Accessibility and Inclusion

SETAC is committed to its values and strives to create a welcoming environment for all participants.

For information regarding COVID-19, view the SETAC North America Health and Safety Policy.

SETAC North America strives to make its events accessible to all participants. We choose venues that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) requirements and also provide extra services to ensure that we are as inclusive as possible. Sometimes advance notice is required to give us time to plan for accommodations, such as hiring interpreters. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact pittsburgh@setac.org as soon as possible.

Mobility

• The meeting will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, an ADA compliant facility. Visit their website to learn more about the center’s facilities accessibility initiatives.
• The setup of room layouts will ensure that aisles are accessible.
• Where stages are used, ramps will also be provided.

Auditory

• For the in-person portion of the meeting, sign language interpretation can be arranged. Please contact pittsburgh@setac.org by 1 October.
• For the virtual portion of the meeting, captioning will be enabled.

Visual

The use of images, graphics, colors and formatted text can enhance the appeal of online and printed materials and assist communication, but they also introduce some accessibility challenges. At SETAC, we try to use larger and scalable font sizes, keep contrast high, embrace white space, consider color blindness, use alt text for images, turn off animations by default, provide labels for buttons, to name a few of the options we include when formatting content. We understand sometimes certain options may be helpful for some but not for others. If you experience any issues accessing materials, please contact communications@setac.org, and we can provide the requested materials in an alternate format.

Pittsburgh has a perfect score in terms of LGBTQIA+ community support in the Municipal Equality Index.

To create a more welcoming space at the annual meeting, we encourage people to use appropriate pronouns as an important step towards respecting each participant’s gender identity. We are including pronouns on badges and will provide stickers to add to badges and will encourage their use. For information, please see “What are personal pronouns and why do they matter?”

SETAC also encourages participants to use the bathroom that best fits their gender identity.

We work with the convention center to provide food labels, so participants can identify food choices, such as containing certain ingredients or vegan and vegetarian options.

Virtual meeting registration includes online access to plenaries and sessions (live-stream and recordings) and materials uploaded by presenters (PDFs, e-posters, and videos). Virtual participation also allows for asynchronous Q&A and chat with presenters and participants. The meeting content will be available on the virtual platform during the meeting and up to three months after the meeting.

We also encourage all meeting participants to create accessible presentations before they upload them to the meeting platform.

The SETAC North America Board of Directors recognizes the demands faced by young scientists navigating the balance between work–life commitments. As a result, children under the age of 16 will be allowed in all meeting areas. Please note, children must be under direct supervision of their parents at all times. Parents recognize that this is a professional meeting and that our exhibitors bring expensive and valuable equipment to the meeting, and parents are held responsible for any damages their children may cause.

On the second level of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, there is a dedicated space for parents of newborns and infants to be used as a private space for nursing.

Visit Pittsburgh partners with Sweet Dreams Childcare LLC, who offers childcare for event participants. SETAC is not responsible for any agreements made between these companies and meeting attendees.