March 2023 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date

3/14/2023

• Opening quotation 
  • “‘If you don’t respect yourself and if you don’t demand what you believe in for yourself, you’re not gonna get it.’ Thank you, Judy, for your lifetime of advocacy for our communities.”
    • Tweet from ACLU 
    • Article about Judy Heumann’s life and disability advocacy
• Invited Guests: 
  • Winter McLeod - ITS Support Services / ODEI Intern
    • Accessible Meetings Checklist
    • Slides
  • Basis of the Checklist
    • Started with 10 tips for accessible meetings
    • Led to ODEI’s webpage on accessible & inclusive events
      • The checklist is based on the website, but is a shorter version of the information that is more easily shared and used
  • Topics 
    • Scheduling
    • Selecting an event space
    • Food and drink
    • Safety
    • Personal assistance
    • Hybrid and virtual event considerations
    • Microphones and sound
    • Captions and ASL
    • Marketing and materials
    • Access or accommodation statements
    • What to do during in person and virtual events 
  • Includes links to external resources, also created by Winter/ODEI
    • A document on what to include in access and accommodations statements
    • A slideshow on making materials accessible
    • An email address to field questions and provide feedback
      • [email protected]
  • How CfDC can help
    • Email [email protected] by this Friday, March 17th with any suggestions/edits
      • All feedback has been helpful so far
      • Any comments of things to add would be helpful, trying to think through every possible opportunity to increase accessibility
      • Feedback is also welcome after the 17th, but there is a lot of pressure in ODEI to get this guide out ASAP
    • Share the guide with anyone who may be interested and/or is planning events
  • Discussion and Questions
    • What are the possible paths for reporting accessibility issues before/during/after an event?
      • Emailing Digital Information Accessibility Coordinator (Phil Deaton) and/or Assistive Technology Manager (Jane Berliss-Vincent) directly
        • This is a lot of work for them
      • Contacting the ADA team
      • Emailing the event host directly
        • These email requests are usually after the event, and usually more effective when coming from someone in a leadership role
      • If an LSA space/event, go to LSA technology services to ensure tech accessibility (must contact in advance of event though)
    • CfDC members would like to add more expanded resources about technology for hybrid and virtual events (microphones, videos, etc.)
      • Collaboration with LSA tech services going forward!
      • LSA can set the standard for what a department can do with lots of resources, and other departments without those resources can aim for 
        • And Central university will feel more pressure to better resource the departments that can’t currently reach LSA standards 
    • Remember that hosting an accessible event takes more time and effort, so as people start planning, it’s easier to start thinking of these things earlier
      • There’s been more department level movement on these fronts after the start of the pandemic, so we can hopefully keep that momentum going
      • For a large conference (600+ people) that is fully accessible (or as accessible as possible), may want to start planning more than a year in advance
    • A top down, proscriptive resource like a checklist is helpful, but might also be helpful to have a braindump of resources and specific ideas from accessibility experts
      • Maybe a slack environment with different channels for different topics? (ex. Physical accessibility, event support, interpretation and ASL and CART, etc.)
• Announcements
  • There is now an accessibility team within ITS!
    • Including an Accessibility Associate Director (Stephanie Rosen, prior CfDC chair) starting in April
  • Motion activated lights - don’t always pick up on movements in an effective way, and sensors are not always pointed in the right direction
    • Suggestion to stick to regular lightswitches
    • In the meantime, a long stick with tassels to swing around may help to reactivate the lights
    • The building managers/facilities can program how long the lights stay on (ex. Minutes vs. hours)
      • For LSA: Matthew, LSA Facilities:  https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/faculty-staff/facilities---operations.html
      • Can also reach out to Disability Navigators for this too, they can steer you in the right direction
  • Michigan Medicine is having a Health Equity Month
    • Two webinars about accommodations featuring information about the disability tab in MyChart and protocols for the process
    • Also a presentation on ableism in medicine!
    • More information will be included in CfDC newsletter