Society for Disability Studies

Guidelines for Presenters

Accessibility is a priority for SDS. In order to make the program accessible to our diverse membership, we ask that all participants commit to some measures that will tangibly improve the event. Although we understand that this may involve more effort by presenters, we appreciate your commitment to helping us apply our principles of inclusiveness and fairness more fully. If you have questions or concerns about the following policies, please contact Alison Kafer or Petra Kuppers.

DEADLINES:

Please submit a copy of your paper, notes for your presentation, or a script of your performance to Petra Kuppers by May 15th. Advance copies of your presentation will be sent to our interpreters so they can be maximally prepared; without this advance text, they might not be able to interpret your work fully, rendering your presentation inaccessible to some audience members. We recognize that not all presentations are suitable for “draft versions”: alternatively, you can hand in a list of names, core concepts, and difficult words you foresee yourself using. Failure to submit advance copy by May 15th may result in your being removed from your panel.

Advance copies of your presentation will also enable moderators to provide more thorough introductions and to facilitate discussions more effectively. In addition, we strongly encourage you to share your text with your co-panelists prior to the conference. Doing so may foster more meaningful discussion during the question-and-answer session.

TIME LIMITS AND PACING:

In order to foster dialogue between the presenters and the audience, time limits must be closely followed. Since each session is 75 minutes long, please adhere to the following guidelines: if you are part of a three-person panel, your maximum time allotment is 20 minutes; if you are part of a four-person panel, you have 15 minutes; if your panel has a discussant or respondent, adjust the time limits accordingly. Moderators will assist panelists in staying within the guidelines so that all presenters have equal time to share their work. Adhering to the time requirement also insures that audience members have an opportunity to share ideas and ask questions.

Please practice your presentation prior to your session in order to make sure that your remarks are within the time limits. Rushing through your presentation will make your work less accessible to your audience, as sign language interpreters and captioners cannot keep up with rushed speech. Speaking at a relaxed pace will also make your presentation more inviting to all and more accessible to those for whom English may be difficult to understand or access readily.

PRESENTATION FORMATS:

It is common practice for presenters at many academic conferences to read directly from their papers. If this mode of presentation is most productive for you, please bring hard copies of your paper to share with the interpreters and the audience (both large print-18pt-and small print-12pt). Remember to time your presentation prior to your session to insure you can read at a reasonable pace within the time limit.

However, we would like to strongly encourage presenters to refrain from merely reading their papers. Reading directly from a paper reduces eye contact between speakers and audience members, which reduces accessibility for some participants. We invite you to consider adapting your paper into an outline format, for example, making it easier for you to move through your ideas. Or, you can try frequently rehearsing your paper so that you are able to talk through the paper without reading it word for word.

AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT:

Each room will have an LCD projector and screen. There will be laptops available in each room, but we encourage presenters using the projection equipment to provide their own computers. If you require other A/V equipment, please contact Alison Kafer by April 1st.

Thank you,

Alison Kafer and Petra Kuppers