Accessibility

• Provide transparency on our efforts
• List accommodations we can and cannot provide
• Provide contact information to request any accommodations that may have been missed or undocumented
• Encourage feedback from the community to suggest how we can be more inclusive in the future.

We’re working with our content curators to ensure all talks are inclusively crafted. Speakers are strongly recommended to:

• Complete a Google Sheets accessibility checklist based on Allison Ravenhall’s article Inclusive Design for Accessible Presentations.
• Attend an inclusive presentation seminar, read an inclusive presentation handout, and review Allison’s article.

The DC Design Week and AIGA DC teams are working on:

• Targeting WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for our website and presentation materials which includes meaningful alt text, respecting reduced motion preferences, and understandable heading structures. We can’t cover everything as a small team of volunteers, so if you see something wrong please let us know at designweek@dc.aiga.org.

• Creating more documentation and templates for DCDW accessibility including:

  • Inclusive presentation seminars and handouts
  • Accessibility checklists for speakers
  • Accessibility statements for events.

AIGA National is also auditing and redesigning the template used by all chapters, including DC, to make registration and access to videos more accessible to everyone. Is there anything else we should be doing? Let us know by emailing our accessibility team at accessibility@dc.aiga.org.

We’re providing the following accommodations for our events:

• Real time CART (live captioning) services and transcriptions for virtual events.

• Some recordings will be shared with captions in the AIGA DC recordings archive for AIGA members to rewatch or catch up on at a later date.

  • If you’re not an AIGA member, you can register for a membership on our website. We’re a 100% non-profit entity, so this goes a long way to keeping us afloat.
  • AIGA National is currently auditing and redesigning the template used by all chapters, including DC, to make registration and access to videos more accessible to everyone. If you have difficulties registering or accessing the recordings in its current state, please let us know at dcdw@dc.aiga.org.
  • We can’t guarantee that all of our events will be able to share recordings as some talks may contain classified information. If we’re unable to do so, we’ll disclose that ahead of time in each of the event’s descriptions.

• Volunteers at every event monitoring chats and conversations for compliance to AIGA’s Code of conduct.

• When possible, we’ll share materials and presentations for an event prior to it starting. Follow along comfortably with your own technology and at your own pace.

  • We can’t guarantee that all of our events will be able to share their materials ahead of time because some talks may contain classified information or may not have the resources and time to do so.

We’re still at the beginning of our accessibility journey and want to be transparent about the limitations around our budget, experience, volunteer resources, and timeline. Accommodations that we may be unable to be provided include:

• Sign-language interpretation
• Language translation
• Transportation to and from events.

We recognize that our events are still not completely accessible by default. If you need an accommodation for any of our events, please contact us using a method that works best for you:

• Email our accessibility team at accessibility@dc.aiga.org.
• Call or text our accessibility lead Josh Kim at 571-422-2656.
• Request an accommodation through our Google Form.

We honor your privacy. No identifying information like your name is required to request an accommodation, and all details will be deleted once completed.