Use captions, subtitles, and alternative audio tracks in videos

Tips for creating an accessible and inclusive recorded presentation

• If it is an oral presentation, speak clearly and not too fast
• Use simple language; avoid jargon, idioms, etc. (Plain language, accessibility, and inclusive communications)
• When presenting slides be sure to describe what is on the screen. For example:
  • Images in your slides
  • Text on your slides
  • Web pages you visit
• For video presentations audio description is needed to fully convey the experience / information. Either describe in real time (preferred) or provide details in another format (Accessibility tips from Meryl Evans, CPACC (deaf)) 

Resources: WAI's Accessible Presentation Overview

Tips for creating descriptive transcripts for video and audio

A descriptive transcript is the text equivalent of video content. While described video can be a great alternative for some non-visual users, transcripts are a more versatile format that can often address a broader range of needs. For example, people who are deaf-blind cannot perceive described audio, but can translate a descriptive transcript into Braille output.  

• Include all meaningful audio and visual content. 
• See WebAIM’s transcripts resource for more information.
• Because these descriptive transcripts contain both audio and visual information, they are typically presented in a table format, with audio transcribed in one column, and the corresponding visuals in the adjacent column. You can also include additional information for clarity, such as speaker information which can be placed in brackets. Here is an example of a descriptive transcript from the W3C:  

If you already have a transcript of the audio, you can paste the content in the Audio column, and add text descriptions for video elements in the Visual column.  

Contact

If you have any questions about the submission process or requirements, please contact acaw@ocadu.ca

Download Presenter Information Package

Download presenter package as a Word document.