Session overview

"Truly Accessible Spaces: Designing WITH Disabled Organizers" was part presentation and part group discussion:

• Intro & avoiding ableism
• What makes a space accessible?
  • Kick-off discussion
  • Decolonization
  • Food and drink
    • Discussion: food and drink at events
  • Large-scale events: conferences, conventions, multi-day events
    • Giving people space (emotionally, mentally, and physically)
    • Discussion: how do you design for content accessibility?
  • Handling safety
• How do I put this into practice?
  • Setting expectations
  • Discussion: what do you do when things come up?
  • Handling mistakes
  • Hiring disabled activists & organizers
  • Finding more collaborators
  • Measuring progress
  • Useful resources

Presentation slides are now available (view-only) and include audience discussions from the Allied Media Conference. Image descriptions and additional context are in the presenter notes section.

Accessibility resources

Note that these are meant more as starting points rather than 100% comprehensive guides, as disability is a wide spectrum and accessibility has to be an ongoing process.

• Holding Inclusive Events: A Guide to Accessible Event Planning, Autistic Self Advocacy Network (US)
• Accessibility Guide to Meetings and Events – a Toolkit, Sisters of Frida (UK)
• 5/20 #CripTheVote Twitter Chat: Making Activism Accessible, #CripTheVote
• Color Communication Badges, Autistic Self Advocacy Network (US)
• Codes of Conduct 101 and FAQ, Ashe Dryden
• Accessibility Policy, WisCon (US)
• WITH Fellowships, The Disabled List (New York, US)

Disabled community organizers you can hire

• Elea Chang (Portland, Oregon, US) - website
• Melissa Chavez (Portland, Oregon, US) - website
• Sarah Jama (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) - website

Example of an accessible seating layout

When thinking about spaces, you should ensure that people can comfortably enter, exit, and navigate around. This is one drawn-on-the-fly example of how you might accessibly arrange a single room for presentations, though it is highly specific to the particular room that our session was in, and we’d strongly recommend digitizing layouts for easier viewing and editing. Note that access lanes and entrances should be at minimum 3.5 feet wide.

What happens when you invite @capnleela and I to talk accessibility:
[ we email organizers a detailed hand-drawn room layout with access lanes and spaces for mobility devices & aids ] pic.twitter.com/spBOzAmMAd

— Elea Chang (@elea) June 15, 2018