Code of Conduct

The Accessible Publishing Summit is a collaborative event where working together will play a pivotal role in successfully having people from across the accessible publishing landscape share ideas, discuss challenges, and get up to date on what is happening across the digital publishing ecosystem, when it comes to accessibility. We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone and we will not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Summit participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the summit at the discretion of the summit organizers. This summit will be made up of members from around the globe with a diverse set of skills, personalities, and experiences. It is through these differences that we hope accessible publishing achieves continued growth. When you’re working with attendees of the Accessible Publishing Summit, we encourage you to follow these guidelines which help steer our interactions and strive to keep a positive atmosphere within the summit.

Expected Behaviour: 

The following behaviours are expected and requested of all summit attendees.

  • Participate in an authentic and active way;
  • Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions;
  • Attempt collaboration before conflict;
  • Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behaviour and speech;
  • Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants: alert community leaders if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct.

Unacceptable Behaviour: 

The following behaviours are considered harassment and are unacceptable within the Accessible Publishing Summit:

  • Violence, threats of violence or violent language directed against another person;
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language;
  • Posting or displaying sexually explicit or violent material;
  • Posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”);
  • Personal insults, particularly those related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or disability;
  • Unapproved recording;
  • Unwelcome sexual attention, this includes, sexualized comments or jokes, and unwelcomed sexual advances;
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following (online);
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour;
  • Sustained disruption of community events, including talks and presentations.

Conflict Resolution

1. Initial Incident

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, and you feel comfortable speaking with the offender, please inform the offender that she/they/he has affected you negatively. Oftentimes, the offending behaviour is unintentional, and the accidental offender and offended will resolve the incident by having that initial discussion.

The Accessible Publishing Summit recognizes that there are many reasons speaking directly to the offender may not be workable for you. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking directly with the offender for any reason, skip straight to step 2.

2. Escalation

If the offender insists that she/they/he did not offend, if the offender is actively harassing you, or if direct engagement is not a good option for you at this time, then you will need a third party to step in. At the Accessible Publishing Summit, if you need any assistance with respect to harassment, please contact one of the organizers. If you require any assistance with respect to harassment, please find any of the organizers, and they will be able to help you or send us an e-mail at info@accessiblepublishing.ca

Sanctions

Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender and expulsion from the event.

We value everyone’s participation in the Summit, and will all work to keep the conference a safe and friendly space for all participants!

(Adapted from the Code4Lib Code of Conduct)