Thank you for participating in Major Discovery Week
You are invited to choose from a variety of ways to participate in Major Discovery Week. Please look at the options below and the guidelines and next steps for each.
Pre-Recorded Video Guidelines & Next Steps
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Guidelines
- Review Make it Accessible content prior to creating your materials. Please adhere to these guidelines as closely as possible.
- If using a video that was initially created for a purpose other than Major Discovery Week (MDW), review the video carefully to ensure all content, date/time, and other information are accurate.
- Content will remain active on the MDW website until April 16, 2021, at which time the MDW website will be deactivated.
Requirements
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- We will post a link to your video on the MDW website. Your video should be hosted on a website (department web page, YouTube, etc.) that is accessible and appropriate for students to access.
- Clearly provide students with contact information and/or next steps they can take if they have unanswered questions or want to continue learning more about your program.
Please provide the following information for your major or certificate:
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- Your name, role, and brief intro to the major/certificate
- Recommended courses for exploring
- Ways to get involved with the major/certificate (example: student orgs)
- Prerequisites for declaring, or the declaration process
- Careers, graduate or professional programs, other post-undergrad options
- How to make an advising appointment
- Additional information to include (if time/space allows):
- Notable research, trends, innovations in the field
- How can students get involved in research?
- Transferable skills students can gain from this major/certificate
Submit Materials by February 15, 2021
- Link to video
- Title of Video
- 1-3 sentence description of video
- Name and email of primary point-of-contact for MDW staff to utilize in case of follow-up
- Name and email of primary point-of-contact to be posted on website for students
Downloadable "Print" Materials Guidelines & Next Steps
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Guidelines
- Review Make it Accessible content prior to creating your materials. Please adhere to these guidelines as closely as possible.
- Content will remain active on the Major Discovery Week (MDW) website until April 16, 2021, at which time the MDW website will be deactivated.
- PDF materials should be kept to 1-2 pages.
Requirements
-
- Clearly provide students with contact information and/or next steps they can take if they have unanswered questions or want to continue learning more about your program.
Please provide the following information for your major or certificate:
-
- Your name, role, and brief intro to the major/certificate
- Recommended courses for exploring
- Ways to get involved with the major/certificate (example: student orgs)
- Prerequisites for declaring, or the declaration process
- Careers, graduate or professional programs, other post-undergrad options
- How to make an advising appointment
- Additional information to include (if time/space allows):
- Notable research, trends, innovations in the field
- How can students get involved in research?
- Transferable skills students can gain from this major/certificate
Submit Materials by February 15, 2021
- Final materials (PDF format only)
- 1-3 sentence description of what students will learn from print materials
- Name and email of primary point-of-contact for MDW staff to utilize in case of follow-up
- Name and email of primary point-of-contact to be posted on website for students
Technology & Accessibility Guidelines
In order to ensure that MDW is an accessible experience for all students, we have collected some of the most relevant resources provided by DoIT, Zoom, and others, and ask that all MDW participants review the guidelines that pertain to the method through which they choose to participate.
Please keep these guidelines in mind when planning, marketing, and offering your events.
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Creating Accessible Materials (PowerPoints, PDFs, etc.)
- Ensure there is good contrast between the text and backgrounds – simple backgrounds are best.
- If using a Microsoft Office program to create your materials, use the “Check Accessibility” feature found in the Review tab, then choose “Check Accessibility.”
- When sharing documents, share as PDFs – including presentations.
Marketing & Communication Guidelines
- Include a statement on how to request disability-related accommodations, such as:
- “(INSERT UW-Madison/College/School/Department/Program) is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible event. To request an accommodation for this event, please contact (INSERT name, event host/coordinator) at (INSERT phone number/email) as soon as possible.”
- Ensure all pertinent information (date, time, location, etc.) is included in the body of the email and not only in the attachments.
- Share technologies that will be used so attendees can review for accessibility.
- If possible, include presentation materials and documents as PDFs in advance.
Live Session Guidelines
- All Major Discovery Week participants will use Zoom for hosting live sessions.
- Record live Zoom sessions and consider making them available to students who were otherwise unable to attend.
- Avoid using virtual backgrounds. The effects are visually less accessible and can increase CPU workload for the user running the background, which can cause disruptions.
- Speak more slowly than you would in natural conversation to allow all users to follow the presentation flow and content.
- Describe the information on your slides, including both text and visual content. You don’t have to read the slide exactly as it is; just make sure that you cover the visual information in what you say.
- When hosting a live Q&A, repeat each question and make sure your audience understands the question before you answer it.
Technology & Accessibility Resources
In addition to the above guidelines, UW-Madison provides a variety of support for getting started with Zoom and ensuring your virtual materials are accessible for all students.
Find resources and tutorials here:
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Zoom Resources
Additional Zoom Training
Accessibility Resources
- Accessibility Evaluation
- DoIT – Make it Accessible
- Creating Accessible Documents (PDF, Word, Powerpoint)
- Zoom Accessibility Resources