Accessing the Conference¶
QUICK LINKS
The key features of this year’s event:
Pre-recorded talks for research presentations are available for viewing anytime after February 25. Explore the archive of pre-recorded talks.
Community discussion boards to interact with attendees outside of sessions via an embedded Circle.so integration. Discuss papers, share reading recommendations and more.
Live Q&A sessions will be facilitated via Sli.do for Keynotes, Panels, Tutorials, and Paper sessions. All sessions will have access to Sli.do except for sessions that are not live streamed, such as CRAFT. These sessions will have limited capacity, so we encourage you to plan in advance if you wish to participate. Watch the live streams and participate in the Q&A on the conference hub. You do not need to register for a Sli.do account ahead of time in order to access the Q&A that is integrated into the conference hub.
Most sessions will be live streamed into three streams on the hub. Some sessions, however, are more interactive and require participants to join the Zoom call. In this case, we ask that you download the Zoom desktop application ahead of time.
Access to live sessions will become available on the scheduled day of the session on our conference live stages. We recommend that you log in a few minutes early since all sessions plan to run on time.
Some tips to get the most out of FAccT:
If you are unsure you can attend the sessions live, watch the pre-recorded research paper content in advance of the live Q&A sessions. All attendees have access to the hub where they can watch pre-recorded Paper sessions and submit questions before the session starts. Watch the presentations whenever it is best for you!
Ask a question to an author on the paper’s page before the live Q&A. Your question will be sent to the session chair so they can prepare for the Q&A. This will help the authors accommodate any questions raised by attendees who watched the content prior to the start of the conference or are unable to attend live.
Engage on the Community discussion boards, and discuss with the authors and other attendees about the sessions you have watched. Authors will be instructed specifically to begin monitoring their session boards throughout the event.
Attend the livestream Q&A sessions to engage with the presenters in-person. Upvote submitted questions and watch as the presenters respond in real time.
What you need to Attend¶
The Right Browser: We recommend using Chrome for the best user experience. However, our virtual conference portal works well on Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
Access to Internet: You will need to have access to the internet in order to access the Hub and watch the livestream.
Conference Agenda¶
Please note that all conference times on the hub should show in your local time. Additionally, you will be able to add events to your own calendar to convert to your local time.
Communicating with other attendees during the conference¶
Given the stress of the past year and virtual nature of FAccT 2021, it’s especially important to reflect on your state of mind as you arrive at the conference, and how you communicate with other attendees over the course of the 10 days.
Upon entering a Zoom meeting, we ask that you:
Add your personal pronouns to your display name (if desired and comfortable)
Use the attendees display name to refer to them, and the pronouns they share (if applicable).
Do not record or screenshot any interactive session without notification or consent.
Mute yourself when you are not speaking.
Respect any additional guidelines outlined at the beginning of the CRAFT or Tutorial session you attend.
When joining our Community discussion boards, we ask that you:
Update your profile. Please use the same name you gave during registration, for security reasons. Add your personal pronouns to your profile, if you feel comfortable with this.
Introduce yourself in our Hallway conversations space.
Respectfully communicate with other attendees via Direct Message on Circle. Stop messaging someone if they ask you to. Consent is critical.
For more guidance on this topic, please review our community guidelines.
Accessibility¶
Timezones¶
Timezone equity is a priority for our team, and we planned an extended conference day (12 hours) to take different schedules into account. We recognize that the current schedule is especially difficult for those based in Asia.
Below are some of the steps we’ve taken to make this content available for those who are not able to join the livestream and to create opportunities for asynchronous engagement.
All pre-recorded research presentations are available on the conference hub to view at any time.
Q+A sessions for papers will be livestreamed, but will be recorded and posted to the conference hub later in the day. We are also encouraging participants to ask questions and engage around papers in Circle.so, which can be used to ask questions asynchronously. Moderators for each session will be monitoring the Circle spaces to include these questions in the live Q+A.
Plenary keynotes and panels will also be livestreamed and recorded, and they will be posted to the conference hub later in the day.
Tutorials (which take place tomorrow, March 4), will be livestreamed and recorded, and they will be posted to the conference hub on Monday. There are also tutorial spaces in Circle.so where questions can be asked asynchronously.
CRAFT (which takes place on Friday) will only be live-streamed and not recorded. CRAFT organizers wanted to encourage a participatory environment and chose not to record the sessions.
Captioning¶
All pre-recorded research presentations and keynotes have captions. To view the captions, please turn “on” the subtitles option in the media player.
All Plenary live content (including the Keynote Q+As and the Panels) will be captioned by a captioning service of human transcriptionists.
Those parts of the conference that are interactive and live pose a bit more of a challenge:
Captions for Tutorials will not appear in the live stream on the conference hub, but will be recorded and made available in the recordings with captions. Attendees who require accomodation will be invited to Zoom in order to view them live.
CRAFT sessions will be held in Zoom, and it is our understanding that individuals who join Zoom are able to “turn on” the captioning for themselves.
Captions for Live Q+As following paper presentations will not appear in the live stream on the conference hub, but will be recorded and made available the following day with captions.
We realize that the process for tutorials and live paper q+a is not ideal. Please let us know if there are Tutorials or Q+A sessions that you were planning to attend, and we can work with you to figure a zoom-supported option.
Additionally, we want to recognize the variable, and systematic, errors in auto-transcription as provided by Zoom(tutorials), SlidesLive (paper prerecordings) and Youtube (posted recordings of live events). These concerns were central to our choice to use a paid service for the keynotes and panels, but in order to balance costs, this was not feasible for all sessions. Keeping costs low is another important dimension of accessibility for our community.
Language¶
The conference will be presented in English. Please be aware that English is not everyone’s first language. Come prepared to provide definitions and breakdown jargon and regional idioms you may use, when asked.
Accessibility in FAccT Conference Hub Design¶
Accessibility goes beyond, font size, contrast, and assets. It is about useability for everyone. That is why we designed the FAccT Conference Hub to be as easy and painless to use as possible. On top of being at a success rating of AA or higher according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
We asked ourselves is the Hub:
Perceivable: Can I consume content on my site in different ways?
Operable: Can the site function without confusion and without the use of a mouse or complex interactions?
Understandable: Can a user understand how the user interface of the site functions and the information on the site?
Robust: Can different assistive devices understand the website?
Other accessibility features:
Font Size
AA-AAA Color Contrast
Clear Hierarchy
Alt text
ARIA Labels
Clear Focus States
Helpful Error States S- imple Gestures and Meaningful interactions
Security¶
We have taken many steps to ensure the security and safety of attendees. Here are some of the systems in place:
Only registered attendees can send questions and interact with other attendees within the hub. All activity is tied to a single user identity. If there are any verified breaches of the Code of Conduct, the user will not be allowed to access or participate in the conference. For more information, please review the community guidelines and Policy Against Harassment.
Chosen organisers will be scanning submitted questions and discussion boards for any content that is considered inappropriate, and will be available during the sessions to address issues when they arise.
Only vetted and required attendees will have participant access to Zoom. All other attendees will be able to access the session via the livestream stages.
Only approved questions will be shown to attendees during live Q&A sessions.
Moderators and Zoom hosts will be encouraged to mute or remove participants who do not abide by the agreed guidelines.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative¶
For current information regarding FAccT 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion please visit the DEI webpage.