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Accessible Presentations Guide
This article series provides an overview of pathways for delivering presentations, workshops, etc. for some of digital composition accessibility requirements. This is meant to serve as a starting place, rather than an end-all-be-all to access. Accessibility should be considered throughout all parts of the presentation design process, and designing accessible compositions benefits all people, not just those with disabilities. This article is the first of three in its series: 

Choosing a Physical Space
Planning for Accessible Presentations
Delivering Accessible Presentations

Choosing a Physical Space
If you're not going to be presenting in a face-to-face modality, you can jump to the next article. Before reserving a physical space for the presentation, consider: 

Food: If food will be provided, consider if there is a way for folks to serve themselves from a table without needing outside assistance. Additionally, avoid snacks and surface contamination from tree nuts, peanuts, gluten and seafood.


Lighting: The lighting in the room should be adequate and flexible. You may want to ask the following questions: 




Are the lights able to be adjusted?






Is there adequate lighting for those that need more to see?






Is there the ability to turn off the glare near projector screens?






Are any of the lights flickering which may affect those with migraine or seizure disorders?




Pathways into Space: The pathways to get to and around the space should be flat (or ramped) and free from obstruction. The doorways should be able to be propped or automatic as well as large enough for mobility devices to enter.


Rest, Lactation, and Health Rooms: The space should be near and able to be navigated to without obstruction to lactation rooms, personal health rooms, restrooms with disability access, and an all-gender restroom.


Seating: The seating in the space is able to be moved for access to the tables. The seating should also have non-arm options to be flexible for different body types. The table heights (for both presenters and participants) should be between 28-34 inches from the floor.


Signage: The signage to the room and its location is easily perceivable and understandable, including the use of Braille. Emergency signage is not above eye height for those in wheelchairs. 


Smells: Avoid a space that may have chemical or deep fragrances. Note that this may also mean that presenters should not wear scented items on days of the presentation.


Travel: The space should be with facilities that allow for disability parking. The elevators should be in working condition, and the path to the room should be unobstructed.


Technology: There is a working microphone and speaker in the room, preferably. If using digital technology, it should be able to be reached and accessible for the presenter as well as have the functionality for assistive devices (e.g., closed caption, Job Access with Speech (JAWS)).

Gratitudes and Resources for Accessible Presentations
The first iteration of this series came from the work of Raven Baugh and Bethany Meadows for the East Center Writing Center Association’s 2022 conference, sponsored by the Writing Center at Michigan State University.

Ada Hubrig’s 2021 "Conference on Community Writing Presentation Accessibility Guide"
Conference on College Composition and Communication’s 2024 "Conference Accessibility Guide"
Composing Access’ “Preparing Your Presentation”

Continue to the next article in this series, Planning for Accessible Presentations.This article, Accessible Presentations Guide: Choosing a Physical Space © 2024 by Bethany Meadows, is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. The cover photo for this article, "Earth Day Presentation" by NASA Goddard Photo and Video, is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

What is the Office of Civil Rights?
At Michigan State, the Office of Civil Rights includes Prevention, Outreach, and Education Department (POE), the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), the Office of the ADA/Section 504 Coordinator, the Resolution Office, and the Office of Support and Equity. OCR’s goal is to make campus a safe and inclusive environment for all students, staff, and faculty.
What role does OCR play in digital accessibility on campus?
OCR is responsible for creating and maintaining MSU’s digital accessibility policy, particularly in making sure it is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act. This policy includes details of technical guidelines for making university sites accessible. The OCR can also connect you with digital accessibility liaisons, and they provide a form for reporting MSU affiliated sites that are not digitally accessible. Learn more about OCR’s role in digital accessibility on campus here.
Who should I contact about digital accessibility in OCR?
The OCR has formed a digital accessibility team that leads initiatives to connect individuals on campus with resources related to creating accessible websites and course content. The team also evaluates technologies and software for their accessibility components.
The digital accessibility team leads digital accessibility initiatives and implementation at MSU. The digital accessibility team provides resources and tutorials for accessible web development, course, and content development, and reviews and evaluations of technology products and software for the MSU community.
The Digital Accessibility Team includes: 

Digital Accessibility Coordinator - Dennis Bond - ocr.dennisbond@msu.edu
Accessibility Review Coordinator - Josie Davidson - ocr.josiedavidson@msu.edu
Accessibility Data Programer - Kristoffer Bakken - ocr.KristofferBakken@msu.edu
Digital Accessibility Specialist - Liz McDaniel - ocr.lizmcdaniel@msu.edu

This article is part of the Digital Accessibility Toolkit.

The below guidebook overviews intentionality and inclusivity in teaching as well as care-based pedagogy and strategies. 


24FA_Building Intentionality, Care, & Trust by Bethany Meadows

Please apply here by February 19:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1N3H76YYEDzlYuN1jZKp3EVy6K7mbo9AivP-142eyd9I 
Epistemic Justice Fellows: Incorporating Students’ Home and Community Knowledge in Teaching and Learning 
 
To instructors in the arts, humanities, and natural sciences and STEM fields: 
We invite faculty (of any appointment type), academic specialists who teach, and graduate students who teach to apply for the interdisciplinary Epistemic Justice Fellowship for this Spring 2025.   
 
This Fellowship is designed to support instructors who want to add or change an assignment, activity, or module/unit in a course to incorporate students’ home and community knowledge, such as students’ home languages, student knowledge about their communities, or home and community knowledge about the natural world. Incorporating and valuing student experiences as assets can positively impact student learning about subject matter as well as enhance student engagement, enjoyment, and belonging. 
 
Fellows will receive $500 at the conclusion of the fellowship. Fellows are expected to:

Develop a new or change an existing activity/assignment/module to incorporate students’ home or community knowledge, and present this work to the cohort
Provide a collegial community for the rest of the cohort who will also be working on their own courses
Attend three Fellow meetings (most in person) from 10AM-12PM on the following Tuesdays:

February 25: Kickoff - foundational concepts and identifying changes to your courses
March 25: Midpoint meeting - check in and group discussion on fellows’ projects, followed by mini-workshop on “Facilitating Teaching Workshops”
April 22: Presentations of fellows’ change or addition to their courses 

Attend the lecture/workshop series connected to this topic, consisting of 3 public talks, some in person and some virtual, throughout the semester (dates TBA - but exceptions/alternatives can be made if those dates are not feasible for a fellow)  
Commit to offering a workshop or mentorship opportunity in the future for colleagues in your own field related to valuing home and community knowledge  

Please apply here by February 19:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1N3H76YYEDzlYuN1jZKp3EVy6K7mbo9AivP-142eyd9I 
 
Please note that if you are not sure if your course would be make sense for this fellowship, you are very welcome to contact the organizers at mollelle@msu.edu and troutma1@msu.edu to ask; for example, if you wanted to allow an existing assignment on any topic to be written in the student’s home language for a first draft, that could apply to any subject matter in any course with any writing. 
 
This Fellowship and lecture series are graciously supported by:
Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant from Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Arts and Letters
Office of the Assistant Dean for STEM Education in the Office of Undergraduate Education
 
Organizers: Denise Troutman, Sophie Huss, Ellen Moll
Additional PIs: Kristin Arola, Marcie Ray, Stephen Thomas

Teaching for Equity in Treacherous Times
In over half of US states legislators have introduced bills that would limit or prevent DEI-related curriculum and programming in higher education. There are additional legislative threats to the rights of LGBTQIA2S+ individuals in education. Movements to restrict college and university instructors’ academic freedom are permeating state legislatures, boards of higher education, and boards of trustees. Although postsecondary education in Michigan is not currently facing anti-DEI legislation the time is right for understanding why and how equity and inclusion should be central to our work as educators at MSU. This talk will offer context for understanding the stakes we face and what is at stake for our institutions and students, as well as strategies for moving forward within a national and state context divided on our rights and responsibilities to teach in ways that advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in higher education.



Click here to view on MediaSpace
Kris Renn
Kristen A. Renn, PhD, is the Mildred B. Erickson Distinguished Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education and serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for Student Success Research at Michigan State University. With her background in student affairs administration and commitment to equitable opportunities and outcomes, Dr. Renn’s focuses her research on the learning, development, and success of minoritized students in higher education. She is author or co-author of nine books about higher education, including Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice and College Students in the United States: Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes. She is Michigan State University’s Liaison to the University Innovation Alliance and co-Principal Investigator on several grants related to increasing success for low-income and underrepresented students.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
 
What Do I Mean By “Inclusive”?
 
Before I start discussing how your content and curriculum design choices can be more inclusive, let’s start with a working definition for an inclusive classroom. According to the Association of American Colleges & Universities, inclusive classrooms are learning spaces where “active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity” occurs “in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathetic understanding of the complex individuals interact within systems and institutions.”  So, as an instructor concerned about inclusive teaching, I encourage you do consider how your course content and assignments both represent a diverse (for example, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, nationality, epistemological perspectives) set of scholarly voices and how you can hold yourself – and your students—to more inclusive standards of behavior and discourse in the classroom.
 
Inclusive Classrooms Require Intentional Thought and Not “Extra Work”
 
Creating an inclusive environment in your classroom does not require “extra work” – what it requires is “intentional thought” in how you plan and implement your classes. This involves a deliberate awareness of the decisions you’re making and the impact they have on how you represent your discipline and the multiple voices connected to it. I’d argue that this level of intentionality is a key hallmark of curriculum design across disciplines.
 
Four Tips Toward Inclusive Curriculum Design
 
(1) Select the work of scholars from different cultural or paradigmatic backgrounds: Make sure you are presenting a variety of voices and perspectives across the course readings, videos and material you select.  Additionally important is presenting a full spectrum of disciplinary paradigms in the field so that students have a full picture of disciplinary conversation(s).
 
(2) Acknowledge the limitations of course material with regards to demographic representation: Frame what you are providing and point out the potential limitations of your materials. This can help students see how and why you have made the decisions you did. This can also help students to get a better window into your teaching decisions and engage alongside you critically.
 
(3) Pay attention to WHO and HOW you represent in your presentation slides, case studies, videos, and guest panels: As with our tips above, it’s important that the slides, case studies, and videos you use reflect multiple voices and backgrounds. Additionally, it’s important to pay attention to how various individuals and groups are portrayed in these materials. In their portrayals, are you sending the messages you want sent to a diverse group of students?
 
(4) Maximize the inclusion of all student voices in instructional activities: Make sure you provide multiple opportunities and safe spaces in your classroom for all student voices. Not all students will immediately respond to one way of engaging in the classroom, so make sure your approaches vary and respond to what you have come to know about the different students in class. We will share more specific tips about instructional activities in later posts.

Title: Creating a “Friendlier” Syllabus: One that Considers Brain Science and Promotes Student Equity, Belonging, and A Growth MindsetPresenter: Mary Beth HeederFormat: WorkshopDate: May 11th, 2023Time: 1:30 pm - 2:30 pmClick to registerDescription:As they read their syllabi there are some students who wonder, “Can I do this? Do I belong in this class and in college? The negative stories the students tell themselves and come to believe discourage them from using academic and social supports that can help them build attention, engage, and flip the negative narrative. Instead, the negative thoughts and self-talk set into motion a downward cycle that can lead to what many of us have seen and are seeing in our classrooms – “a stunning level of disconnection.” Decades of research show that brain science and instructor mindset, the degree to which instructors believe every student is capable of meeting their expectations, have a measurable effect on student learning. Syllabus language, which communicates mindset, can affect student outcomes. During this session those in attendance will experience how the syllabus can be used as a tool that promotes belonging, equity, a growth mindset, and learning. Objectives include considering the impact of instructor mindset on student learning and adding to the syllabus belonging and growth mindset messages informed by brain science so the syllabus becomes a tool that can reverse negative recursive cycles about belonging and learning. Those intending to attend should bring a copy of the syllabus they are working on or one they plan to revise; during the Workshop they will have an opportunity to begin to design “a friendlier syllabus.”

Accessible Presentations Guide
This article series provides an overview of pathways for delivering presentations, workshops, etc. for some of digital composition accessibility requirements. This is meant to serve as a starting place, rather than an end-all-be-all to access. Accessibility should be considered throughout all parts of the presentation design process, and designing accessible compositions benefits all people, not just those with disabilities. This article is the second of three in its series: 

Choosing a Physical Space
Planning for Accessible Presentations
Delivering Accessible Presentations

Template Slides
I have created template slides for educators to use and adapt for their contexts. These template slides guide the user through accessibility considerations and were designed to be accessible.
Planning for Accessible Presentations
In addition to the template, there are additional considerations for access with presentations. 
Access Copies and HandoutsAccess copies, also known as scripts, are a way for your participants to follow along. It is also helpful for Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioners or sign language interpreters. There are many ways to create access copies, such as providing a transcript of the talk, providing an outline of the talk per slide, and/or providing a list of important terminology (e.g., quotations, proper names, acronyms, jargon). In addition, access copies can be circulated electronically or in print. For print copies, it is generally recommended to bring a third of the prints compared to your total audience attendance. About 30% of these prints should also be in large print of 20-point font. CaptioningHave a plan for captioning the presentation and plan ahead for any CART captioners in attendance to sit near the presenter. Recorded presentations and any videos/audio within them should have captions. To caption real-time presentations, there are many options: 

Captioning with PowerPoint
Captioning with Google Slides
Captioning with Zoom

Content WarningsCertain topics of discussion or multimedia depictions can trigger trauma reactions. For these, consider if they are necessary to the presentation, and if they are, give content warnings for the information. Inclusive LanguageThere are many considerations for presentation delivery: 

The work should avoid jargon and idioms that are not understandable for a wide audience. 
Acronyms should not be used without first defining them.
Avoid using language that excludes and/or harms participants, such as ableist language or genderist language (e.g., “ladies and gentlemen,” assuming the gender of a participant). 

PracticeIn the practice for the presentation, you should be thinking about a final accessibility check. This includes making sure your speaking speed is conversational as well as practicing verbal multimedia descriptions and aural indicators. Multimedia descriptions are the alternative text that is integrated into the presentation aloud. Aural indicators are to announce a new name when switching speakers (e.g., “Bethany here”).
Gratitudes and Resources for Accessible Presentations
The first iteration of this series came from the work of Raven Baugh and Bethany Meadows for the East Center Writing Center Association’s 2022 conference, sponsored by the Writing Center at Michigan State University.

Ada Hubrig’s 2021 "Conference on Community Writing Presentation Accessibility Guide"
Conference on College Composition and Communication’s 2024 "Conference Accessibility Guide"
Composing Access’ “Preparing Your Presentation”

Continue to the next article in this series, Delivering Accessible Presentations.This article, Accessible Presentations Guide: Planning for Accessible Presentations © 2024 by Bethany Meadows, is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. The cover photo for this article, "Planning Key" by Mike Lawrence, is licensed under CC BY 2.0.