Everyone should read and reflect upon Cripchick’s post on accessibility and what that means for the various communities we are a part of.
Here’s a pedacito:
Accessibility is:
# childcaredo you have childcare so parents can come? will kids be safe and have programming so parents don’t have to worry about them?
# sliding pay scales
do you have different payment options? if people can’t afford your event, can they volunteer their time or services instead?
# different ways of getting information out
how do people hear about your events? is it just email and facebook or do you use mailings and phone trees too?
# gender-neutral bathrooms
with a long history of trans and genderqueer people being harrassed and in danger when they go into bathrooms, do you have bathrooms where gender does not matter? a lot of times gender-neutral bathrooms are single-room bathrooms where disabled people can also go in with their personal attendants or parents can take their kids. this is helpful for everyone.
# food options
do you ask about people’s allergies or if they need vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc?
# wheelchair and other mobility-related access
is Point A far from Point B for folks that walk? what physical barriers are there?, if you’re going to close meeting room doors, are they heavy?, are there chairs for people? are the chairs wide enough that everyone can be comfortable? it’s cool to be creative about making things work but know that if basic access requires a lot of energy, people may not come.
She’s asking for peeps to being their own ideas to the blogmesa as well.
