Most in-person conferences don’t provide specific guidance on preparing a presentation, beyond stating the time limit and when questions will take place. For the inexperienced graduate student, or indeed the non-academic, this can be particularly daunting and another barrier to access. Even seasoned conference speakers may have different opinions about how to present at the conference, which may or may not be in line with up-to-date accessibility guidelines. Some conference organisers, such as Brianna Beehler and Devin Griffiths suggest giving extensive guidance to speakers an chairs, though most of their advice revolves around troubleshooting tech issues. The online conference is a real opportunity to provide specific guidelines that reflect the conference’s overall aims, its accessibility policy and code of conduct. Obviously, it is the speaker’s prerogative how they want to present, but pointing out some ways to ensure presentations are meeting accessibility needs could remove certain barriers for speakers and delegates.
Spheres of Singing made sure guidance was sent to speakers two weeks ahead of the conference. It provided guidance on technology, but also best practices for creating an accessible presentation. As a result, the majority of the presentations aligned with accessibility standards.
Further recommendations with regards to supporting speakers, asking the chair and/or Zoom host to meet with speakers 10-minutes before the panel begins to check they can share their screen, play audio, video and answer any questions. The chair and speaker can then decide how the panel will run, i.e. when questions take place and if questions will be asked in the chatbox or by unmuting delegates. Setting up a waiting room ahead of the session also ensures these conversations are private and do not talk place in front of incoming delegates.
Three supporting panel leaders: Hosts, chairs and co-chairs
We endeavoured to have a host, a chair and a co-chair for every panel at the Spheres of Singing conference. The justification for this was if anyone’s internet dropped out, at least two other people could step in to run the panel. However, each person did have separate duties. The host was responsible for starting the meeting and recording; the chair introduced the speakers and managed the discussion at the end, and the co-host managed the ‘chat’ discussion throughout the session and was available for light-touch technical support if necessary. Specific guidance was sent to chairs and co-chairs a few days ahead of the conference, and this included a scripted opening statement to be read out at the start of every panel. This is a recommendation that is rarely discussed in virtual conference planning guidance but is essential to the smooth running of panels.
We endeavoured to have a host, a chair and a co-chair for every panel at the Spheres of Singing conference. The justification for this was if anyone’s internet dropped out, at least two other people could step in to run the panel. However, each person did have separate duties. The host was responsible for starting the meeting and recording; the chair introduced the speakers and managed the discussion at the end, and the co-host managed the ‘chat’ discussion throughout the session and was available for light-touch technical support if necessary. Specific guidance was sent to chairs and co-chairs a few days ahead of the conference, and this included a scripted opening statement to be read out at the start of every panel. This is a recommendation that is rarely discussed in virtual conference planning guidance but is essential to the smooth running of panels.
Delegate guidance
Delegate guidance was made available ahead of the event and provided some technical support and a general FAQ. This guidance did appear to alleviate the majority of queries, though, in hindsight, it would have been beneficial to provide a video in addition to the written materials, so we could show the technology being used and how to navigate the conference schedule.
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This guidance material has been prepared by Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland and Sophie Boyd.