Info at a Glance
On this page, we outline the accessibility situation you will encounter at Mensch und Computer 2024 in Karlsruhe.
We, that is the DEI & Accessibility chairs: Sabrina Burtscher, Frauke Mörike, and Gerhard Weber.
We are aware that we won’t be able to cover all accessibility needs here from the get-go. This is why we will update the site whenever we receive new information. Unfortunately, there is no RSS feed available for our site. To accommodate for this, we provide versioning, including release notes here:
Current Version: 2024-08-29. Added details on evening events and gender-neutral toilets.
If you find anything to be missing or unclear from the descriptions below, do not hesitate to contact us. We are looking forward to hearing from you via accessibility@mensch-und-computer.de
We are planning to have the information presented here also available on premise (i.e., via information sheets/booklets, or posters with QR-codes linking here).
Website and Publications
The website and the information presented here are accessible according to WCAG, level AA.
Submissions in the academic track will be published by the ACM. The publications will be available as accessible HTML, provided the authors have supplied the necessary data.
Posters and presentation slides might not be accessible, depending on how the authors created them.
Table of Contents
Covid-19, Influenza, etc.
First off: If you feel sick (coughing, sneezing, feverish, general grogginess, etc.), we kindly ask you to stay at home or in your hotel room. Better to rest and have a chance to attend the next day(s) than ailing about the event, spreading whatever is affecting you.
On-site measures
On site, FFP2-masks and rapid antigen-tests (nose/throat) will be made available at the information desk. Please consider using this offer each of the conference days.
Location Accessibility
Campus
Mensch und Computer rooms are located in various buildings of KIT Campus Süd (Campus South).
Where we have reserved rooms above or below ground level, there are elevators available.
We will provide signage to remind attendees that certain groups (wheelchair/walker users, people with children, pregnant folks, …) should be given priority access to elevators.
The paths in between buildings are made of asphalt or gravel. The gravel path towards building 40.50 can be circumvented using an asphalt path. Both paths are about the same length.
Between the buildings on Campus Süd, there are no public/high traffic streets to be crossed to go from one building to another. However, there might be the occasional car passing through from/to university buildings. There might also be a bit of bike or scooter traffic.
We intend to make navigational information available on-premise in the form of signage and print-outs.
Building 30.95 / Toilets
There is a wheelchair-accessible toilet located in the Audi Max building. It also holds a baby changing station.
The room is explicitly not used as a janitor’s storage (as they are located side-by-side).
The non-wheelchair accessible toilet stalls are narrow which means they will not be accessible to all body sizes.
All toilets in building 30.95 will be declared gender neutral toilets for the duration of our conference. Signage will be posted accordingly, and will include information on where to find single stall or binary coded toilets, which are located in the building next door.
Building 30.95 / Foyer
The foyer of the lecture hall in building 30.95 will be housing registration and the info desk.
Coffee breaks and the poster exhibition will also take place here.
We are aware that the acoustics of the foyer can be a challenge for some participants. To counter this, we intend to place sound absorbent objects in the foyer to reduce noise and make space more accessible.
In case of favorable weather, there will be tables and benches available in front of and behind the building. The poster exhibition will also be moved outdoors in this case. We will make some shading available for this mode.
Building 30.95 / Auditorium Maximum
There are no dedicated wheelchair/walker accessible spots in the lecture hall which will host keynotes and talks. The seating rows all the way to the back of the lecture hall are also not suitable for wheelchair/walker users, as they are located on an elevated platform. We recommend participants who use a wheelchair or walker to find a place in front of the front rows.
We will put up signs in the front rows so mixed ability groups can sit together when attending a presentation. Additionally, we will mark easily accessible seats close to the doors as priority seating.
Building 40.50 / Workshop rooms
There is no baby changing infrastructure available in the building. The next proper changing room is located in the wheelchair accessible toilet next to Audimax in building 40.50.
University management has agreed to declare the wheelchair accessible toilets in building 40.50 as gender neutral toilets for our conference. Facility managers and cleaning personnel have been informed to keep the toilets unlocked. Signage will be posted accordingly.
The building has no automatic doors. There will be SVs available in the building to correct for this.
Social Events
Welcome Reception (Sun, Sep 1)
The welcome reception will take place at the Audi Max building (30.95). There will be a short welcome from the General Chairs, and food will be provided by our caterer (see Section Coffee Breaks & Lunch).
Social Event & Poster Session (Mon, Sep 2)
The poster session will take place at the Audi Max building (30.95). In case of good weather, it will be happening outside. Food will be available from our caterer (see Section Coffee Breaks & Lunch).
Additionally, there will be live music by local Toplap musicians. Details on the group and their music are available on their website: https://toplap-ka.de/
Light Festival (Mon, Sep 2)
General information on the Light Festival is available on the website, schlosslichtspiele.info. Please be advised that the Schlosslichtspiele consist of (sometimes stroboscopic) visual effects and sound effects that may be at uncomfortable volumes or frequencies.
To arrive at the Castle for the Light Festival, you can use public transport to Marktplatz station from Durlacher Tor/KIT Campus Süd station. Both stations are accessible via stairs, escalators, and elevators. Durlacher Tor/KIT Campus Süd station is located at the large traffic intersection to the southeast of the campus; Marktplatz station is located in the pedestrian area of the city center.
It is possible to arrive at the castle by foot, bike, e-scooter, wheelchair, etc. You can follow either an asphalt road (Engesserstrasse) through Campus Süd, or the gravel paths through Schlossgarten. Either way, the distance is about 1.2 kilometers starting at Audimax (building 30.95).
Social Event @ ZKM (Tue, Sep 3)
On Tuesday evening, we invite everyone to visit ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medien) and experience its collections and exhibits after hours.
Media artist Moritz Simon Geist (website) will be performing, and MINT café at ZKM will serve food (see next subsection).
Accessibility information for the museum is available on their website (direct link).
Food and Drinks
During the event, MINT café at ZKM will serve:
- Vegetarian pumpkin soup with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin kernels
- “Schupfnudeln” (pasta) with mediterranean vegetable-tomato-sauce
- Thai Curry with vegetables and two types of steamed rice (vegan, gluten-free)
- Dessert (unspecified, served in Weck preserving jar)
- Vegan chocolate tarte.
Drinks included in the catering:
- Water, juices and Schorle (mixed water and juice)
The cooks will be present and available to answer questions regarding the food.
The food and contents will be labeled. In case your dietary requirements are not covered by the usual list of allergens, please contact us at accessibility@mensch-und-computer.de .
Coffee Breaks & Lunch
Information on the food and drinks at the evening events are listed in the respective subsections.
The meal plan for the conference catering is available as download in two formats: PDF and DOCX
Sign Language Interpretation
As a first step towards accessibility for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants, Mensch und Computer this year co-finances the sign language interpretation cost for several participants whose first/primary languages are German Sign Language and Austrian Sign Language, respectively.
For hearing participants who have questions about Deafness, sign languages and interpretation, information materials will be provided.
Streaming & Remote Participation
The conference is set up as an on-premise event.
In single cases, e.g., due to illness, we may be able to provide remote participation. Please contact us at accessibility@mensch-und-computer.de for details.
Workshops may be held in hybrid form. This is the respective workshop organizers’ decision. In case they decide to offer their workshop in hybrid format, we ask them to take care of all technical necessities themselves. The conference team will support them, but cannot take over the job of setup and maintenance of streaming/remote participation.