World Con and accessibility (or lack thereof)

[sasha_feather]

As you probably know, I am one of a handful of people who run Access at WisCon. I've done this for a few years and learned a ton. Access initiatives at WisCon have largely been very successful and well-regarded.

Karen Moore recently went to WorldCon and was struck by the difference in the lack of accessibility there vs. at WisCon. She wrote us a letter to say so, and gave me permission to quote her letter in my blog. Excerpts from her letter follow:

----begin----

As difficult as it is to juggle 1,000 convention members through the Concourse Hotel’s [WisCon's event site] elevators, I have never seen a wheelchair or scooter user wait for 55 minutes to get onto an elevator at WisCon. I’ve seen that happen multiple times this weekend. It has never been necessary at WisCon to take one elevator to the ground floor, transfer to a second elevator to reach the below-ground floors, traverse a tunnel between two buildings to reach yet a third elevator in order to reach a different floor in the other building to go from one panel to the next. That is a frequent occurrence at WorldCon; in fact, one scooter user we spoke to had concluded that the best she could hope for was to be able to attend a panel in every other timeslot, because the lengthy waits at multiple elevators meant that it took her at least two full hours to navigate from one panel to the next one.

As much of a hurdle it was to move awareness of access into the forefront of people’s consciousness at WisCon, you achieved that very effectively, with announcements, signage, blue tape and multiple other means of communicating to the able-bodied that perhaps taking the stairs would not be a huge burden, and that it would be worthwhile to do so to free up elevator space for those who cannot move between floors in any other way. At WorldCon, there was nary a whisper of such messages, save for a brief blurb titled “Be Kind to your Wheel-Footed Friends” in the Saturday newsletter – and that was AFTER I buttonholed the con chair on Friday afternoon and gave him merry hell about it.

As challenging as it is to finagle a wheelchair/scooter parking spot in some of those oddly-shaped meeting rooms at the Concourse, you still manage to do so in every single one. There is absolutely NO awareness of the need for wheelie/scooter parking spaces at WorldCon. Wheelchair/scooter users are on their own to try to squeeze into space, move chairs around, and try to find a spot to settle.

And even though it is far from ideal for wheelchair/scooter users to have to use that little elevator to navigate the half-flight of stairs to reach the last two panel rooms on the first floor, at least there IS an elevator. There is at least one room in WorldCon’s venue that can ONLY be accessed if one can climb stairs, and they programmed events in that room in every single time slot of the entire con.

And finally, as much pushback as I know Access has gotten from within the committee over its mission, at least none of WisCon’s concom (that I know of) has ever seriously suggested developing an entire track of programming that doesn’t exist, located in a room that doesn’t exist, and then put the damn thing in the pocket program book, the online program and everywhere else. Evidently, someone in the WorldCon committee finds it immensely amusing to think of a convention member with no cartilage left in his hips struggling painfully down multiple escalators, across the tunnel, up more escalators, then searching through a maze of corridors for a program event, only to find a sign that essentially says “Ha, ha, gotcha, Sucker!” The con chair heard from me on that topic as well, by the way. His response? “Well, I’m sorry you don’t see the humor in it.”

-----end-------

WorldCon does have an accessibility department, but it sounds like it is not succeeding. It also sounds like, from this last paragraph, that the ConCom trolled its own membership.

I repost this here not to pick on WorldCon or to cause drama, but rather to say, here is a problem, at this covention and at others. What can we do to work on addressing this problem?

Initiatives at WisCon succeeded because of committed activists and allies. I suspect that each convention will need insiders on their con coms to bring initiatives forward-- that change will have to come from the inside.

At one convention that I won't name at present, I think that criticism around accessibility caused a very strong backlash, and that comparisons to WisCon only made the backlash worse. We were seen as condescending outsiders to their in group. My own perspective is that I have practical experience that I want to share, but, the criticism was not taken as constructive and relationships were damaged.

This is not my intention here. Better access improves things for everyone involved, and it is not as hard to implement as one might think.

Thoughts?

Comments

[mariness]

Yes. It was behind the stage and behind a curtain. Not visible, and an able-bodied winner commented as a pure aside that she needed help negotiating down it because it was dark and difficult to see (admittedly she had also just been standing in bright stage lights.)

[(Anonymous)]

We have done a fake track at FOGcon. We're the ones who ran three program items during the time-change hour in March (the hour that doesn't really exist).

As con chair, I was adamant that the program items be absolutely ridiculous, and in non-existent locations, so that no one could possibly be confused. I think one item was, "The currently-dead Fritz Leiber reads from his brand-new work, written postmortem." Another was, "Ann VanderMeer tells you the six magic words that will automatically get you published in any magazine you want." All items were scheduled in clearly non-real places; I forget what they were, but I remember insisting the programming-writer change some places so no one could be confused.

It helped that these were all listed on the same page, and set off as "special time-change programming" (or something like that) so there were no problems at all, and everyone appreciated the joke.

I'm horrified by the con chair's response to Karen's concerns. :(

--Vylar Kaftan, FOGcon chair

[sasha_feather]

On the 6th floor (the party room floor), we run a strip of blue painter's tape down the middle. One side is clearly marked as the "stand here/mingle here" side, the other side is the "travel here" side. This has been wildly popular because previous the hall was filled with minglers and was quite difficult to move through.

You can read more at the Geek Feminism wiki if you like:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Accessibility

[sasha_feather]

It's not that I mean to harp on this, but, well, I guess I'm going to harp on it. Why do you need to have a joke program track at all? What purpose does it serve?

And are you *sure* that no harm is being done? Are you *sure* that "everyone appreciated the joke" and that there were "no problems at all"? How can you be sure of this?

Jokes like this rely on cultural knowledge. What "everyone knows", or "doxa" is probably not something that everyone at your con actually knows. Do you have non-native English speakers at your con? Do you have newbie con attendees? Do you have teenagers or children attending?

If you badly want joke programs, why not make a fake newsletter, a la the Onion, and put them there, instead of in the program book?

[dulcinbradbury]

Did they not have ninjas back there to help on the ramp? I ask mostly out of surprise. They almost always have people backstage to help with that because anyone who comes off stage into the dark (whether backstage or into the house) is going to have trouble adjusting to the low light. That's why we had a whole line of ninjas along the ramp backstage for the masquerade. (I didn't work the Hugos.) We usually have ninjas by all of the stairs for the same reasons.

This is not to say that a ramp in the front isn't a good idea. I think it is. I know they ran into some problem with having a second ramp.

[dulcinbradbury]

Thank you. That's really cool. As someone who has some anxiety issues with crowds, that would strongly appeal to me too.

Stagg Field track

[(Anonymous)]

All Worldcons pick up some local fannish traditions and the fake track comes from one of the local Chicago conventions. One of the items was Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein on the Higgs Boson. It's very unfortunate if the descriptions and participants were not enough to convey the joke. As a member I personally regret hearing that some people didn't see it coming and were inconvenienced yet at the same time I am saddened if conventions are not allowed any attempt at humor.

Re: Venues for change

[sparkymonster]

Pondering on accessibility, I think it helps to reframe the discussion as "access for all" or "doing this thing makes things better for lots of people." For instance, having materials in large type is great for anyone with vision problems. This includes people who don't identify as disabled or "low vision." Eye strain blah blah.

Large print signs that identify rooms that stick out into the hall (like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliastarkey/525390514/) help everyone. It makes it much easier to figure out where rooms are.

Marked chairs for people who are hard of hearing benefits tons of people. Sometimes a certain room is hard for someone to hear in or someone's ears are clogged from flying. Being able to easily sit up front is great.

Um. Things.

I also think it's important for persons doing accessibility to have some sense of disability rights and culture. This is more relevant for people who are able bodied. I found it enormously helpful to spend some time reading blogs etc

[elialshadowpine]

It's the same sort of cutesy, attempting to be inclusive but really being patronizing and condescending as in the vein of "differently abled" imo. (Why, tell me more about all these things I am "differently abled" to do with a chronic pain disorder. -_-)

[mme_hardy]

A big, hearty +1 on this. My disability is a limitation on the life I want to live; yours (hypothetical you) may be different, and more power to you.

The thing I loved about WisCon was that they really listened *hard* and they tried to invent solutions and they thought about, among other things, balancing disabilities -- how do you square people who are allergic to scents against people who use aromatherapy to treat illnesses? If I recall correctly -- it's been two years -- I was able to reach a disability contact during the convention, who got me moved to a quiet room after I explained that being next to a party was going to be a Very Bad Thing for my migraines.

WisCon really made me feel like "one of us" and "we're glad you're here" rather than "you're a nuisance and an exception". And I got into some great hall conversations with other people with disabilities about how to manage my own limitations better next year, and the Con staff really bent over backwards to help.

Language policing can become a distraction, but there is a world of difference between "Access" and "Handicap" as committee names.

Re: Stagg Field track

[rosefox]

If you can't figure out opportunities for humor that won't cause physical pain to people who don't get the joke, you need remedial joking lessons.

[stardreamer]

This was also the same venue that was used for Chicon V in 1991. I was at that con, and after the first day I had a custom button made that I wore for the rest of the con. It said "Chicon V: It's in the other tower and down another escalator." Because no matter where you were, that was where the place you needed to go next was.

[ckd]

Seriously. Every time I tried to get down the hall on 34 during party hours, I was thinking about how much I missed the WisCon traffic layout.

[readsalot]

I'm on the staff for LoneStarCon3--is it ok if I point people at this entry?

[cogitationitis]

I was incensed that the traditional Fannish Inquisition panel was in a room that was not only way too small, with a noisy and badly working air conditioner, it was up three steps. Considering the moderator used a scooter, and that one poor (one-legged) woman had to bump her way backwards up said steps to attend, I can't even imagine why they used that room at all--or if they had to, they should have at least used it for a generally more mobile population, like for the teen lounge.

On the plus side, all future Worldcons and bids are in ADA-compliant facilities. Although it's possible that Helsinki (a 2015 bid) may not have some ADA-compliant hotels--once they pin down the hotels. And if a New Orleans in 2018 bid materializes, there may be some outlier hotels which are also non-compliant.

Re: Stagg Field track

[(Anonymous)]

The participants weren't listed on the program grids, which is what I was looking at most of the time (and what other people seemed to be looking at most of the time).

[saraphina_marie]

I also ran into Lee Martindale who, I suspect, will be also composing her own letter to the concom and Hyatt corporate.
As someone of average proportions and able-bodied, many of the tiny bathrooms with switch-back corridors were difficult for me to navigate and I was horrified to even imagine the stress it was causing those who were less mobile than I.

Also the utter lack of WorldCon-generated signage was terrible. Especially in the West Tower where some other con-goer (not a Hyatt staffer, or Con staffer or volunteer) was kind enough to direct me tot he Silver Level of that space because the Hyatt signs ran out abruptly and there was no other source of directions and no one to ask. I spent a lot of time frustrated

[mariness]

I'm mildly curious, and not exactly trying to be offensive -- are you really reading my comments?

I'm asking because in two separate comments now I have pointed out that yes, there was a hidden ramp, and that people were guided down the ramp and/or got help negotiating the ramp, kinda implying that yes, people were there to help at the ramp, primarily because the ramp was behind a curtain and in the dark. Which also meant that if a wheelchair user had won, that user would have had to go around to the back, be helped up the ramp because of the dark, and then allowed on stage, instead of just getting to go directly up on stage.

It's all awesome that people were there to help get people down a ramp. (Although I'll add that generally speaking, if I need help with a ramp, there's a problem with the ramp.) It's sorta awesome that Worldcon remembered to have a ramp. It's a little less awesome that Worldcon HAD a ramp and chose to put it behind a curtain and in the dark. And THAT'S the complaint that I am making here.

[mme_hardy]

That would be great for me. I only recently came to define myself as having a disability, but long before I accepted the label there were access issues I had that I didn't feel worthy to ask for. "Not making trouble" is a powerful part of a lot of people's acculturation.

A big one, for me, that people tend not to think about is that it would be great if areas with long lines (e.g. to get into ballrooms) had seating opportunities other than the floor. You can't provide enough seats for everybody, but "some" is better than "none". If there were a way for people who can't stand for long periods -- many of whom do not have wheelchairs or other visible outward signals -- to maintain a presence in line without standing, that would be good.

Re: Stagg Field track

[sasha_feather]

No one is saying that conventions aren't allowed anything! Let's not jump to wild conclusions.

[sasha_feather]

Early seating for those of us who can't stand in line or need preferential seating (such as lip readers) is a good option here.

[sasha_feather]

There is definitely something about "insider" knowledge in fandom... what is needed are ways to welcome people into that.

[sasha_feather]

Please do!

[sasha_feather]

I would really hesitate about making assumptions about "mobile populations"--teenagers can have mobility impairments too. A room like that should not be used for programming, full stop.

The ADA has been around since 1990; it's too bad it doesn't have more teeth.

[dulcinbradbury]

I'll admit that I misread your first comment, for which I do apologize.

For your second comment, I interpreted it as "needed to find someone to help" rather than "needed to accept the help offered." If that had been the case, I was about to be appalled. And I do agree that a ramp out front would have been a better plan.

The ramp they did have was used for accessibility in getting onstage for the masquerade (which is always from backstage for the surprise of the presentation). It was long and I don't know that they could have moved it out front, given the way it was put together. The right answer would have been a second ramp for out front.