{"id":11,"date":"2021-01-26T23:26:16","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T23:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medicalrhetoric.com\/symposium2021\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2021-08-02T16:21:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T16:21:25","slug":"accessibility-info","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/medicalrhetoric.com\/symposium2021\/accessibility-info\/","title":{"rendered":"Accessibility Action Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Written by Brian Le Lay, University of Minnesota, on behalf of the planning committee\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 2021 RHM Symposium planning committee is devoted to designing an accessible and inclusive virtual experience for attendees, speakers, and presenters. Consistent with the symposium&#8217;s \u201c(Re-)Invention\u201d theme, we&#8217;re reimagining the inclusive potential of virtual meeting spaces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Below we share our (always becoming, ever-evolving) understanding of access and our initial action plan for enacting access in plenary sessions, breakout discussions, and working groups.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"font-size:1.4em\"><b>Access is Intersectional<br \/>\n<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the service of the symposium&#8217;s commitment to convivial conversation and innovative problem-solving, we&#8217;re asking: How will we craft virtual engagements that enable all RHM community members, established and new, to participate fully and meaningfully?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Informed, inspired, and challenged by the category-questioning work of queer\/crip activists, writers, and researchers (e.g., <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/catalystjournal.org\/index.php\/catalyst\/article\/view\/29607\/24771\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hamraie &amp; Fritsch, 2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/library.ncte.org\/journals\/ccc\/issues\/v72-1\/30892\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hubrig et al., 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iupress.org\/9780253009340\/feminist-queer-crip\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kafer, 2013<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/csalateral.org\/issue\/6-1\/forum-alt-humanities-critical-disability-studies-methodology-schalk\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Schalk, 2017<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dukeupress.edu\/bodyminds-reimagined\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Schalk; 2018<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sinsinvalid.org\/disability-justice-primer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sins Invalid, 2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">), our understanding of access is widely inclusive, encompassing (but not limited to):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ability difference<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">marginalized identities across axes of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and age<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">caregiving responsibilities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">time zones<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">funding limitations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">increased budgetary constraints due to the pandemic<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">academic position<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">internet connection speed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">disciplinary perspective<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 style=\"font-size:1.4em\"><b>Access as Process, Collective Responsibility, &amp; Dialogue<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A few corollaries follow from our understanding of access as intersectional:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Access is a messy, ongoing, and unpredictably recursive process. We cannot depend on an &#8220;access&#8221; checklist of general design specs. To make access happen, we must proactively, responsively, and continually (re)align with our community. We will make mistakes and fall short, but we will use those instances as opportunities to listen, reflect, discuss, learn, and improve.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Access is a collective responsibility. We cannot limit our access efforts to accommodations-by-request, and we cannot expect a few vocal and empowered self-advocates to do this important work alone. To make access happen, we must make it a responsibility shared by all community members and symposium attendees.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Access is a polyvocal dialogue. We cannot expect an inclusively-designed symposium to emerge piecemeal from individual minds. To make access happen, we must create opportunities for RHM community members to talk to us and to each other about ways to make the symposium experience accessible. Dialogue drives and shapes our process and makes access a collective construction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 style=\"font-size:1.5em\"><b>Action Plan<br \/>\n<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To craft virtual engagements that enable all RHM community members, established and new, to participate fully and meaningfully, we have developed an initial plan for enacting access before, during, and after the 2021 RHM symposium.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:1.2em\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pre-Symposium<\/span><\/i><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dialogue with the community about the actions we can take to meaningfully prioritize access and inclusion through email, the proposal submission process (which includes questions about inclusion and access), and additional platforms (in progress)\u00a0 to answer questions and discuss the symposium\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Provide resources and guidelines to support attendees in making access and inclusion happen\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ensure that plenary events feature inclusively-designed materials that can be pre-circulated<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Support working paper group participants to enact accessible document design practices throughout the symposium itself<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Schedule symposium events with multiple time zones in mind (e.g., starting events late-morning)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:1.2em\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the Symposium\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Omit registration fees \u2014 in other words, the symposium is free for all attendees\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Begin sessions with access checks\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Provide captioning services throughout the symposium<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Acknowledge the breadth of disciplinary approaches common to RHM and encourage all participants to define key terms\/methods\/theories<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ensure working paper groups and discussion sessions include a mix of scholars representing\u00a0 diversity in terms of career stage\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Designate an Accessibility Point Person who will provide support and answer questions during the symposium<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Designate an Access Volunteer per working group to provide support during the symposium<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:1.2em\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After Symposium\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Provide notes from each discussion and plenary session as well as resources, links, and materials curated during those events\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Circulate a survey to solicit feedback from attendees\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, there are elements of our accessibility action plan that we are still thinking about and want to discuss with the community:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Providing complete transcripts based on captioning services after the symposium\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hiring sign-language interpreters for small groups\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Trying out new session formats or events\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We invite feedback from the community regarding the above items and any other items. Please email us at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:symposium@medicalrhetoric.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">symposium@medicalrhetoric.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"font-size:1.4em\"><b>Acknowledgments &amp; Resources<br \/>\n<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Several resources and on-going conversations in disability studies, writing studies, rhetoric, and technical communication informed the thinking and action items presented here. We acknowledge, amplify, and honor this work and include links (where possible) for further reading:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Applebaum, L. &amp; Asher, E., (2020, March 20). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.respectability.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ensuring-Virtual-Events-Are-Accessible-for-All-RespectAbility-Toolkit.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ensuring Virtual EventsAre Accessible for All<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. RespectAbility.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brewer, E., Selfe, C. L., &amp; Yergeau, M. (2014). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/43501861?seq=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Creating a culture of access in composition studies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Composition studies, 42(2), 151-154.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cagle, L. (2020, August 31). <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arstmonline.org\/2020\/08\/31\/putting-accessibility-first-at-the-arstmnca-2020-virtual-preconference\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Putting Accessibility First at the ARSTM@NCA 2020 Virtual Preconference<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Rooted in Rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/u.osu.edu\/composingaccess\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Composing Access<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Co-sponsored by the Committee on Disability Issues in College Composition (CDICC) and the Computers &amp; Composition Digital Press (CCDP).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.ncte.org\/journals\/ccc\/issues\/v72-1\/30892\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enacting a Culture of Access in our Conference Spaces<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Hubrig, A., Osorio, R., Simpkins, N., Anglesey, L. R., Cecil-Lemkin, E., Fink, M., Butler, J., Stremlau, T., Brueggemann, B.J., Anonymous,\u00a0 Jackson, C.A., &amp; Cedillo, C. V. (2020). Enacting a Culture of Access in Our Conference Spaces. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">College Composition and Communication, 72<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(1).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hamraie, A., &amp; Fritsch, K. (2019). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/catalystjournal.org\/index.php\/catalyst\/article\/view\/29607\/24771\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Crip technoscience manifesto<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">5<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(1), 1-33.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Leary, A. (2020, April 28). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rootedinrights.org\/how-to-make-your-virtual-meetings-and-events-accessible-to-the-disability-community\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to make your virtual meetings and events accessible to the disability community<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Meloncon, L. (Ed.). (2013). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Rhetorical-Accessability-At-the-Intersection-of-Technical-Communication\/Meloncon\/p\/book\/9780895037893\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rhetorical accessability: At the intersection of technical communication and disability studies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Routledge.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Potts, L, &amp; Salvo, M. J. (Eds.). (2017). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/parlorpress.com\/products\/rhetoric-and-experience-architecture\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rhetoric and experience architecture<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Parlor Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pullin, G. (2009). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/books\/design-meets-disability\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Design meets disability<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. MIT Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sang, K. (2018, August 31) \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/higher-education-network\/2017\/aug\/31\/without-accessible-conferences-we-lose-the-voices-of-disabled-academics\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With accessible conferences, we lose the voice of disabled academics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d The Guardian.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sins Valid. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.google.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Skin, Tooth, and Bone: The Basis of Movement is Our People.<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Volger, C. (2020). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deafhhtech.org\/rerc\/accessible-virtual-meeting-tips\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Accessibility Tips for a Better Zoom\/Virtual Meeting Experience<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Deaf\/Hard of Hearing Technology Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Walton, R., Moore, K. R., &amp; Jones, N. N. (2019). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Technical-Communication-After-the-Social-Justice-Turn-Building-Coalitions\/Walton-Moore-Jones\/p\/book\/9780367188474\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Technical communication after the social justice turn: Building coalitions for action<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Routledge.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Brian Le Lay, University of Minnesota, on behalf of the planning committee\u00a0 The 2021 RHM Symposium planning committee is devoted to designing an accessible and inclusive virtual experience for attendees, speakers, and presenters. 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