[BlindRUG] [EXTERNAL EMAIL] Re: UseR! Conference Accessibility

Tue Jul 23 20:44:08 UTC 2019

Thank you so much, Jooyoung and Robin.

I agree that markdown is the most accessible way to follow talks.

I hope more list members will respond with ideas.

Besides the fundamental problem of getting the information in the talks and slides, what inclusion practices would make you feel welcome? Don't limit yourself to legal requirements. Robin mentioned the day-to-day stress of attending conferences-- do you have any ideas about making it easier (for example, one of my suggestions was having either someone from catering or the conference to assist with navigating buffets and break refreshments. I also suggested having a more accessible format for the conference schedule.

The organizers think the poster sessions are a great opportunity for networking, and they have improved access by requiring a 1-minute talk for each poster. As a blind person, in-person social networking opportunities are always challenging for me. Do you have any ideas about how to make them better?

Liz
> On Jul 23, 2019, at 4:48 AM, Robin Williams via BlindRUG <blindrug at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Liz,
> 
> I completely agree with Jooyoung. I am a recent convert to R Markdown, and have enjoyed producing a couple of presentations. When I would attend conferences during my PhD, it would certainly have helped me greatly to have had an R Markdown file in advance or, if not available, a LaTeX source file. The nice thing about R Markdown is that the alt text can easily be added, and the presentation produced in a variety of output formats, if the blind participant isn't happy reading the R Markdown source file.
> 
> In terms of barriers to participation, they are essentially as you describe. I don't have much call to attend conferences these days but, during my studies, I would avoid them where possible. I felt that in general the energy I needed to spend concentrating on only partially following presentations, as well as the day to day stresses, was not a good use of my time. I found it more productive to read papers and contact authors on an individual basis. This, however, would probably not have been the case had the conference materials been more accessible.
> 
> Bests,
> Robin
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindRUG [mailto:blindrug-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto:blindrug-bounces at nfbnet.org>] On Behalf Of JooYoung Seo via BlindRUG
> Sent: 23 July 2019 06:28
> To: Blind R Users Group <blindrug at nfbnet.org <mailto:blindrug at nfbnet.org>>
> Cc: JooYoung Seo <jooyoung at psu.edu <mailto:jooyoung at psu.edu>>
> Subject: [EXTERNAL EMAIL] Re: [BlindRUG] UseR! Conference Accessibility
> 
> Hello Liz,
> 
> I am an R user with a screen reader.
> I think providing audience with original Rmarkdown (Rmd) files would resolve the issue.
> When I produce presentation slides, I use either
> rmarkdown::powerpoint_presentation() or xaringan::moon_reader() as output.
> And, I provide people with the original Rmd source file upon request.
> The Rmd file can be open with any plain text editor and read by assistive technology very accessibly.
> Hoping this helps.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Jooyoung
> 
> 
> On 7/22/19, Liz Hare via BlindRUG <blindrug at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Dear all,
>> 
>> I have just joined FORWARDS, the R Foundation Taskforce on Women and 
>> Other Underrepresented Groups. Jonathan is already a member.
>> 
>> I've used R for almost 15 years and am almost completely self-taught. 
>> I've never attended an R conference, because I imagined that I would 
>> spend more time wondering what was going on than learning. There's 
>> usually an accessibility problem when someone is giving an oral 
>> presentation with slides, because there's an assumption that the 
>> audience is seeing it and hearing it at the same time. I am doing an 
>> online course right now involving coding and finding it really 
>> frustrating to match up my notes on the oral presentation with the available code.
>> 
>> I started a conversation with FORWARDS and they are interested in 
>> improving access by, for example, asking that presenters make their 
>> slides available in advance so they can be read with a screen reader 
>> while listening to a talk. We talked about Markdown being a great 
>> format for this. We've also talked about things like providing 
>> guidance on  audio description of graphics, using descriptive 
>> alt-tags, putting the conference schedule in a format that can be read with a screen reader, etc.
>> 
>> I would really like input from people on this list about what kinds of 
>> inclusive practices would make it more likely that you would feel the 
>> conference is worth your time. Even if you don't know how to fix them, 
>> what barriers are there to your participation in conferences about 
>> coding, or any other professional conferences in your field?
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Liz
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Liz Hare, PhD
>> Dog Genetics LLC
>> doggene at earthlink.net
>> http://www.doggenetics.com <http://www.doggenetics.com/>
>> 
> 
> 
> --
> --------------------
>  JooYoung Seo, CPACC
>  Ph.D. Student,
>  Learning, Design, and Technology
>  Learning and Performance Systems
>  The Pennsylvania State University
>  Site: http://www.jooyoungseo.com/
>  Phone: +1 (814) 777-5825
>  E-mail: jzs323 at psu.edu
> 
> _______________________________________________
> BlindRUG mailing list
> BlindRUG at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindrug_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for BlindRUG:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindrug_nfbnet.org/robin.williams%40atass-sports.co.uk <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindrug_nfbnet.org/robin.williams%40atass-sports.co.uk>
> The list archive can be viewed at:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindrug_nfbnet.org <http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindrug_nfbnet.org>
> More information and useful links about using R as a blind person can be obtained at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz <http://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/>
> 
> Look for help using R commands by reading the accessible e-book "Let's Use R Now" compiled by Jonathan Godfrey at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html <http://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> BlindRUG mailing list
> BlindRUG at nfbnet.org <mailto:BlindRUG at nfbnet.org>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindrug_nfbnet.org <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindrug_nfbnet.org>
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for BlindRUG:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindrug_nfbnet.org/doggene%40earthlink.net <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindrug_nfbnet.org/doggene%40earthlink.net>
> The list archive can be viewed at:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindrug_nfbnet.org
> More information and useful links about using R as a blind person can be obtained at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz
> 
> Look for help using R commands by reading the accessible e-book "Let's Use R Now" compiled by Jonathan Godfrey at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindrug_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190723/87336f21/attachment.html>