Minutes for the CDI Meeting

Date: August 22, 2024
Time: 4:00-5:30 PM EST
Location: Zoom

Attendees: Carolyn Fornoff, Jennifer Nelson, Jason Farr, Eduardo Ledesma, Lauren Rocha, Junting Huang, Terrence (Terry) Callaghan, and Stacey Courtney

1. Greetings and Introductions
Carolyn welcomed everyone, including new members, and extended thanks to the interpreters and captioner. She explained the structure of the CDI committee, noting the three-year commitment for all members, with co-chairs also providing mentorship. The minutes from the last meeting were reviewed and approved.

2. CDI Mission
Carolyn reiterated the mission of the CDI, emphasizing its focus on supporting disabled scholars and ensuring accessibility at the MLA convention. She invited questions.

Junting asked about CDI’s specific roles within the MLA, to which Stacey clarified that CDI sponsors 2 guaranteed panels and also curates a list of sessions on general topics, with the possibility of additional collaborative sessions. Terry added that CDI also advises the Executive Council on broader disability issues in the profession.

Lauren inquired about MLA’s dissemination of accessibility guidelines to institutions. Terry explained that the guidelines are published on the MLA website but acknowledged limited direct reach to institutions. The MLA welcomes proposals and suggestions. Eduardo confirmed with Terry that these guidelines are continuously updated on the MLA website.

3. Committee Collaborations
Carolyn invited brainstorming for the upcoming year’s agenda, focusing on accessibility best practices and collaborations with other committees. Jennifer shared her experience with previous conversations at the convention, suggesting that more substantial efforts are needed for future collaborations. Jason suggested a collaborative panel on haptics or tactility with the Committee on Information Technology. Eduardo suggested early outreach to potential collaborators before the convention, and Jennifer agreed.

Terry mentioned that last year was the first time all MLA committees met together, an initiative started by CDI. Stacey emphasized the importance of the three-month window from January to April for collaborative proposals.

Junting proposed collaborating with the Information Technology Committee to create a resource guide for emerging technologies for disabled scholars. Terry suggested starting with a one-time experiment like a panel before committing to a larger project since maintaining such projects is demanding.

Lauren asked if all sessions could be live recorded at the convention to accommodate remote participants. Stacey explained that logistical and financial constraints currently prevent this, although online sessions are available, and in-person sessions can be switched to online if needed.

4. Hiring Guidelines

The committee discussed preparing accessibility and hiring guidelines for inclusion in the MLA’s “Profession” publication. Jennifer suggested revising the existing guidelines, a topic to be addressed in the next meeting. Eduardo expressed interest in working on the guidelines and sharing them with his home department.

5. Looking Forward to MLA 2025
Carolyn led a brainstorming session on engaging with the MLA 25 theme of “Visibility.” Jennifer raised concerns about the word “visibility” and suggested exploring more inclusive language. Jason mentioned a panel on multisensory perception and agreed to follow up on it. Carolyn asked about using Twitter for outreach, and Jennifer pointed out the platform’s recent accessibility issues.

6. Review of Access Issues
(Technical issues with captioning during the meeting were noted, and Jennifer expressed concern about missing accurate information on Zoom.)

The committee reviewed access challenges from previous years, emphasizing the need for CDI’s panels to model best practices. Carolyn highlighted issues with late paper submissions, stressing the importance of timely submissions to allow interpreters to prepare. Carolyn also acknowledged that perfect accessibility is almost impossible: presenters often face the stress of hyper-productivity (i.e., crip time), while interpreters need sufficient time to prepare for the audience. She suggested always staying communicative and clearly conveying the rationale for early submission to presenters. Jason agreed, sharing that in his experience, receiving paper submissions gradually was far better than getting them all at the last minute.

Eduardo inquired about the submission timeline and the availability of accessibility services. Stacey noted that submissions should be made 1-2 weeks before the convention (by December 21) and that real-time captioning and ASL interpretation are available upon request.

The committee also discussed:

• Echoey Rooms: Carolyn recommended requesting portable microphones in advance.
• Access Copies: Carolyn encouraged panelists to use Humanities Commons as proof of publication; Jennifer also suggested using QR codes for access copies.
• Font Size: Eduardo recommended using 18-point or larger fonts for better visibility; Jennifer asked if dark mode would help.
• Audio Clips: Lauren suggested including audio clips along with transcripts.

Jennifer confirmed that last year’s convention had improvements, particularly with the deaf panel. The committee decided to focus on discussing the hiring guidelines at the next CDI meeting.

Stacey suggested the committee also consider future appointments to best represent diverse backgrounds and issues related to disability in the profession as members rotate out of the committee.

7. Action Items for Next Meeting

• Junting will provide the minutes
• Carolyn will send out the hiring guidelines
• CDI members will review the hiring guidelines

Prepared by: Junting Huang
Date: August 26, 2024