CONVENTION CONTACTS

The Rhetoric Society of America is committed to ensuring that all RSA events create and maintain a welcoming atmosphere for all its members so that all may benefit fully from its events. If at any time you have a question or need assistance, please visit the Registration Desk for assistance or call/text RSA Executive Director Leslie Dinauer at 401-575-6458 (between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm) or email [email protected].

General inquiries: [email protected] 

Lisa Flores, Conference Co-Chair, [email protected]

Registration Desk Location

The Registration Desk will be located on the Plaza Level next to the Atrium.

Room Designations 

• Quiet Space: Location TBD. Please contact [email protected] for information prior to May 2026.
• Lactation Room: Location TBD. Please contact [email protected] for information prior to May 2026.
• All-Gender Restrooms: All-Gender restrooms will be available in convenient locations across the conference area. Please contact [email protected] for information prior to May 2026.

Accessibility Recommendations for Attendees

• Consider wearing a well-fitting mask. RSA does not require that you wear a mask, but many conference attendees are high-risk, and attendees will be taking a wide range of transportation options to get to Denver. Consider masking for the benefit of all attendees. 
• Limit perfumes and highly fragrant toiletries. Unscented and low-fragrant toiletries make our shared space more accessible for attendees with chemical sensitivities.
• Pack allergy-friendly snacks when possible. Please be mindful of attendees with food allergies, such as tree nuts, peanuts, and shellfish. Airborne allergic reactions are rare, but people can also experience adverse reactions to contamination on surfaces.

CART

• The plenary sessions – Keynote on Friday evening and Presidential Address and Awards on Saturday evening – will have live captioned CART.
• Select sessions will have automated captions provided by Wordly.ai that will be accessible on your phone. If you would like CART, please contact [email protected] before April 15, 2026 to ensure we can have the equipment ready for you.

Accessibility Recommendations for Presenters

Pre-session considerations:

Access copies:

• Upload access copies. You can upload digital copies of your script, slides, and other materials through the Whova app. You should have received an email from Whova (to the email you used when you submitted) with a URL to access this capability from your computer (not our phone). If you do not have a script, a one-page handout with sources that include proper names and specific terminology can be beneficial for interpreters and captioners. Avoid ornate and decorative fonts or documents.
• Use a QR code for access copies. A common issue presenters run into when creating access copies is that presenters may make revisions to their conference presentations prior to their presentation but after uploading/printing their access copies. If you fear that this will be an issue you may run into, consider adding a QR code to your access copies to a slide as a way of providing audience members with an access copy of your presentation. This site features a QR code generator.
• Bring printed copies when possible. Consider bringing a few hard copies of your script to distribute at the beginning of your session.
  • When printing hard copies, try to print a few copies in 12-point font and a few copies in 18-point font.

Design:

• Design slides with accessibility in mind. For visual presentations, body text should be at least 18pt, and headings should be at least 24pt. Avoid fonts that are decorative or too thin, which can be difficult to read from a distance. Employ strong color contrast (dark text on a light background) to ensure legibility. Consider using WebAIM’s Contrast Checker to check for color contrast. 
• Use typographical features like underlining, italics, and bolding to emphasize important points.

Session considerations: 

• Use the microphones provided in conference rooms. If you are presenting or asking a question, using a microphone—even if you speak loudly—improves access for many others in the room. Consider designating someone on the panel to repeat questions if there is not a microphone available.
• Describe relevant visual information during the presentation and include image descriptions when applicable. Images that are added just for visual interest don’t need to be described, but charts, graphics, and relevant images should be contextualized. On the rhetoric of audio descriptions for visual information, see Price and Bahls’s “The Rhetoric of Description.”
• Consider enabling captions if your presentation includes any videos. 
• Consider providing a speaker description. Prior to presenting, consider providing the audience with identification information like name, pronouns, title, relevant physical information, and institutional affiliation. If the presentation includes dialogue, it is important to identify each speaker each time they speak. Speakers should re-introduce themselves by stating something like, “Marie from Syracuse University here again…” before making a comment. If there are two people with the same name at the same institution, add a differentiating piece of information like “…researching disability rhetorics.”

Consider checking in with your audience from time to time. Throughout your presentation, it can be helpful to check in with your audience to ensure your pacing and volume reach everyone in the space.

Projectors

• Many rooms will have a projector and screen. If you are in a room with a projector and screen, and wish to use it, you will need to bring your own laptop, and although there will be some adapter cords available, we strongly recommend you bring your own laptop-to-projector HDMI cord, especially if you have a Mac.

Wayfinding Information

Coming Soon!