Tools and tips for accessible presentations

Creating accessible presentations broadens the reach of your science. 

For figures, choose a color palette that is discernible by color-blind colleagues. Consider that, on average, about 10 people in an audience of 100 will be color-blind. Free tools like CCA and websites such as Coblis and https://colororacle.org/ allow you to visualize how figures would be seen by color-blind people and can help you in choosing an accessible color palette. For more information on creating accessible figures, the s-Ink website and this recent ISSI Webinar may be useful.

Fonts with serifs, like Times New Roman, Garamond, Baskerville, Georgia, or Courier New can be great for headers or short, emphasized text because they help guide the eye along the line of the text, but can cause issues for people with dyslexia or low-vision. For blocks of text, it is best to use a sans serif font like Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri. 

Use appropriately large font sizes. (Remember that colleagues may be viewing your slides/poster on devices with different screen sizes.)

Speak at a reasonable pace (~1 minute per slide or slower, particularly if your slides are content-heavy) and try to avoid jargon and acronyms as much as possible.

Use words and annotations in addition to colors to communicate information, and verbally describe images and plots.

In order for PDF posters to be accessible to colleagues who use screen readers, we recommend that:

• Figures should have alternative text (alt-text) or descriptive captions. Many commonly used softwares have accessibility checkers that can help with adding alt-text (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat). For more information on alt-text best practices, these Harvard and Microsoft sites may be useful.
• Text should be searchable (i.e., when possible, avoid embedding text in an image file or exporting your entire poster as an image file). 

Questions and requests
If you have questions or requests for the organizers that would enable your full participation in the session, please contact us. We will do our best to help.

Oral Presentations

Format for contributed talks

• You will have 7 minutes to present your slides (12 minutes if you are giving a dissertation talk). 
• Q&A sessions will be done panel style again this year, meaning we will have combined Q&A time for multiple speakers after 3 or 4 presentations. This allows the audience more time to think about the presentations and formulate questions. Please note that slides will not be available during the Q&A.
• Take note of the timing of your Q&A session in the schedule. Please come back to the front of the room (if attending in-person) or be prepared on Zoom (if attending virtually) to be available during your Q&A panel.

Participation information

• Please refer to the meeting program to find out when and where you are scheduled to speak.
• Upload your slides online prior to the meeting. Please see https://warpspeedtech.com/aas-dps24 for more details on supported file types.
• Please arrive at the room or log-in to Zoom at least five minutes prior to your scheduled presentation time.
• In-person presenters will be able to advance their slides from the podium.
• Virtual presenters will receive a Zoom link prior to the meeting that enables each presenter to share their screen and advance slides from their own device. Previously uploaded slides will be available in the room as a back-up option.
• Please join the meeting Slack space to connect with other attendees, who may have questions for you! (Invitations to join Slack will be sent out around mid-September.)

Poster Presentations

Format
PDF and printed (maximum printed size is 44 by 44 inches).

Participation information

• All poster presenters (in-person and virtual) should upload a PDF copy of their poster and (if desired) a pre-recorded 1-minute lightning talk by 4 October so that these can be integrated into the online meeting platform.
• All poster presenters (in-person and virtual) will have space reserved in the poster hall for printed posters (see poster printing instructions below for local printing options). 
• New this year! Think about when and how you will be available to discuss your poster (virtually and/or in person) and include this information on your poster. We will have ‘traditional’ in-person poster sessions at the meeting, but strongly encourage all presenters to actively engage with community members who are participating virtually. Will you be able to set aside time during the conference to discuss your poster via Zoom? Will you be reachable via Slack and/or email? Consider what works for you, and include this information on your poster. 
• How do I include this information on my poster? We suggest including a “how to reach me” box in your poster. This could look something like the examples below:

Useful tools for poster presenters

• Slack is excellent for asynchronous discussions and direct messaging, and has a ‘Huddle’ feature that can be used for video-conferencing. Invitations to join the meeting Slack space will be sent out around mid-September.
• Please feel free to use your personal or institutional Zoom service to set up meetings with other participants. If you would like to set up a meeting using Zoom but don’t have access to a license, please contact the Virtual Organizing Committee Chair (Parvathy Prem, [email protected]) before Friday, 27 September.   
• QR codes can be a useful way to direct viewers to a URL (e.g. a paper, Zoom meeting, etc.). Free online QR code generators include TQRCG, QRCode Monkey and others. 

Poster printing instructions

All poster presenters (in-person and virtual) may choose to have their posters printed locally at a cost of ~$50. Locally printed posters will be delivered to the conference venue and hung in the poster hall before the meeting by staff. If you wish to have your poster printed locally (this is not required), please follow the instructions below:

• Email an appropriately formatted PDF copy of your poster to the vendor ([email protected]) by September 26. (Note: Please do NOT use the UPS website to upload your poster, since we have a special arrangement with the local Boise store.)
• Once you receive a confirmation email that your poster file has been received, please call the vendor (208-338-9979) to provide a credit card for payment.

Lightning talk information

• Your pre-recorded 1-minute lightning talk will be viewable in addition to your poster in the online meeting app and the Exhibit Hall during poster sessions.
  • File Format: We suggest the MP4 format for ease of streaming video over the internet while losing little of its quality in the process
  • Upload lightning talk
• Think of your lightning talk as what you would like to say to someone who walks by your poster when you are not there!
• Feel free to use any software of your choice to record your lightning talk, as long as the file that you upload is in MP4 format. If you have a Zoom account, the "Record" function on Zoom can generate an MP4 file (some step-by-step instructions here).