WEBVTT

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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NARRATOR: Providing accessible
informal STEM learning.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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CHARLOTTE MARTIN:
I'm Charlotte Martin.

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I'm the Director of
Access Initiatives

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at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and
Space Museum in New York City.

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And one of my big takeaways
working in access for a number

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of years now is not to
assume what an individual can

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or cannot do, but rather
knowing the potential barriers

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presented by your space or
your program or the challenge

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you're working on, trying to
mitigate those as best you can

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in advance, and then being
prepared to offer clear options

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and information
about those options.

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So having text labels,
having large print available,

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so having large print labels
that people can borrow,

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also having that content available
online through an accessible

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web page that you can
access through a QR code.

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By building those resources
into the exhibition,

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you can still have that shared
experience with the people

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that you came with even
if some are disabled

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or not disabled or have
different preferences for how

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they get that information.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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KATY MENNE: Hi.

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My name is Katy Menne.

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I'm the Curator of Education
at the North Carolina Maritime

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Museum at Southport.

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We strive every day, all
day, through all platforms

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and on site to make
sure that we are

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accessible for all people,
all ages, all abilities.

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So if it's reading the
exhibits and going through

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at your own pace, if
it's scanning a QR

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code for a semi-guided audio
tour, including American Sign Language,

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or if it's
utilizing our Braille

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maps to go throughout the
building, no matter what,

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we hope that you
have an opportunity

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to learn, and do, and be the
best version of yourself.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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ISAAC BEAVERS:
I'm Isaac Beavers.

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I'm with the Alabama
Institute for Deaf and Blind

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in Huntsville.

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In our informal STEM
learning programs,

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we serve primarily blind and
visually impaired students.

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We have over the last
few years incorporated

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deaf and hard-of-hearing
students.

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So one of the things
we do is make sure

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that on our registrations, we
ask what consumers might need,

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attendees might need.

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When we're working with
blind and visually impaired,

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we want to make
sure that we have

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Braille, tactile
representations and models.

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We want to make sure that
we have audio access.

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And when we're
working with our deaf,

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we always make sure we
have American Sign Language interpreters

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and also we have
a few FM devices along the way.

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RYAN SAGLIO: My
name is Ryan Saglio.

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I am the Supported
Employment Program Manager

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at a human services
nonprofit in Massachusetts

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called Attleboro Enterprises.

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I work exclusively with
individuals with disabilities

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and mental illness who are
looking to find employment

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opportunities out
in their community,

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but I have also in the past
done accessibility and inclusion

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work for some of the local
museums here in New England.

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I think that good accessibility
work is basic accessibility

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work, things like having
bathrooms that are accessible,

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benches that are accessible,
wide walking paths.

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A story that I often tell
of accessibility gone wrong

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is I recently visited a museum
that I was very excited to see.

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I'd been waiting two
years to get there.

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I do have my own
physical disabilities

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and physical limitations, so
I don't use mobility aids,

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but I do need to sit
down quite often.

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And we were in the museum,
and we were walking around,

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and after a couple of minutes,
I really needed to sit,

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and because of COVID, they had
removed all of the benches.

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So as we're walking
through the museum,

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I'm looking for somewhere to
sit down so I can take a moment,

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and we're not finding one.

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And the further we
get into the museum,

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the less I'm looking
at the museum,

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and the more I'm just
looking for a bench.

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And by the time we
finally found one,

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there was a line of people
who were looking to sit down,

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so we actually just left.

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TANY HOLZWORTH: Hey.

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I'm Tany Holzsworth.

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I'm the content designer
for Inclusive Classroom

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Tools at Microsoft,
and previously, 

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I was managing the
Volunteer Inclusion

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Program at Woodland Park Zoo.

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And some of the things that
were the most successful with us

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when we first got started were
revamping the Accessibility

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Guidelines on our website.

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We found that a lot of
people with disabilities

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didn't perceive the
zoo to be accessible

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for them to even visit, so
it never occurred to them

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to volunteer at the zoo.

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So by updating the
website and making sure

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that there was a way to request
accommodations or see what

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accommodations are
available, we were able

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to get a lot more folks
interested in volunteering.

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The other thing that
was really important

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was training staff and existing
volunteers without disabilities

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to presume competence of
the incoming volunteers.

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And by that, I just
mean treating them

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as much as possible
like anybody else

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who would be a new volunteer.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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DIANA JOHNS: My
name is Diana Johns.

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I'm the Vice President
for Exhibits, Education,

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and Outreach at
Pacific Science Center,

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and I have been with the
Science Center for 17 years now.

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I think for an institution
that's been around since 1962,

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some of the challenges
that you're dealing with

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are legacy issues.

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So one of the best practices is
when you have that opportunity

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to make a significant
change to a legacy area,

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how are you thinking about the
accessibility of that area?

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We recently put in
a new experience

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that we'd had before,
and the vendor

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had asked if we could put
it back in the same place,

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and we said no because that
was not accessible to everyone.

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CHARLOTTE MARTIN: But
the thing I would really

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encourage from
the very beginning

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is engaging directly with
disabled self-advocates,

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and engage with them at
all levels of your planning

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from the very beginning at
that brainstorming to identify

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what the priorities should be
or what the challenges are,

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what the opportunities are.

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It's the expression--

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Don't let the perfect be
the enemy of the good.

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We need to start somewhere.

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But as long as it's
iterative, and we're

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learning along the
way, that's really

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what's going to make
the big difference.

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KATY MENNE: When designing
programs and exhibits,

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we try to look at
the whole person.

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So if you are sitting
in a wheelchair,

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if you're sitting on
the floor, if you're

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walking around needing
constant movement,

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how can you still
learn and interact

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with our maritime topics?

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So materials
utilized in classes,

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like crayons or
scissors, we try to have

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several different options.

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We hope that as you take
on this journey of creating

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inclusive and accessible
spaces for all people

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that you think about putting
yourself in the shoes

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and in the spaces of others.

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ISAAC BEAVERS: As
you think about how

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to accommodate someone
who is blind or visually

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impaired and somebody who's
deaf or hard-of-hearing,

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the fact of the matter is,
is that almost all of us

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could benefit from something
that is larger print,

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that is high contrast,
almost all of us

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could benefit from
clear communication.

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RYAN SAGLIO: When you make one
small change with one community

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need in mind, it often
has ramifications and can

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impact more than just one.

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So when you make a space
wheelchair accessible,

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you make it easier for
a mom with a stroller

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to also navigate that space.

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When you create a
gender neutral bathroom,

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you create a place for dads to
bring their kids or caregivers

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who might be out
in the community

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and need a space that is neither
a men's room or a women's room.

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Or when you create a
picture menu for somebody

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that doesn't read,
you also allow

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someone who might
have extreme anxiety

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or might be an English
language learner

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to also occupy that space and
have the typical experience.

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DIANA JOHNS: When you do design
something that you make sure

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you are testing that with a
wide variety of potential users

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because you will learn
very quickly if something

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is truly as close to universally
designed as possible.

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So I think it's
always never assume

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you've got all the answers.

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Make sure that you
are testing things

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with all the variety of users
that you hope to invite.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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NARRATOR: This
presentation was created

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by AccessISL, which supports
efforts to make informal STEM

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learning opportunities
more welcoming

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and accessible to everyone,
especially individuals

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with disabilities.

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For more information, visit
the AccessISL website,

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uw.edu/doit/programs/accessisl.

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AccessISL is supported by
National Science Foundation

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grant number DRL-1906147.

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Any questions, findings, and
conclusions or recommendations

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expressed in this material
are those of the speakers,

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and do not necessarily
reflect the views

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of the federal government.

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Copyright 2022,
University of Washington.

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Permission is granted
to copy these materials

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for educational
non-commercial purposes

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provided the source
is acknowledged.