Committee Projects & Events
- Communicate clearly about what attendees can expect from events. Is there loud music? flashing or low lighting? limited seating? Communicate clearly when advertising/announcing events so people can plan and prepare.
- Provide ways for disabled people to request accommodations. Consider including statements in promotional materials, such as: “To request disability accommodations for this event, please contact [email address] as early as possible.”
- Host events in accessible spaces. Make sure that event spaces have ramps when there are stairs, disabled parking, and accessible bathrooms. There should also be ample room to navigate the space without running into chairs, pillars, or walls.
- Provide ASL interpreters and/or open captioning. This depends on the event (and requests). Note that while auto-captioning/AI can sometimes be helpful, it is not equivalent to professional interpreters and captioners.
- Make room for service animals. This means requiring that only service animals be present and/or requiring that all animals be leashed (as service animals can’t do their work if they are distracted by off-leash animals).
- Budget for accessibility. Monies may be needed to rent accessible venues, ASL interpreters, and the like.
- Create accessible online materials. This means making PDFs accessible to screenreaders, adding captions to videos, and providing scripts for podcasts.
- Be flexible. Most disabilities are invisible, and what some disabled people need may conflict with what others need. Including disabled people means being open to new ideas and feedback. This checklist is only a start, and we are all always learning.
Questions can go to accessibility@aasantacruz.org.