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Accessibility |
All interactions relating to the OSR should be conducted in accordance with the Code of Conduct. We are additionally taking a number of steps in the OSR to increase representation of marginalised folks and improve the experience of individuals with specific access needs.
Everyone is invited to join us in the OSR, and we would like everyone to feel able to contribute.
- Virtual attendance
- Sensory needs
- Open broadcast for zero-cost registrants
- Participant mini-grants
- Timezone hubs
## Virtual attendance
This year the OHMB and OSR will be open for virtual attendance only. We are excited about this opportunity to bring the OSR to all members of the community.
Before the global COVID-19 pandemic we arranged for a live broadcast of OSR talks to be openly available to the whole community, with tools for speaker engagement and feedback. The move to restructure the entire OHBM meeting to an online only conference has pushed the central organising team and the OS-SIG into making some significant financial and logistical decisions which will greatly improve the opportunities for engagement for those members of our community who are unable to travel to the annual meeting this year or in the future. We dearly hope this meeting will set a precedent for creating high quality and engaging online material, and set the bar for what is possible going forwards. We recognise that this move has been motivated by the changing needs of individuals who have not previously been excluded. We would also like to acknowledge that others may have called for such changes in the past, but had their requests returned as impossible or impractical to achieve. The virtual meeting this year will demonstrate that this is not the case, and indeed we can serve all members of our community whether they are physically present at the meeting or not. The meeting this year will showcase why accessible design benefits everyone, not just those with access needs.
## Sensory needs
We have communicated best practice in designing designing accessible presentations with all our speakers. This includes dyslexia-friendly fonts, colours and formatting. We have also asked our speakers to make efforts to describe all slide content, so their talks can be followed in an audio only format if that is their preference.
For individuals requiring hearing support or who speak English as a second language, we are working hard to provide captions for our live and prerecorded material. This may unfortunately not be possible in all cases.
## Open broadcast for zero-cost registrants
The OSR can be accessed for zero-cost at the point of registration. Zero-cost registrants can watch scheduled talks, take part in live text-based Q&A, host and participate in emergents sessions, and join our scheduled social events!
Broadcast will take place via Crowdcast and DouYu. Both these services allow participants to direct questions to speakers. You will be sent details on how to connect to these services after registration and before the start of the meeting on Tuesday 23rd June.
We also encourage our zero-cost registrants to use Mattermost to chat together, with our speakers and with our volunteer team. If you are not familiar with Mattermost, you can check out the user-guide and this short video describing how it works.
## Participant mini-grants
We are pleased to provide a limited number of participant mini-grants of up to 100 USD. We will consider mini-grant applications from both OHBM registrants and zero-cost registrants. These mini-grants are intended to support engagement and participation in the OSR. These are ideal to assist with buying essential online communication equipment, data packages, or related expenses. Applicants can also suggest a different use of the mini-grant based on their specific needs, however mini-grants will only be considered for the purposes of covering costs directly incurred through participating in this event.
If you would like to apply for a mini-grant, please complete the zero-cost registration form and check the appropriate box. When completing the form you will be asked to state explicitly what you intend to do with the grant money and what benefit you will gain from receiving it. Applications will be reviewed after the meeting, and you will be notified of success and processes of award as soon as possible after. We will prioritise applicants from underrepresented groups and those with specific financial need.
## Timezone hubs
All our content will be repeated three times over 24 hours, to enable you to participate in the OSR at a time which suits you. The day starts in the Asia and Pacific Hub (Hub 1). The same content is then repeated in the Europe, Middle East and Africa Hub (Hub 2), and the day ends in the Americas Hub (Hub 3). Our speakers will be available for live Q&A across as many different time zones as possible. This means you will be able to follow a pseudo-live program and participate in live discussion where ever you are joining from.
View our schedule for your timezone by selecting your hub from the three shown. You will then be able to pick your specific country/city to see times converted to your location. No more time zone conversion! Yay!