If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request specific accommodations, please write workshops@nasw.org prior to October 1. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests and provide reasonable accommodations for meeting events.

Our conference app
Whova will be your gateway to the conference, whether you are attending virtually, in-person, or both. Within 48 hours of registration, you will be able use the app or the Whova web portal to see who’s coming, view the program, connect with speakers and attendees, set personal meetings, start your own discussion groups, and more.

Whova is offered both as an app and a web-based platform. The best functionality will be found with the app. Approximately 48 hours after registration, visit the app or the Whova web portal and enter the email with which you registered for the conference. If this is your first time using Whova, click "Sign Up." If you have used Whova before but cannot remember your password, click the forgot password link.

After the conference, attendees can use Whova to access selected, recorded sessions for up to 6 months. Sessions that will be recorded and/or livestreamed are noted in the program.

Accessibility: In-person venues
The recently renovated Renasant Convention Center is fully ADA compliant and connected to the Sheraton Memphis Downtown hotel via a wheelchair- accessible passage that enters from the second level of the hotel. An accessible elevator can be used to access all rooms where ScienceWriters2022 events will be. A lactation room is available. Single occupant restrooms are avail;able. The convention website offers a 3-D tour to look around ahead of time.

The Sheraton maintains ADA accessible guest rooms that can be reserved upon request. The Sheraton website has a list of accessibility feature, and the hotel invites inquiries: "For more information about the physical features of our accessible rooms, common areas or special services relating to a specific disability please call +1 901-527-7300"

Accessibility considerations for each offsite event or tour is noted in the within the event description of the program.

Accessibility: Virtual platforms
Once the conference starts, you will “enter” every virtual session by connecting from Whova. For most sessions, Whova will seamlessly join you with a Zoom session with the click of a button, a method that makes it easy on you and difficult for Zoomraiders. Zoom is a platform that many already have a comfort with. In addition, it’s accessible with a screenreader, can have keyboard-only navigation enabled, and users can change their background for reasons of privacy or fun or personal preference. For full accessibility options on Zoom, please visit zoom.us/accessibility. We will provide live, machine captioning of sessions held in Zoom, which will be the majority of virtual sessions. We realize that this is not a perfect solution. Sessions that are recorded will be re-captioned as needed before release onto the site for post-session viewing. Zoom offers answers to common troubleshooting questions here.

If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request specific accommodations, please write workshops@nasw.org prior to October 1. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests and provide reasonable accommodations for meeting events.

Our Commitment

The ScienceWriters meeting is committed to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. NASW and CASW value these principles for how they enrich the science writing profession. Specifically, we work to ensure that the annual ScienceWriters conference is welcoming and supportive by respecting the full spectrum of individual identities of those who participate. We do not tolerate harassment, discrimination, or incivility. We encourage attendees to report any concerns via the guidelines in the conference code of conduct.

1. Session organizers and speakers should reflect the full range of possible voices and expertise. Organizers should strive to build panels and programs that are diverse with regards to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, nationality, age, religious belief, and/or socioeconomic status. Organizers must actively seek to recruit speakers from underrepresented groups. In addition, panels and discussions on issues that affect and/or are informed by the perspectives of underrepresented groups are encouraged.

2. We commit to having a conference venue that is as accessible to, and inclusive of, as many potential attendees as possible. This includes everything from choosing a venue to fine-tuning onsite details. Examples include ensuring that all speakers and questioners use microphones, offering the option to print pronouns on badges, beginning the meeting with a land acknowledgment, and offering childcare and/or nursing rooms. Details are laid out and updated as needed in the tips for session organizers, which should be read and adhered to by all volunteers and staff. Equal care will be given to accessibility of any virtual events.

3. We will deal promptly with reports of harassment, discrimination, or incivility in relation to the annual conference. We will be transparent about how we have dealt with such reports.

4. We will gather metrics on these diversity, equity and inclusion goals and publicly report them after the meeting.

Adopted April 2020 by the boards of the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing