DPA AGM accessibility, tikaka, and protocols

DPA -

Disabled Persons Assembly NZ (DPA)
Annual General Meeting
Saturday 23 November 2024, 1pm to 3pm

As DPA is a pan-impairment organisation, we recognise there are a number of ways our members require access and will engage at the meeting.

Please read through the information below about accessibility and protocols before coming to the meeting.

Covid Safety
Please do not attend in person if you or someone in your household has been unwell. We have an online option so you can still participate from home.

If you are attending in person, please continue to exercise Covid safety precautions to keep each other safe and consider that we have members attending who are immunocompromised or at high risk for Covid complications.

If you are able to, please consider wearing a respirator or mask, and making use of the sanitiser available as needed.

There will be HEPA air filtration in the room.

At the meeting
On arriving at the meeting, please:

  • add your full name in the chat (online) or sign-in sheet (in person) for our records. If you are representing and voting on behalf of a member organisation, please write which one.
  • let us know if you have any specific access needs that aren’t addressed below.

If you are attending online, please keep your microphone on mute until you are invited to speak.

Getting support – Kaiāwhina
There will be a kaiāwhina / support person available online and in person to assist if you have any trouble, or if you have questions about the process. The kaiāwhina can also point you in the right direction if you have questions or comments that are not otherwise covered in the AGM agenda.

  • In person: Jason Boberg – feel free to approach Jason during the session if you need any assistance.
  • Online: DPA – Ollie Goulden – feel free to private message Ollie using Zoom chat if you need any assistance. You can do this by going to the chat and clicking the recipient “To: Everyone” and selecting to “To: DPA – Ollie Goulden” from the dropdown menu.

NZSL interpreters
NZSL interpreters will be available online.

Please pin the interpreters when you arrive in the meeting if you’re joining us online.

They’ll be identified as NZSL interpreters in their name.

Transcription
To receive the live captions:

  • Go to www.caseviewnet.com
  • Enter 0YDHFF in the first box (zero at the front)
  • Enter password DPAAGM (all caps)
  • Enter your name
  • Don’t worry about the organisation and email
  • Click “connect”

Zoom etiquette
To make sure the meeting is as accessible as possible for everyone, please follow the protocols below:

  • Stay on mute when not speaking and have your camera on where possible for the duration of the call.
  • Use the Chat function to discuss agenda items and to vote – we ask that you use Chat only as needed and to be mindful of those using text to speech technology.

Speaking at the meeting
It’s important that everyone who would like to speak about an agenda item has the opportunity to do so.
When it’s time to talk about an item, the Chair will let us know.
To let the Chair know you would like to talk, you can either:

  • raise your hand in the Zoom application using the “Reactions” feature
  • raise your hand on camera or in person
  • add your points to the chat.

We will invite people to talk in the order hands were raised, where possible. The Chair will read out comments from the chat.

The chat is an important accessibility tool for some participants. However, it can also be disruptive and inaccessible for others especially those using text-to-speech.

Please be considerate in chat use by only using it for on-topic items when the Chair opens for discussion.

We ask that back-and-forth debate or social conversations be saved for other platforms or private messages to keep the chat as accessible as possible for everyone.

If you are unsure or if you would like support, please send a private chat message to the Kaiāwhina (DPA – Ollie Goulden) or talk with the in-person Kaiāwhina (Jason Boberg).

Voting at the AGM
Once a motion or proposal has been discussed, the Chair will ask the assembly if we agree. This is the time to vote.
We will vote by raising our hands or using the thumbs-up reaction in Zoom.

When the Chair asks for “all those in favour, please raise your hand”, or “all those opposed, please raise your hand” then if we agree with that statement, we either:

  • raise our hand on camera
  • raise our hand on Zoom or use the thumbs up reaction.
  • use the Chat function to say “In favour” or “Not in favour”.

We will need to count the votes, so please keep your hand raised until the Chair says the votes are counted.

If you use the thumbs up function on Zoom, please ensure it remains up while we tally up the votes. This means you may need to click the reaction again if your thumbs up disappears before the Chair says the votes are counted.

Any questions
If you have any questions about the AGM or would like to RSVP, you’re welcome to reply to this email or email info@dpa.org.nz.