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The four rules we audit

Each rule, as written, and who it assumes

These are real SIGCHI and CHI rules, quoted from their sources. They are the starting points for the four tables at the workshop, not the only rules you can write about. For each one we ask the same three things: who does the rule see, who does it contort to fit, and who does it leave out.

Rule One: Reviews

To review at CHI 2027 you need “at least one full publication in CHI or a SIGCHI specialized conference” and “prior mentoring or training in review writing”. The authors of each submitted paper must “contribute four completed reviews”, and “if a declared reviewer fails to fulfil their responsibility, their submission(s) are desk-rejected”.

Assumes

Someone who has already published at a SIGCHI venue, had a mentor to show them how to review, and can spare the time for four reviews. A first-time author from a small department cannot meet the duty without a senior co-author who can.

We ask

Who is judged unqualified, who absorbs the load, and how does a second language or a small department read to the screening tool and to the associate chair?

Rule Two: Money

Fee waivers go to “authors from countries covered by ACM’s agreements with EIFL and Research4Life”, with a 50% discount for “lower middle-income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies”. Travel awards are paid “through reimbursements; you will need to submit receipts after the conference”, and an advance is available only “in cases of acute financial constraint”.

Assumes

That need follows a country’s income band and an institution’s licence, and that a person who needs help with travel can pay first and claim the money back later.

We ask

Whose need is missed when it is counted this way, and what must they produce to be believed?

Rule Three: Access

Accommodation begins at registration, with the question “Do you have a disability or special need that impacts your access to ACM conferences…?”, is due “by February 13th”, and is qualified by “we may not be able to accommodate every request”.

Assumes

That a person knows in February what they will need in May, is willing to write a diagnosis on a form to get it, and that asking costs them nothing.

We ask

What must a person disclose, to whom and how early, to be accommodated, and what does the asking cost them?

Rule Four: Presence

Host cities rotate through “Asia, Eastern North America, Europe, Western North America, and then Wildcard”. A city “needs to be safe and welcoming to all of our attendees, regardless of their nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, wealth, age, physical ability”, and, in the next sentence, “already, this is impossible to ensure, given visa requirements for different regions”. And “all workshops will be in-person only”.

Assumes

That regions are interchangeable for the people who travel to them, and that being in the room is the only way to take part. This rule governs this workshop, so it is the first one we audit.

We ask

When attendance is rationed by passport, body, care and money, what does being in the room give that absence does not, and what could be given to those who are not?

How each rule is marked

At the workshop, each rule is walked through with a set of composite personas built from participants’ cases. For every persona the table records one of three outcomes, and what the rule demanded to get there: proof, disclosure, payment, a senior co-author, a passport, time.

• Seen: the rule works for this person as written
• Contorted: the person can meet it, at a cost
• Left out: the person cannot meet it at all

Your case

What a case is, and how to send one

We do not want position papers. A case is a first-person account of one SIGCHI or CHI rule you have run into. It has five parts:

1. The rule, quoted or described.
2. What it required you to prove, disclose or pay.
3. What it did not see about you, or got wrong.
4. What happened: you met it, you were bent to fit it, or you were left out.
5. What it cost you, in money, time, paperwork, energy and risk.

For example: a travel award you could not take because it reimburses after the conference; a reviewing duty you could not meet with no senior co-author; an accommodation you decided not to request because of what the form asked. Any SIGCHI or CHI rule counts, not only the four above.

Consent and privacy

Cases may be anonymised. They are read by the organisers and, if accepted, shared among participants only; nothing is published without your consent. Personas are built only from real statements and checked with you before use, and you can withdraw your case up to two weeks before CHI. Sessions are not recorded, because cases carry health, financial, legal and immigration detail. The workshop proposal is published in the ACM Digital Library; cases are not, unless you choose to publish yours on this site.

Dates

All deadlines are anywhere on Earth.

When	What
11 February 2027	Case statements due
Late February 2027	Notification, before the CHI early registration deadline
March 2027	Online case session
Late April 2027	Personas checked with contributors; briefing pack sent
May 2027	Workshop at CHI 2027, Pittsburgh: two consecutive sessions

Organisers

The workshop is organised by the SIGCHI Equity Committee, the SIG’s standing committee for equity across its conferences. Members who cannot enter the United States run the online session.

• Siân Brooke University of Amsterdam. Co-chair, Equity Committee. Lead organiser.
• Daniel L. Gardner Robert Gordon University. Co-chair, Equity Committee. Online session.
• Ticianne Darin Federal University of Ceará.
• Ana Henriques
• Victoria Neumann
• Stefany Cruz
• Rafaella Sampaio de Alencar
• Peng Kuang

Contact: Siân Brooke, s.j.m.brooke@uva.nl

Accessibility

At the workshop

• Rule cards and personas are sent as accessible PDFs and plain text two weeks ahead, and printed in large type on the day.
• Written contribution is always an alternative to speaking. Each table has a scribe.
• No activity depends on standing, screens or speed. There is a quiet option in the room.
• Captioning is requested through the conference.
• If you need anything else to take part, say so when you send your case, or email us at any time. You do not need to say why.

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