Equity and Inclusion Office, McMaster University
1280 Main Street West L8S 4S4 Hamilton, ON, Canada

Today is the second day of the #16DaysOfActivismAgainstGenderBasedViolence. An important way to take action is by learning how to support those in our lives who’ve experienced sexual violence. Visit our Giving Support page (https://svpro.mcmaster.ca/support/giving-support/), take the online Responding to Disclosures on Campus training (http://respondingtodisclosuresoncampus.com/), or call in our educator to train your team of staff, faculty, or students on response (email [email protected]). On each of the 16 Days, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) will be sharing some of our favourite resources and urge you to take action towards ending sexual and gender-based violence.

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the first of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence - 2020. We’d like to share this powerful TED talk by Jackson Katz. I'm going to share with you a paradigm-shifting perspective on the issues of gender violence: sexual assault, domestic violence, relationship abuse, sexual harassment, sexual abuse of children. That whole range of issues that I'll refer to in shorthand as "gender... violence issues," they've been seen as women's issues that some good men help out with, but I have a problem with that frame and I don't accept it. I don't see these as women's issues that some good men help out with. In fact, I'm going to argue that these are men's issues, first and foremost. Now obviously, they're also women's issues, so I appreciate that, but calling gender violence a women's issue is part of the problem, for a number of reasons. On each of the 16 Days, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) will be sharing some of our favourite resources and urge you to take action towards ending sexual and gender-based violence.

Sign up for our first session happening tomorrow Join MSU Maccess and the AccessMac Program, Equity & Inclusion Office in the second part to our online Disability DIScussion surrounding the theme of Remote Access/ibility! This event is only open to McMaster students (Undergrad, Grad, Part-time, Full-time) who identify as disabled/with disabilities.... Live captions will be available for the session. This session will not be recorded. Session 1 November 16th @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Session 2 November 19th @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Registration for this event is required - please fill out the Microsoft Form linked to linktr.ee/maccess or contact [email protected] to register.

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE! DROP-IN: Date: Wednesday, November 25th, 2020 Time: 11:30am 1:00pm Location: Zoom (registration is required)... Topic: Women in Academia Facilitators: Dr. Emma Apatu (Health Research Methods, Evidence, & Impact) Dr. Zeinab Hosseinidoust (Chemical Engineering) Dr. Selina Mudavanhu, Assistant Professor (Communication Studies & Multimedia) Dr. Kalai Saravanamuttu, Associate Professor (Chemistry & Chemical Biology) Description: Black, Indigenous & Racialized (BIPOC) students, staff and faculty are invited to a facilitated discussion surrounding women in academia. Please join us in a discussion with faculty members from across campus as they share their experiences and stories. To register please e-mail: Khadijeh Rakie at [email protected] or Rodrigo Narro Perez at [email protected] using your McMaster e-mail and include ‘LTAR, [First name, Last name]’ in the subject line For more information visit: https://pacbic.mcmaster.ca/working-groups Hosted by Race, Racism and Racialization (R3) PACBIC Working Group and the Equity and Inclusion Office This initiative is supported by McMaster University’s President and Vice-Chancellor’s Fund McMaster University McMaster University Faculty of Humanities McMaster Faculty of Science McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences McMaster Engineering

Although we are unable to fly the Transgender flag at McMaster this year, in recognition of International Trans Day of Remembrance this November 20, 2020, the Equity and Inclusion Office wants to acknowledge and honour the lives of transgender and nonbinary people who have been lost due to transphobia. For transgender people in the McMaster community who have experienced any form of violence, discrimination, or harassment, you can contact the Equity and Inclusion Office at [email protected] or the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) at [email protected] for support. You can also visit the MSU Pride Community Centre - PCC and the MSU Women and Gender Equity Network - WGEN for peer support as well as programming to commemorate the day.

The Human rights, Equity, Accessibility, Respect Toolkit (H.E.A.R.T.) workshop series begins on Monday! Workshops are FREE. Complete 5 or more workshops for a Certificate of Attendance. Space is limited so registration is required. Please email [email protected]. . .... Workshops: *NEW* Land Acknowledgement: Monday, November 16, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . Human Rights Fundamentals: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . Accessibility 101: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . Positive Space: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . What’s In A Word: Insult or Inclusion? Wednesday, November 18, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence: Thursday, November 19th, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . Anti-Racism Workshop: Thursday, November 19, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . *NEW* Digital Accessibility: Monday, November 23, 2020 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | Online . . Challenging Islamophobia on Campus: Tuesday November 24, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . An Introduction to the Duty to Accommodate: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . *NEW* Accessible Presentations: Thursday, November 26, 2020 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | Online . . Automated live captions will be available for participants for each session. Registration, information and to discuss individualized accommodations: 905.525.9140 ext. 27581 or [email protected] See more

DEADLINE IS TODAY at 5:00 PM ATTN McMaster University- CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for this year's Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Update 2020 - the EIO and MAC invite you to submit 100-150 word descriptions of new or ongoing accessibility work for 2019-2020 For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3lnRKrC

Join MSU Maccess and the AccessMac Program, Equity & Inclusion Office in the second part to our online Disability DIScussion surrounding the theme of Remote Access/ibility! This event is only open to McMaster students (Undergrad, Grad, Part-time, Full-time) who identify as disabled/with disabilities. Live captions will be available for the session. This session will not be recorded. ... Session 1 November 16th @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Session 2 November 19th @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Registration for this event is required - please fill out the Microsoft Form linked to linktr.ee/maccess or contact [email protected] to register.

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE! DROP-IN: Date: Thursday, September 24th, 2020 Time: 11:30am 1:00pm... Location: Zoom (registration is required) Topic: Race and Campus Life Facilitators: Eternity Martis - Journalist and Author of They Said This Would be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up Racialized, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Colour) students, staff and faculty are invited to a facilitated with Eternity Martis where she'll discuss the unique experiences - and burdens - for BIPOC students on university campuses, especially following #BlackLivesMatter movements around the world and the cost of these burdens on student of colour. To register please e-mail: Khadijeh Rakie at [email protected] or Rodrigo Narro Perez at [email protected] using your McMaster e-mail and include ‘LTAR, [First name, Last name]’ in the subject line For more information visit: https://pacbic.mcmaster.ca/working-groups Hosted by Race, Racism and Racialization (R3) PACBIC Working Group and the Equity and Inclusion Office. This initiative is supported by McMaster University’s President and Vice-Chancellor’s Fund

The Human rights, Equity, Accessibility, Respect Toolkit (H.E.A.R.T.) workshop series begins next week!!! Workshops are FREE. Complete 5 or more workshops for a Certificate of Attendance. Space is limited so registration is required. Please email [email protected]. . .... Workshops: *NEW* Land Acknowledgement: Monday, November 16, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . Human Rights Fundamentals: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . Accessibility 101: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . Positive Space: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . What’s In A Word: Insult or Inclusion? Wednesday, November 18, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence: Thursday, November 19th, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . Anti-Racism Workshop: Thursday, November 19, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . *NEW* Digital Accessibility: Monday, November 23, 2020 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | Online . . Challenging Islamophobia on Campus: Tuesday November 24, 2020 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Online . . An Introduction to the Duty to Accommodate: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Online . . *NEW* Accessible Presentations: Thursday, November 26, 2020 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | Online . . Automated live captions will be available for participants for each session. Registration, information and to discuss individualized accommodations: 905.525.9140 ext. 27581 or [email protected] See more

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE! DROP-IN: Date: Thursday, August 20th, 2020 Time: 11:30am 1:00pm... Location: Zoom (registration is required) Topic: Removing White Fragility to Center Blackness and Overcome Black Erasure Facilitators: Ange Bitwayiki, Political Science, Level IV & Nya Wuol, Sociology Racialized, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) students, staff and faculty are invited to a facilitated discussion on decentering White Fragility in honour of revealing the complexities of Black activities and Black identity. To register please e-mail: Rodrigo Narro Perez at [email protected] using your McMaster e-mail and include ‘LTAR, [First name, Last name]’ in the subject line For more information visit: https://pacbic.mcmaster.ca/working-groups Hosted by Race, Racism and Racialization (R3) PACBIC Working Group and the Equity and Inclusion Office. This initiative is supported by McMaster University’s President and Vice-Chancellor’s Fund

HAPPENING TOMORROW: Black Student Virtual Check-In! *Open only to Black-identified students* Date: Thursday, August 13, 2020... Time: 11:30am 1:00pm Location: ZOOM Audience: Black students We are providing an online space to listen, share our thoughts and to be present for one another. Our conversation will explore self-care, advocacy and the impact of our anti-Black experiences. For more information and to register please e-mail: at [email protected] from your McMaster e-mail address. Please use the subject heading: ‘Black Student Virtual Check-In’ and include your first and last name This session is hosted by the Black Student Association (BSA) @BSAMcM and the Equity and Inclusion Office

Call for New PACBIC Members! The President’s Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community (PACBIC) is seeking new members from the McMaster University community. In keeping with its Statement on Building an Inclusive Community with a Shared Purpose (https://equity.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/04/download.pdf)... PACBIC seeks interested students, staff and faculty members who share its commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. PACBIC particularly welcomes membership applications from persons with disabilities, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC), women-identified and 2SLGBTQ+ community members. If you are interested in the committee’s work in 2019/2020 you can access the annual report here: 2019-2020 PACBIC Annual Report or visit: https://pacbic.mcmaster.ca/ To apply for membership, please click on: PACBIC Membership Application and fill out the application form online. Submissions are due: Friday, August 14, 2020 Please email: [email protected] if you have an inquiry or cannot access the online application. Feel free to share this email with your networks

Letters of Support A call for letters to promote a sense of connection and well-being among McMaster students with shared experience Phase 2: 2STLGBQIA+ students... Learn more and submit your letter here by the end of the day: https://svpro.mcmaster.ca/lettersofsupport (submission dropbox will remain open after the deadline) . . . . . MSU Maccess MSU Pride Community Centre - PCC MSU Student Health Education Centre - SHEC MSU Women and Gender Equity Network - WGEN

Survivors and students who've experience sexual violence, we welcome your letters of support to other survivors for Phase 1 of our Letters of Support initiative (deadline is today!). Visit https://svpro.mcmaster.ca/lettersofsupport for more information and to submit!

How is this for contrast? Black text against a white background is the most commonly recommended colour combination to ensure a strong background to foreground colour contrast ratio for those with low vision and colour blindness. To support those who may find this contrast too strong (e.g. those with post-concussion syndrome or certain learning disabilities), consider providing your digital content in formats that will allow your users to alter font size, boldness, colour an...d spacing (e.g. an editable Word Doc) Appropriate colour contrast for font and images is captured within the WCAG 2.0 AA, where it is recommended that there is a: 1.4.3 contrast (minimum) - 4.5:1 normal text - 3:1 large-scale text 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced) - 7:1 normal text - 4.5:1 large-scale text 1.4.11 Non-text contrast - 3:1 adjacent colours In order to check your colour contrast ratio, visit the WebAIM online contrast checker to easily compare the colours you use for your background versus the foreground. Website link: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/ For more information, join the Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) and the McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences for a series of Accessibility in Microsoft Office 365 workshops, hosted by the MacPherson Institute. To register for the third live session, please visit the Eventbrite link located below: https://accessibledocseries3.eventbrite.ca

I can't understand you if you don't use closed captions Within an online teaching and learning environment, where instructors may be including voiceover to pre-recorded videos, hosting virtual classroom environments where group discussion takes place, or inviting speakers into their digital classrooms, it is essential to add closed captioning to video content to enable access for Deaf / deaf and hard of hearing participants. Along with ensuring access to information, closed ...captioning will further benefit participants for whom English is not a first language; who may have audio processing disabilities; or who may have an unreliable internet connection resulting in audio disruptions. To learn more about how you can make use of McMaster’s online captioning resources, join the Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) and the McMaster Faculty of Science for a series of Accessibility in Microsoft Office 365 workshops, hosted by the MacPherson Institute. To register for the third live session (July 23rd @ 12:00pm - 1:30pm) please visit the Eventbrite link located below: https://accessibledocseries3.eventbrite.ca

Join MSU Maccess and the AccessMac Program, Equity & Inclusion Office in our first ever online Disability DIScussion on July 27th @ 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM using the platform Microsoft Teams.

Letters of Support A call for letters to promote a sense of connection and solidarity among McMaster students with shared experience Visit https://svpro.mcmaster.ca/lea/campaigns/letters-of-support/ to learn more about sharing your own letter.... This is a collaborative initiative with the MSU peer support services: MSU Maccess MSU Pride Community Centre - PCC MSU Student Health Education Centre - SHEC MSU Women and Gender Equity Network - WGEN.

As businesses and public spaces begin to re-open, and our social bubbles can slowly grow, many of us will experience different feelings. It’s normal to have different comfort levels than others in your life, so defining and expressing your own boundaries, and respecting the boundaries of others is important.

Wouldn't you like to know what this picture is? Information can be quickly comprehended by some when presented in the format of an image, or as part of a poster. However, if alternative text is not applied to the image, then the information will be completely incomprehensible for someone using a screen reader. Additionally, alternative text offers a reader an idea of what an image may have been where the image link has been broken, e.g., after having been forwarded through ...email multiple times, or for individuals with low bandwidth that can’t properly load an image on their screen. To learn how to add alternative text to images, please join the Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) and McMaster Faculty of Science for a series of Accessibility in Microsoft Office 365 workshops, hosted by the MacPherson Institute. For more information and support, please view our asynchronous webinars on Accessibility for Office 365: Alternative Text - Accessible Outlook: https://web.microsoftstream.com//f5d1db00-2d7c-411b-b360-c Accessible Word Documents - Alternative Text: https://web.microsoftstream.com//ac15faa0-bc87-4f05-8217-e Accessible PowerPoint - Alternative Text: https://web.microsoftstream.com//ed79fb4d-5357-4fab-b0c0-a

Isn’t it frustrating to have all of this text in one small picture frame? According to WCAG 2.1 AA standard, it is usually best practice to a minimum of 1.5 lines between text. This will help those authoring digital content to create white space for their audience members, and can support lessening cognitive overload when reading information on a screen. To learn more about how you can make your digital content more accessible, please join the Equity and Inclusion Office ...(EIO) and the McMaster Faculty of Science for a series of Accessibility in Microsoft Office 365 workshops, hosted by the MacPherson Institute. To register for the second live session, please visit the Eventbrite link located below: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/accessible-document-creation-se Only 15 spots available for this Thursday July 16th (12:00 PM - 1:30 PM)!

Can you read me? Font size and style are essential and basic components of digital accessibility which can have significant impacts on those in your audience(s). Text that is too small, uses frequent italics, or is in ALL CAPS can present specific barriers for individuals who may have low vision, have learning disabilities, or who are experiencing poor screen quality. When creating online content it is usually best practice to use sans serif fonts (Calibri, Arial, and Open ...Sans) with a font size of 18+ or larger and bolded text when applicable, along with 1.5 minimum line spacing. WCAG 2.1 AA standard guidelines encourage individuals to avoid using: - Serif fonts (Times New Roman) - Italic fonts (Freestyle Script) - Compressed fonts (Barlow Condensed) - Fonts with uneven line weights (Lobster) - Decorative fonts (Algerian) - Strikethrough - Underline (To be used exclusively for hyperlinks) For more information, join the Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) and the McMaster Faculty of Science for a series of Accessibility in Microsoft Office 365 workshops, hosted by the MacPherson Institute. To register for TOMORROW'S first session, please visit the Eventbrite link located below: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/accessible-document-creation-se [Image 1 description: the words Can you read me? are in very small italic font size in the McMaster branding colour yellow on a maroon background.] [Image 2 description: a laptop sitting on top of a white desk with the screen reading, "Office 365 Accessible Document Creation", a blue lamp can also be seen from the left side of the laptop]