Building an Accessible Community

This talk was given at Community Camp at the UN in NYC.
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We talk about accessibility a lot when we write code, whether that is writing good documentation, comment blocks or creating a good user experience. When it comes to our user groups and events, accessibility is not usually on the forefront of our minds.

At WordCamp London, the organising team ensured that accessibility was a key goal of the event. We wanted to see how far we could push being accessible and how much effort it would take.

This talk is about the challenges of organising an accessible event, including how we degendered content, added child care facilities and helped the hard of hearing. We will look at the cost of each accessible feature, explore the unexpected benefits of an accessible event and discuss the lessons were learnt on the way.

Transcript

1. BUILDING AN ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITY Jenny Wong
2. @miss_jwo Community addict
3. WordCamp London 2016
4. Diversity
5. Diversity
6. Inclusivity
7. 100% organiser buy in
8. Accessibility at the core
9. Size of event does not matter
11. 1. Content Cost: free
12. Wording
13. Gender neutral pronouns
14. Tone of voice
15. Understand the differences in accessibility terms
16. Imagery
17. Show what you want to see
18. Proof read
19. 2. Child care Cost: £2344
21. Don’t do it yourself
22. Bring in professionals
23. Vet the professionals
24. Have a parent you trust talk to them
25. Meet them in person
26. Get testimonials & follow through
27. Get testimonials & follow through
28. 3. Space planning Cost: Free
29. Wheel chair accessible
30. Hearing loops
31. Lactation room
32. Quiet room
33. Media room
34. Multi-faith room
35. Sprint room
36. Break out spaces
37. Overflow areas
38. 4. Signage Cost: £3500
39. Atmosphere & self-support
40. You will need more signage than you think
41. Self-support
42. Bright & eye catching
43. Use a reading friendly font
44. Bigger than you realise
45. Hang above head level
46. Brand them
47. Signage takes more time to put up than you realise
48. Pre-organise signage
49. Blank branded signage
50. Chisel tip marker pens
51. Volunteer T-shirts
52. 5. Scheduling Cost: Free
53. Turn over
54. Wheelchair users
55. Injuries
56. Children
57. 5 minute breathers
58. Air the room
59. Back of house lunch
60. 6. Live captions Cost: £5,218.70
62. Hard of hearing
63. Accents
64. Extra A/V considerations
65. Have a secondary monitor for speakers
66. 7. Bathrooms Cost: £50
67. De-gendered Toilets
68. De-gendered Toilets
69. Stalls
70. “Life Essentials” boxes
71. Open lid box & personal note
72. Tampons & towels in different sizes
73. Have extra to refill
74. 8. Tickets Cost: Free
75. Ask for dietary requirements
76. Accept that swag was an option, not given
77. Ask if anyone needs sign language
78. 9. Opening Remarks Cost: Free
79. Events bring different cultures together
80. Set the tone
81. Empower your organisers & volunteers
82. 10. Social Cost: £5860
83. Non- alcohol centric
84. Eat before you drink
85. Drinks tokens only given out after you got your evening meal
86. Give the attendees something to do
87. Retro games
88. Drinks menu posters
89. Non-alcoholic drinks listed first
90. Quieter space to talk
92. There’s more to do Cost: Time
93. Accessibility is a first class citizen
94. Expectation
95. Any improvement is better than no improvements
96. WordCamp London 2016 Cavalry
97. Questions? Ask me later: jenny@hmn.md or @miss_jwo