SCAC Blog
Advertising Accessible Theater Events with Encore
Encore Media Group, in partnership with Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC), is excited to announce a new initiative to provide accessibility information directly to performing arts audiences in the Seattle and Bay Areas.
Along with our new digital program website, Encore+, Encore is launching Accessibility Guides to help audiences easily find events that will accommodate their needs. Encore’s new evergreen Accessibility Guides have information on performing arts organizations’ accessible offerings such as wheelchair accessibility, listening devices, interpretive services, sensory guides, and more. The Guides are organized by the type of service, making it easy for people to find all participating organizations that provide the exact provision they require. This Guide is intended to be usable for the entire performance season, sharing accessibility information that is available at every event. Please view Encore’s Accessible Guides for the Seattle Area and the Bay Area.
In addition to the Accessibility Guides, Encore will have Accessible Event pages which are monthly roundups of performances that are designed specifically for certain needs, such as ASL interpreted, audio described, sensory friendly, and more. These monthly posts will share event information including a show description, date and time of the accessible performance, and ticket information. Please view the October Accessible Event pages for the Seattle Area and the Bay Area.
How you can help: Email info@encoremediagroup.com with information about upcoming shows between now and December:
Accessible Guides: Send the name of the accessibility service (e.g. wheelchair accessible, ASL/captioning, audio description, sensory friendly, etc) and any specifics to info@encoremediagroup.com.
Accessible Event Page: Send event name, dates, times, short description, ticket URL, and what accessible service is provided at that event to info@encoremediagroup.com.
Encore is just starting out in this endeavor and the Accessibility Guides and Event pages are far from complete. We need YOU, performing arts organizations, audience members, and accessibility organizations to share their accessible services and events—we can’t do this without you! SCAC will send out periodic communications about this endeavor to help remind our arts community to broadcast accessible offerings to the community!
About Encore + SCAC
Encore has been deeply involved in the performing arts for over 50 years, providing production, marketing, and advertising services. Our flagship print performance programs, have evolved over the years and now include our digital offering, Encore+. Encore+ digital programs offer audiences the ability to use text to speech as well as adjust the size for those with limited or low vision.
The Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC) is a disabled-led arts service organization whose mission is to connect arts and cultural organizations with the resources and information to improve accessibility for people of all abilities. SCAC acts as a convener, connector, advocate, and presenter, offering programming and centralized accessibility resources. SCAC supports arts and cultural administrators at organizations of all sizes to fully integrate people with disabilities in all aspects of their work- as audiences, artists, staff, volunteers, and leadership- from planning through implementation. SCAC is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike.
Accessibility Is an Opportunity for Creativity
An interview with Sean Marihugh, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft
Sean Marihugh (he/him) is a white male with long curly brown hair and a mustache, and is seated in a power wheelchair.
We’re excited to have Sean Marihugh (he/him), senior program manager at Microsoft, as one of our speakers at Jump Into Accessibility: A Deep Dive Day! Sean, a white male with long curly brown hair and a mustache, uses a power wheelchair and brings a wealth of experience advocating for inclusive spaces for individuals with disabilities.
Learn about Sean’s experience with disability and perspective on accessibility below, then join us on November 19th to hear from Sean during the presentation Building Relationships with People with Disabilities.
What do you wish more people understood about creating inclusive spaces for individuals with disabilities?
For spaces to truly be inclusive, we must do this in partnership with the community we want to include. Being rooted in authentic disability experiences helps us avoid assumptions. People with disabilities should also be staff, leaders, and decision makers, not just users or participants.
Can you share an example of a time when you felt truly supported or accommodated in a space, and what made that experience meaningful?
The Whistler Public Library in Whistler, BC is a great example. Not only is the space itself inclusive for wheelchair users like myself, but the library director is a huge advocate for accessibility and brings in community members to give feedback, and even shape their 5 year planning cycles to ensure accessibility is considered early. They always have a growth mindset and are willing to find new and creative ways to include people - whether that’s adjusted hours to reduce sensory overload, or ensuring their maker spaces are accessible. Libraries are multi-use spaces, and it’s critical that each use case be accessible.
What barriers to access do you encounter most frequently, and how do you think they could be addressed or removed?
I use a power wheelchair, and I often find barriers with entrances and restrooms. Doors can be heavy, and soap dispensers and sinks can be out of my reach. Most places are unaware that self-closing doors can be adjusted to reduce tension - a simple and inexpensive change to increase accessibility.
Also, automatic door openers are often blocked by trash bins or other obstacles. Consider relocating, and even better, replacing with a vertical bar opener, which can be used by the broadest range of people.
In what ways do you think businesses or organizations can improve accessibility beyond just physical accommodations?
Everything we do has an impact on accessibility for people with disabilities. Language, policies, content (physical and digital), training, hiring practices, all affect how included someone feels in your space and community. People can bring their authentic selves when we intentionally consider all the ways we can impact accessibility.
What advice would you give to event organizers or public spaces when planning for inclusive accessibility?
Accessibility has a reputation of being expensive, because when it’s an afterthought, you need to retrofit. The best thing we can do is consider accessibility early, often, and in partnership with the disability community. Planning for accessibility from the beginning helps us meet users’ expectations and avoid costly and complex remediation after the fact.
What would you like to share or want people to know?
Disability is varied and deeply personal, and this breadth of experiences means accessibility is an opportunity for creativity. Accessibility requirements are simply the minimum bar - we have a responsibility to change the conversation to harness that creativity and include authentic disability perspectives.
For more about Sean, check out his website seanmarihugh.com and follow him on Instagram @skikend_with_sean.
To hear more from Sean and other experts in the field, join SCAC at the 2nd annual Deep Dive Day mini-conference! This active learning opportunity takes place on Tuesday, November 19 from 8:30 am-12:30 pm at the Woodland Park Zoo, with the goal to provide practical tools that cultural professionals can apply to their accessibility strategies.
An Accessibility Challenge for the Seattle Arts Community
By Louis Mendoza, Manager, The Washington State Fathers Network, a program of Kindering.
As a new member of the Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC) steering committee, I have two challenges for the arts organizations in town: make Seattle a national leader on accessibility to the arts for people with disabilities and publicly announce your accessibility initiatives.
In the last quarter of 2020, I was pleased to see two Seattle Times articles about improving the local arts experience for underserved populations. One, about improving arts experiences for people who have disabilities, was titled, “How Embracing Universal Design Could Make the World Better After COVID-19”. It profiled Elizabeth Ralston’s work with the SCAC to support arts groups as they expand their accessibility efforts. The second article was titled, “Seattle Theater Leaders Work Toward Anti-Racism”. What struck me was that while both articles were about improvement efforts targeting specific populations in our community; one effort is being driven by the organizations themselves, the other is being propelled forward by outside influencers. It left me wondering,
“Why are these equally important needs being addressed differently?”.
I won’t attempt to compare the importance of the two matters or the two historically marginalized communities that the articles spotlight. Anti-racism work is incredibly important and must continue. It’s the difference between the two approaches that I question. Why is one an internal approach, while the other is external? We know that intersectionality within communities of Black, indigenous and people of color as well as people with disabilities means that the issues of racism and lack of inclusion and accessibility interact and are related.
Darren Walker, CEO of the Ford Foundation put it so well when he said: “Just like race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and immigration status, living with a disability is an intersectional identity. We must understand how the inequalities faced by people with disabilities interact with the larger ecosystem of oppression that marginalizes women, low-income people, communities of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people.”
Given this intersectionality, the ideal approach would be to address both issues within the same effort.
The article on universal design offered the following: “If you have never thought about accessibility before, you likely will in the future. Today, 26% of people have some kind of disability, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, and that number is expected to increase with the aging of the baby boomer generation.” This CDC infographic confirms the statistic; that’s 1 in 4 adults living in the United States. In addition, the World Health Organization stated in December of 2020 that over 1 billion people live with some form of disability. According to the United Nations, that makes people with a disability the world’s largest minority.
Given the above figures, it’s in the best interest of organizations to take the initiative to address access for those with disabilities. From the standpoint of a potential patron and considering that people might not attend art events on their own, the number of people who could attend would increase if access was improved.
To be clear, I know the issue is recognized. I’ve been in some of the workshops on accessibility that are offered by the SCAC and I’ve seen the large numbers in attendance and robust interest. However, the issue of increasing accessibility in the arts is being driven by a small organization with one staff member and a very small budget.
Having the issue led by senior leaders of arts organizations would make an incredible difference. According to the article, the local anti-racism work within organizations is getting national attention and I believe this is because organizational leaders are driving the work. It’s far more effective and lasting when the change comes from within.
To repeat the challenges, in addition to making Seattle a nationally recognized leader in anti-racism work in the arts, local arts organization leadership should seek that same recognition for their accessibility efforts. And, these efforts need to be publicly announced. By doing so, the arts organizations will be acknowledging the importance of the 1 in 4 adults in our community and letting them know that they are welcome.
Seattle Times Feature!
Check out the article “How embracing universal design could make the world better after COVID-19” by Naomi Ishisaka, featuring our own Elizabeth Ralston, at the Seattle Times
Welcome to SCAC!
Welcome to our website! We are delighted to bring important tools and resources to you. We want you to succeed in your accessibility journey so that your constituents can be fully included and engaged.
Please watch this space to learn more about how you can bring accessibility to your organization, program, event, or space.
Take a look at our workshop videos - feel free to jump to whatever piece interests or applies to you or look at our transcripts.
Looking for ways to reach blind or low-vision patrons? Create an accessible marketing plan? Browse our resources to get answers.
Looking for a staff training or wanting to develop an access plan? Email us and we will work with you to develop something that works for your organization or group.
Feel free to email seattlecac@gmail.com with any questions or to be added to our e-news.
Happy learning!
From,
All of us at the Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium
Connecting arts and cultural organizations with information and resources to improve accessibility for people of all abilities