Accommodations

ISLS 2024 Reasonable Accommodations Process

The ISLS Annual Meeting attempts to be inclusive by reducing barriers to participation in the conference. Some ways in which we attempt to accommodate presenters and other attendees are required by law, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, or New York State law on nondiscrimination. Other ways we attempt to accommodate participants are taken by the initiative of ISLS or the local organizing committee, such as providing funds through the ISLS Equity Assistance Committee. In general, we welcome requests for accommodation made in good faith, and we will work in good faith to do our best to support inclusion where practical. Rather than a monolithic approach to accessibility, we are for the first time running a personalized process. In this process, individuals who need accommodation apply via the accommodations process (outlined below), and we will work to resolve these needs as time, resources, and logistics permit.

Why to request accommodation

Accommodations will be available due to:

  • illness/disability
  • caregiving responsibilities
  • travel restrictions (e.g., inability to get a US visa)
  • last minute emergencies (e.g., flights cancelled due to weather, family emergencies)
  • other similar unavoidable hardships or restrictions

Accommodations may be available where they would enhance inclusion at the meeting for other reasons, subject to timeline, resources, and facilities. Financial limitations preventing participation have been referred to the ISLS Equity Assistance Committee. Assistance from the committee is no longer available.

Accommodations are available both to presenters and non-presenting attendees, but the process for requesting the accommodations may be different.

Dietary restrictions need not use the accommodations process but should be indicated on the registration form. If you are not sure if your needs are best addressed through the accommodations process, email [email protected].

Note

The reasonable accommodations process is for assisting participants in overcoming barriers to participation such as disabilities or travel restrictions. For general information on lodging at the conference, please instead visit the lodging section of the website. 

Types of accommodation

We anticipate three types of accommodation

  1. In-person accommodations
  2. Accommodation by participating remotely (permission to participate online)
  3. Other accommodations (e.g., funding support, schedule modification, etc.)

As stated above, accommodation through online participation is only one approach at our disposal. The local organizers are committed to doing the best possible to mitigate barriers to participation within the limits of time, resources, and facilities. Which options are possible will depend on how much advance notice is provided. For example, a last-minute request for accommodation due to flight cancellations preventing travel may not allow sufficient time to ensure the scheduled presentation room is set up for live online interaction, and might require showing a prerecorded video of the presenter, where advance notice might have allowed for interactive online webconferencing.

A word on remote (online) participation

The ISLS 2024 Annual Meeting is designed to be primarily an in-person experience, as described in the Hybridity Plan. Remote participation is not supported as a matter of preference, but instead as either principled design through the hybrid symposia track, or as a matter of individual accommodation for those with needs fitting the categories described above. The accommodation process is not intended to allow people to participate remotely as a matter of preference or convenience, including routine scheduling conflicts.

Due to the structure of the annual meeting as an in-person conference format, online participants will not have an equivalent experience to in-person participants. When we provide accommodation to presenters via remote participation, we will do our best to ensure the presenter is able to share their work remotely with conference participants. Special arrangements will be made, supported by the session chairs, to provide online access to the presenters to share their work during their session. The inclusion of a presenter with online participation as an accommodation does not mean the session is now hybrid for all participants. Where presenters and session chairs wish, such sessions may invite broader online participation as part of the ad-hoc online experimentation process, but this is not required. Online presenters will be charged the full registration fee, with a discount for cost savings due to catering, since their participation in all other aspects of the conference costs our organization at least as much as the in-person participants. Remote presenters will, to the best of our ability, have access to tech support from the local organizing committee.

Online non-presenting attendees who wish to seek accommodation will be given the opportunity to self-certify their need for accommodation, and will be charged a significantly reduced registration fee due to the limited access we can provide to the activities of the conference. Such participants will be able to access sessions in the hybrid symposia track, time-delayed time-limited streaming of keynotes, and any ad-hoc online experimental sessions in which presenters choose to enable and support online engagement. Online non-presenting attendees will have very limited access to tech support.

When to request accommodation

We welcome requests for accommodation in three phases. The first phase, early accommodation requests for proposal submitters, has closed. The second phase coincided with the registration window, and closed at the registration deadline of May 10. The last minute accommodations process is described below.

We strongly recommend requesting accommodation as early as practicable. Our ability to respond to your needs may be more limited the longer you wait.

How to request accommodation

While the local organizing committee will avoid requesting intrusive documentation, participants requesting accommodation will have to share enough information to help the organizers negotiate a reasonable accommodation including the broad category of their reason for the request. We may refer your request to the University at Buffalo’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for further engagement if needed.

To request last-minute accommodations follow one of the three options below.

1. For non-presenting attendees who are requesting remote participation as an accommodation, register and self-certify your need for accommodation via the non-presenter virtual registration form. No additional documentation or approval is needed. Non-presenter remote attendees may only have access to time-delayed recordings of the keynotes, and the hybrid symposium track sessions. 

 

2. If you are a registered presenter who needs a last-minute switch to virtual presentation (e.g., illness, flights cancelled, etc.) please follow the following steps:

– email your session chair (if assigned), or the program chairs for your track of the conference (workshops, demos, etc.)

– fill out the “emergency remote request” form at https://ubgse.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eu68VOyJIDTEWUu. Please note that it may still take multiple days to respond to your request, and our ability to support remote presentation will diminish the later the request is received.

 

3. For registered presenters who need a last-minute in-person accommodation please fill out the late accommodations request form at https://ubgse.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8e5NVODSdeLS1M2  Please note that it may still take roughly 1 week to respond to your request, and our ability to support in-person accommodation needs will diminish the later the request is received.