WisCon44 cancelled; WisConline in works

[cynthia1960]

Remember when I wanted ideas about building remote accessibility for conventions last year? WisCon44 has been cancelled due to the pandemic, but virtual activities are being planned.

WisCon doesn't have the bucks or clout SFWA has for their virtual Nebula weekend, but if you have ideas about pivoting a con to cyberspace, please share here and in the wiscon community. Thanks!

Comments

Serendipity

[jesse_the_k]

At random I decided to join AHEAD, the professional org for people who work in college-level Disabled Student Services in North America. And wow howdy are they talking about "pivoting to cyberspace" right now.

AHEAD.org

So, I'm looking over their shoulders as they discuss which online meeting platforms support assistive technologies and CART. No conclusions just yet, but I'll be able to ask questions!

Re: Serendipity

[cynthia1960]

Ask plenty of questions and share the answers! This is vitally important.

Re: Serendipity

[jesse_the_k]

McGill collated some useful resources on CART/captions/keyboard control for Zoom, WebEx, and Microsoft Teams

https://mcgill.ca/equity/resources/disability

[cesy]

VidUKon has done some of this, as has FanWorksCon.

[cynthia1960]

Great! I am very concerned about protecting the virtual con from trolls. Anything you know that's worked well?

[cesy]

Paying for con membership deters most trolls, from what I've seen. If a con member does something objectionable, the concom have the power to withdraw their membership.

[cynthia1960]

The worst trolling in WisCon history to date came from somebody who joined WisCon32. They were booted, and the history of the events is still available. I was one of the targets, but got off easily compared to some of my friends.

Some nominal cost for registration should help. I'm pushing for registration, reinforcement of the code of conduct, passwords for access, and strong moderation.

Post-Con Check In

[jesse_the_k]

Your pushing had an effect. From the "simple con member" viewpoint, I saw no major issues -- I bet that's because Safety were working hard in the background.

Re: Post-Con Check In

[cynthia1960]

Oh, good.