Principles of Universal Design for Presentations

Universal Design is the idea that something should be designed in a way that it can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people no matter their age, race, sexual orientation, or ability. Universal design is the most inclusive way to meet the largest range of an audience possible. The universal design framework creates a learning environment where all learners are able to participate and understand. See Universal Design for Learning Guidelines and the resources below for more information on how to create an accessible, inclusive environment.

The event organizers will be utilizing:

• Closed Captioning for all sessions

Enabling closed captioning makes the event more accessible for many reasons, not just for those with hearing impairment, e.g. if audio gives out, for those who do not speak English as a first language and struggle with choppy audio, or just if you are tired of tiny voices being pumped into your ears all day.

• ASL Interpretation for some sessions

Due to budget restrictions we are unable to secure ASL for all sessions. We do have ASL for all of the keynotes and sessions that specifically requested ASL interpretation.

For many Deaf community members, sign language is their first language. Spoken languages and sign languages differ substantially in terms of grammar and vocabulary, so an interpreter can effectively bridge communication barriers and facilitate understanding.

• Wellness Breaks each day

Our event days are long, and the content covered each day could be intense especially for oppressed folx with traumatic experiences. Breaks between each session and a more fulsome midday break marked explicitly for wellness makes room for decompressing and recharging, so presenters and participants are better able to be present and engaged during sessions, and less likely to burn out.

The event organizers created a short list of suggested ways presenters can incorporate principles of universal design and abolitionist values into their presentations. This list is shaped in part by the language, guiding principles, and anticipated outcomes that event registrants said would enable them to become or remain committed, consistent, and enthusiastic presenters and/or participants. This list is not exhaustive.

• Sharing your pronouns in your introductions and (when possible) in your display name or in a button that you are wearing.

  • • This fosters a safe and inclusive environment for people in the trans and non-binary communities, so that they can feel appreciated, welcomed, and included.

    • Normalizing naming one’s pronouns even if you are cisgender, reenforces the humanity of those in the trans and non-binary communities who may have been misgendered or discriminated against in the past.

• Using humanizing language when referring to those who are/have been incarcerated and/or otherwise impacted by carceral oppression.

  • • Using people first language (if that is your preference or your community’s practice), and language that refrains from perpetuating criminalization and other forms of oppression can help disrupt stereotypes and other harms.

    • Formerly incarcerated students from UC Berkeley’s Underground Scholars Initiative created this guide of preferred humanizing terms.

• Being mindful of the ways practices of oppression can be unconsciously perpetuated.

  • • A conference participant shared a resource from Showing Up for Racial Justice that discusses some ways White Supremacist characteristics can show up and how address them.

• Using a font that is accessible to those with dyslexia and other learning disabilities

  • • One example of this is to use wider set fonts that take up more space so they’re able to effectively differentiate the letters (Helvetica, Courier, Arial, Veranda, and Computer Modern Unicode). Having contrast, but not too much contrast is another way to relieve eye strain.

    • This website outlines more specifically how to create a powerpoint presentation to be inclusive for audience members with visual differences.

• Audibly describing the appearance of the speaker(s) and imagery in presentation slides.

  • • It’s important to audibly describe the appearance of the speaker(s) and images used in presentation slides for audience members who may be blind, have low vision, or other various visual abilities.

    • Audio description is just another way to make the presentation even more accessible and give viewers who may not be able to see a visual representation of what to picture on the screen.

• Speaking into a microphone at a reasonable pace.

  • • Microphones project your voice and reduce ambient sound.

    • Speaking quickly can affect the quality of ASL translation and closed captioning.

• Be mindful of depictions of suffering and harm.

  • • Often depictions of oppression are used to elicit a feeling of empathy and a call to action. However,

      • • Deficit-based portrayals of oppressed folx is itself a type of harm; only focusing on suffering ignores the rich complexity of human experience.

        • Oppressed folx already know they are oppressed. Distressing images or narratives can trigger traumatic stress responses that stem from centuries of traumatic oppression.

        • Indigenous scholar Eve Tuck wrote a great piece on this topic called Suspending Damage.

    • In some cases depicting harm is necessary to make a point. If your presentation entails distressing content, try to incorporate community-care supports in your presentation (e.g. time to debrief emotions that arise, sharing emotional care resources, facilitating a 5-min meditation or other culturally appropriate care practice, etc.).

Additional universal design resources for your presentation:

• What is universal design https://udlguidelines.cast.org/ and http://universaldesign.ie/What-is-Universal-Design/

• How to make a powerpoint that uses universal design https://www.uky.edu/udl/powerpoint

• How to make virtual events more accessible https://rootedinrights.org/how-to-make-your-virtual-meetings-and-events-accessible-to-the-disability-community/

• Accessibility in fonts https://ooligan.pdx.edu/accessibility-in-fonts/

• Audio description https://www.acb.org/adp/ad.html

• Pronouns https://www.mypronouns.org/ and https://www.carleton.edu/gender-sexuality-center/students/pronoun/

Adapted from a handout created by Gabby Medina Falzone and two of her Penn State University interns, Kelsey Harring and Libby Niedland.