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sasha_featherAs 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?
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?
no subject
Date: 2012-09-03 09:24 pm (UTC)It was a long time before I recognized my own access needs and their validity because the world is designed in a way that needs are termed "special," and it doesn't always feel like my needs are "important enough" for "special" access. I bet there are a lot of folks like this, who would take advantage of access that was offered just par for the course but wouldn't know to bring it up elsewhere. At a recent con I attended a PWD gathering where we started introductions with name, pronouns, and any access needs--about 1/3 of the group stated that they weren't sure what their access needs were because they were so new to being asked and hadn't had time to think about and name their needs. The first time I used ASL interpretation was at a con where many interpreters were available and some friends encouraged me to ask because I was really frustrated trying to hear in a workshop and couldn't focus on the content. I timidly asked, and though I hadn't requested interpreters, the coordinator was kind, helpful, and figured out a way to get me a team for the day and then hired additional interpreters the next day. My access was far better and I came away with a really good feeling about the event.
Of course, it's not always financially feasible to provide interpreters, and it is usually the more expensive, larger cons that can provide the ideal access of interpreters for every workshop. But even comparing WisCon and WorldCon on this, I notice that WorldCon emphasizes that interpreters may be available for some events and that they will not be paid. WisCon's policy seems to be a "we'll do our best!" which if not ideal is a better approach than "hey, uh, anyone want to volunteer?"
I'm considering saving up to go to WisCon one day, and I'm glad to see that y'all are at least putting forth a serious effort on access and framing it as a natural, common need for the whole con population rather than a "special" thing.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-03 10:52 pm (UTC)I just-- I'm really appalled at the idea of not paying interpreters. I know that a lot of conventions are run by volunteers, etc, but this is different because it is about the charity (ie pity) model of disability rather than the social justice model of disability. It is better to have no interpreters at all, IMO, than to have unpaid ones, because this just reinforces a very old idea of PWD getting the crumbs from the table, and people who serve PWD doing noble self-sacrificing charity work, rather than regular old paid work.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-05 05:36 am (UTC)As an access services person, I try to think about how different people use and interact with the convention space, and what things would make that interaction easier, or simpler. But, even with guiding documents, like the Geek Feminism Wiki, and guidance from Universal Design experts (http://www.nea.gov/resources/accessibility/pubs/DesignAccessibility.html), I can't think of everything, and so requests really do help.
(and I am worried I am talking too much on here.... sorry!)
no subject
Date: 2012-09-06 04:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-06 09:13 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-06 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 06:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 07:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-08 04:46 am (UTC)It's a times like this I'm furious that the only enforcement of the US ADA law is through private legal actions.
/rant. Return to your regularly scheduled discussion.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-10 01:36 pm (UTC)or, be careful what you ask for ...
Date: 2012-09-10 01:44 pm (UTC)And then there is what "is" "reasonable".
Various cons have looked into this and decided that whether or not they are subject to the ADA they have a moral obligation to do the best job they can. But a court ruling might just make some cons do less.
Just saying ...
On the other hand, it would seem to me (and I'm not a lawyer) that the attendees would have a better time going after the hotels including the Dragoncon hotels.
Re: or, be careful what you ask for ...
Date: 2012-09-10 05:04 pm (UTC)