DRAC-Onboarding

** Improving accessibility to advanced computing resources in Canada **

What are we doing?

The Problem

Currently the DRAC hosts a very large knowledge base on their online documentation website and virtual webinars. This information however is not particularly accesible with multiple modalities, confusing and arbitrary locations for information, and a simply overwhelming amount of information to sift through to have a simple program run. The current documentation is well suited to someone who can very quickly jump around and read complex documentation quickly, as well as people who are able to easily watch and listen to videos. Both modalities are needed to have a quick and effective experience getting started. This is not suited to all people wishing to use these resources. People living with disabilities can struggle with one or more of the current requirements and presently have no good alternative.

The Solution

This project's goal is to revise the current DRAC ARC "Getting Started" and onboarding procedures with the following goals:

• Centralizing all relevant resources to get simple programs running.
• Documenting common questions and where to find detailed explanations.
• Creation of written and video guides that are identical in content.
• Community consultation to improve dissemination of information.

Roadmap

• Nov '24 - Meetings with community and potential users to gain feedback about curret process.
• Dec '24 - Deconstructing recordings and current wiki to extract relevant information.
• Dec '24 - Outlining a new style guide and setting up project.
• Jan '25 - Completing "Getting Started" first iteration.
• Jan '25 - Presenting work at OLS.
• Feb '25 - Workshop for University of Ottawa and community to evaluate and improve the onboarding process.
• Mar '25 - Revised guide and process.
• Mar '25 - Hosting final workshop to evaluate and refine the process as well as introduce new members to HPC.
• May '25 - Final report.

Who are we?

This project is led by Alexander De Furia, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, working in collaboration with Dr. Paula Branco and various student associations and STEM groups focused on underrepresented communities.

Who do we need?

We need participation and feedback from:

• People living with visible or invisible disabilities
• Neurodiverse individuals
• Geographically isolated groups
• First-generation post-secondary students
• Any other equity-seeking groups facing barriers to accessing DRI

We also welcome expertise in:

• Accessibility design
• Technical writing
• User experience design
• Workshop facilitation

Get Involved

For more information or to get involved, please contact Alexander De Furia at adefu020@uottawa.ca.