As you begin to plan your event, here are some considerations for making your event welcoming and inclusive.
Choosing a Venue
In-Person & Digital Site Selection
Choose a venue that meets ADA requirements. For a physical space, that includes elevators, ramps, and automatic doors. For a digital space, that includes access to video, audio, and captions.
Additionally, as you choose your venue, think about what kinds of activities you’re planning on hosting at the event, and what your ideal physical set-up for those events is.
For in-person events:
Activity Spaces to Consider
- Rooms, tables, and chairs for small group work or discussion
- Clear floor space for large group activities
- Low chairs and couches plus clear floor space for socializing
- Reserved seating for users with mobility aids, service animals, and ASL interpreters and their clients
- Chill-out space for decompression, with controllable lights, closeable door, and plain walls
- Space to hang large signs, or set them up on stands that does not block the flow of traffic
- Food service area: will it be in the same room? Is it buffet-style or sit-down service?
- Ability to move and arrange chairs and tables to preserve wide aisles for mobility users
- Indoor and outdoor spaces for eating
Registration and Accommodation Requests
Choose an Accessible Registration System
Registering for your event should be both accessible and easy for people with and without disabilities. It should also be accessible and easy for people to create an event listing in the system.
Most event registration is done online. While there are many choices of online registration systems, we recommend UVM's Qualtrics system.
- Log into Qualtrics at http://qualtrics.uvm.edu
- Create a new survey, and add your standard event registration fields: Name, Email Address, Phone Number, number of tickets.
- Publish the survey.
- Under the Post-Survey section, you can create an email response that will be sent to guests when they register: "Send a Thank You Email". This will help guests know that they have confirmed a seat at your event.
Eventbrite.com does not meet UVM's standards for accessibility. Google Forms do not comply with UVM's legal requirements for gathering information.
Make the Registration Easy to Understand
When you create your registration form, make sure it includes the following information:
- Event Title
- Start Time
- End Time
- Location
- Sponsoring Group Name
You want guests to have the most amount of information about your event right from the start.
Accommodation Requests
Here are some frequently requested accommodation requests:
- Virtual event: ASL interpretation, live captioning (of both the presenter and any materials being shown during the presentation), being sent the materials beforehand, a recording of the event afterwards.
- In-person event: ASL interpretation, captioning of any audio or video materials being shown at the event, Braille signs to the venue, multiple methods of signaling the start and end of the event, and a map of the venue showing elevators, ramps, and restrooms.
You can make your event run more smoothly by planning for these types of requests at every event you organize.
At UVM contact the Campus Access Center to request an ASL interpreter or a live captioner. You can also choose buildings and rooms on campus that you know will be more accessible to guests.
How to welcome accommodation requests
You should make it easy and welcoming for guests to let you know what accommodations they need before the event.
- Easy: it should be obvious on your registration form how to submit an accommodation request.
- Welcoming: no one should be made to feel bad or awkward for asking for accommodation.
You can make your registration form easy and welcoming with something as simple as:
"We will provide ASL interpretation, live captioning, advance notice of the materials, and a recording of the event afterwards. If you'd like any additional accommodations, please request them in the box below. If you have any questions on accessibility for this event, please contact This Person, at this.person@uvm.edu, or (802) XXX-XXXX."
Make sure to reach out to the person who requests accommodation, so that they know the status of their request, and so that you fully understand what they're asking for.
Advertising, Flyers, and Websites
After you open registration for your event, you want to promote it. Remember that all your event promotions, such as online ads, social media posts, printed and electronic flyers, and websites, should be accessible.
At a minimum, this means:
- Alt-text for images
- Plain language everywhere
- Large, easy-to-read text with strong color contrast (see Fonts and Readability for details)
- Accessible .pdfs
- Mobile-responsive websites
What to Include In Your Advertising
In promoting your event, you want to include enough information to attract people to the event, but not overwhelm them with details. Include:
- Event Title
- Speaker Name (if applicable)
- Sponsoring Group Name & Logo
- Date and Time
- Location
- Virtual or In-Person
- URL for more information
Pro Tip 1: Use a URL-shortening service, such as go.uvm.edu to create a short URL for your event or your group. Short URLs are much friendlier for screen readers, easier to type in for people with hand, wrist, or arm mobility issues, and easier to remember.
Pro Tip 2: if you're printing flyers, strongly consider including a QR code. QR codes make it possible for people with hand, wrist, or arm mobility issues to avoid having to type a URL into their device. Instead, they can simply swipe the QR code to access the event information.
You can generate an independent QR code from inside Adobe InDesign. InDesign is available to use for free on computers in the Howe Library.
Places to Promote Your UVM Event
At UVM, if you are a registered student group, you can promote your event by:
- Creating a printed flyer to tack on bulletin boards around campus
- Running a simple, compelling message on the Davis Center video screens
- Adding your event to the UVM Campus Calendar through ETS
- Dropping off a printed announcement at the campus radio station, WRUV (in the Davis Center)
- Asking your College or Department whether they can include promotion for your event in their newsletter or social media
Program and Schedule
TBD.
Communicating with Attendees Before the Event
The Email Flow
It's important to keep your guests updated about your event, and many people appreciate reminders. At a minimum, you want to email your guests:
- A confirmation email when they register
- An email a week beforehand, reminding them they registered, and letting them know important details such as time, date, Zoom link (if applicable), Code of Conduct, parking and transportation information, and the presenter's materials. Also let them know how often you'll be emailing them.
- An email 24 hours beforehand, reminding them they registered, and letting them know you're excited they're choosing to attend.
- An email one hour beforehand, reminding them they registered, and letting them know you're excited to see them.
A Note About Online Events
Because people are busy, and most online events will send you the recording afterwards, many people register for online events even when they know they can't make the event. Don't get discouraged!
When people register for your event, you can let them know up front if it's okay they just want the event recording. Make that an option on your registration form, so you can get a more accurate idea of the number of people who are really planning on attending.
With free online events, on average, half the people who register will actually show up.
On the plus side, you're building your email list for your next event!
Codes of Conduct
What's a Code of Conduct? And why do you need one?
Events run more smoothly when everyone agrees upon a set of rules or expectations.
Recently, this has come to be known as a “Code of Conduct,” which is a document outlining behavioral expectations for an event. This is not just for safety, but also so everyone can feel comfortable and welcome at an event.
We suggest that every event should have a Code of Conduct for guests, as well as a Code of Conduct for presenters and organizers.
Code of Conduct for Guests
Guests should know what’s expected of them in terms of behavior at an event. Post the Code of Conduct for guests on your registration website, and email it directly to guests as they register.
Here is our suggested Code of Conduct for Guests:
- Be kind to your own body, and to the bodies around you.
- Please feel free to move around the event space freely as you attend to the needs of your body.
- No one is watching you if you need to leave the space to go to the restroom, stretch, get some air, or chill out. Everyone is much more focused on their own bodies.
- Unwrap and eat your snacks with our blessing. The wrapper might crinkle, but we need you to stay fed and well throughout.
- If you prefer wearing noise-dampening or other types of headphones to the event, please feel free to do so.
- Everybody brought a different kind of body to this event. Be respectful of other bodies and their needs and experiences.
- Keep your hands off other bodies unless given explicit consent by another person. This includes mobility aids such as wheelchairs, canes, and walkers, or headphones, all of which are extensions of another person’s body.
- If you see a service animal at this event, that animal is hard at work. Please do not pet it or otherwise disturb it from doing its job without express invitation.
- To facilitate the discussion portion of the event, we’re going to be using a system of hand-raising. To participate, raise your hand and wait for the moderator to call on you. When the moderator calls on you, they’ll hold a wireless microphone up to your face so that you can ask your question loudly enough to be heard by most guests.
- This event is fragrance-free, and nut-free. This is so we can provide a welcoming space for guests with sensitivities to those items.
- This event is intersectionally anti-racist. We will not tolerate any language or actions that hurt people based on race, ethnicity, physical ability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, class, caste, or preferred language.
Code of Conduct for Presenters
Play fair with your presenters.
As you bring presenters to your event, it’s helpful to give them a Code of Conduct as early as possible in the process, so that they can plan content that creates a welcoming environment.
Here is our suggested Code of Conduct for Presenters:
- This event is intersectionally anti-racist. We will not tolerate any language or actions that hurt people based on race, ethnicity, physical ability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, class, caste, or preferred language. Please review your content for any language or attitudes that might conflict with this important guideline. This includes potentially outdated terms, such as “special needs'' for people with disabilities, or phrases with racist or sexist origins.
- If you are sharing resources created by other people, please review those resources through this intersectionally anti-racist lens.
- Please design activities that do not require physical contact between guests as much as possible.
- Please be respectful during audience participation, and do not touch guests’ bodies without their consent. This includes mobility aids such as wheelchairs, canes, and walkers, or headphones, all of which are extensions of another person’s body.
- If you see a service animal at this event, that animal is hard at work. Please do not pet it or otherwise disturb it from doing its job without express invitation.
- We expect you to use the microphone for your presentation. We will also have ASL interpreters and captioning at the event.
- We will need the contents of your presentation 7 calendar days before the event so we can send that to attendees in advance. As you prepare your materials, please consider that some of your attendees may wish to print materials to bring with them. We will also have a number of printouts of your materials for guests at the event.
- To facilitate the discussion portion of the event, we’re going to be using a system of hand-raising. You will have a moderator who will roam the audience with a wireless microphone, while you stay at the front of the room. The moderator will ask guests to use the microphone for presenting their questions.
- This event is fragrance-free, and nut-free. This is so we can provide a welcoming space for guests with sensitivities to those items.
Code of Conduct for Organizers
Go over the ground rules with your staff.
It's helpful to have all event staff on the same page about how you want your event to run. Do you want staff to greet people at the door? Are you asking them to make sure everyone has a physical copy of the program? Go over what you want from staff, and listen when they tell you what they're comfortable doing. There are all kinds of needs and roles at an event, so there's no need to force a shy person into greeting, when they'd rather be hooking up the audio-visual equipment. And vice versa.
A great way to go over roles and expectations with your event staff is by going over the Code of Conduct for Guests as a group. This gives you a place to start a discussion around event expectations. Take turns reading aloud each expectation. Ask if anyone has questions or concerns.
At the end of the list, turn to roles. Make a list as a group: what kinds of roles do you want or need for this event?
At an in-person event, for instance, you might need the following roles:
- Sign-hanger (including carrying sawhorses to parking lots, taping up signs, and tracking the route from the parking lot to the venue.
- Driver (if you have a lot of supplies, you might want one person to be in charge of bringing a vehicle, and packing it with supplies from the staging area, and then driving to the venue).
- Announcer
- Greeter
- Information Desk (can be mobile. You can have a loving extrovert on hand holding a sign reading, "Questions? Ask me!")
- Audio-visual technician
- Gift-bag stuffer
- Room arranger (can be someone who simply makes sure the reserved wheelchair seating stays available, or helps move and remove chairs to make room for additional mobility aids)
- Catering liaison (can be someone who works to make sure your caterers have everything they need, or can be someone who's making the run to the grocery store for veggie trays)
- Holder of keys
- Promoter
- Designated guest (can be someone who shows up in a guest role and is willing to provide feedback after the event)
There are so many ways to include people who like taking part in events.
