On 27 March 2020, Forbes reported that online events had increased by 1000% as result of the recently declared COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions, stay at home orders and social distancing mandates prompted a swift shift to online events. Despite the emergency tone dominating 2020 events, online conferences are now an integral part of the academic conference landscape and could potentially be a key enabler for diverse academics by:
- negating the need for travel
- including more attendees, such as disabled academics, early career researchers without institutional support, and people with childcare commitments
- acknowledging the long-held concerns of academics concerned with climate change and the impact of extended air travel
This project will create a best practice universal design guide for ensuring conferences are designed according to universal design frameworks. This will include a review of current academic, technological and industry literature, and focus groups with academics who have both attended and hosted online events.