Register & Attend

Accessibility

AGU and CUAHSI aim to hold meetings, conferences and other professional events where barriers of any type do not exclude people from attending or participating. WaterSciCon will be hosted in-person and online. We are working to expand access to meeting content through closed captions, transcripts and universal principles of user experience design. Despite those efforts, some content may not be accessible via a screen reader or other tools. Should you have trouble accessing portions of the meeting, please contact WaterSciCon24 Support.

WaterSciCon24 strives to be as inclusive as possible and will have closed captioning available for most sessions.

Should you have additional questions please contact the Scientific Program Team.

Guests with Disabilities

Mobility Requests

The meeting space at the Saint Paul RiverCentre is on different floors. Escalators and elevators are available to access the various levels. Each session room will have designated locations for wheelchair, scooter viewing, and those who will need to stand.

Please visit the registration desk on the upper level of the convention center for further assistance.

Hard of Hearing

For those requiring hearing services during the conference, note your preference during registration and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

Closed captioning will be available for most sessions. Recorded oral sessions will be encrypted with closed captioning within 72 hours on the video player platform.

  • Plenaries - These will include live captioning available through the online viewing platform.
  • Oral sessions (90 minutes) - These are presented and recorded without captions. Captions will be added to the recorded file and will be available when it is posted for on-demand viewing.

Please visit the registration desk on the upper level of the convention center for further assistance.

Blind/Legally Blind/ Low Vision/Limited Vision Requests

For those requiring vision services during the in-person conference, denote your preferred service during registration and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

To assist those with vision impairment, use the following guidelines for creating accessible PowerPoint:

Choose a readable font

  • Suggested fonts include Helvetica, Arial, and Verdana.
  • Have up to six lines of text with only about five or six words per line.
  • Use left justification.
  • Text must be large enough to be read by most low vision people in the front of the audience and by people with ‘normal’ vision at the back.
  • A recommended text size is no less than 32 point.
  • Use mixed upper- and lower-case letters rather than all capital.
  • Avoid the use of italic font style.
  • Try not to use more than one font type per slide.

Control Brightness and Contrast

  • Using appropriate brightness and contrast is a great way to improve the readability of your slides.
  • Try employing a light background with dark text and graphics for your slides. This combination provides enough contrast that boosts the readability of your work for anybody who might have trouble distinguishing one color from another. When deciding on your color palette, always go for clarity instead of only visually appealing colors.
  • Use dark background colors and bright colors for the text to avoid glare.
  • A white font on a deep blue background is a very good combination.

Limit Animations, Effects, & Graphs

  • Animations and effects might not sit well with visually impaired people, so keep them at a minimum. Partially sighted audiences wait for the text to stop moving before they can start reading it. Steer clear from moving text effects such as “Fly In,” “Bounce,” “Spiral,” or “Zoom".
  • Keep figures and graphs as simple as possible.
  • Use brightness and contrasting colors in the same way as with text.
  • Use sans serif font types for the text in the figures.
  • Oral support during slide viewing.
  • When you introduce yourself, explain the format of the session and when you will take questions.
  • Read aloud all text presented on slides.
  • Explain figures and graphs.
  • Explicitly mention the region of interest in the slide, do not just point to it.
  • Explain each slide in an expressive manner so that the audience understands which area of the slide you are referring to.
  • If you need to use a lot of text on a slide, read it slowly and clearly.

Help for Those Who Are Blind

  • Have your material available so that blind members can download it onto their laptops. Ideally, also have your material in other accessible formats such as Braille or on CD.

Presentations can also be provided on the web-either as HTML or as downloadable Word or PowerPoint.

Additional Resources

Service Animals

Service animals are allowed at the Saint Paul RiverCentre; no advance notice is required.

As a meeting attendee, learn more about the best way to interact with a service dog.

Service Dog Etiquette 101

Lactation Room

The Saint Paul RiverCentre has a lactation room with a refrigerator available for nursing mothers on the Upper Level near the women's restroom.

Dietary Restrictions

WaterSciCon24 will serve hot/cold beverages during morning and afternoon breaks. Receptions will include assorted beverages (including alcohol) and appetizers. Every attempt will be made to provide food options that are vegan and gluten, dairy, egg, pork, fish, shellfish, and nut-free.

Other Accommodations

We realize this list is not comprehensive and you may require accommodation not outlined here. If that is the case, please visit the registration desk on the upper level of the convention center to further discuss your needs.