Anti-ableist work in the arts: tools and advice
20-25% of society identifies as deaf or disabled. These numbers are not represented in the arts. However, the knowledge, skills and cultural qualities of people with disabilities and the deaf community offer a rich addition to our landscape. Current structures are no longer sustainable, and there is a need for increased inclusion for people with disabilities and deaf people. At Flanders Arts Institute, we want to support this need, despite the fact that we ourselves are still moving towards becoming an inclusive organisation.
Have you had a negative experience at one of our events? Let us know at sofia@kunsten.be to find a solution together, or with an external confidential advisor.
Tools for an anti-ableism policy
As an arts institute, working on an anti-ableism policy requires understanding that it is a process of change. It will affect the entire operation, and requires an integral, cross-cutting and structural approach. In practice, there is often a thematic interest in artists with disabilities, without the necessary structural change to be accessible to audiences and artists on a consistent basis.
Through this article, we give you advice that is often free or inexpensive and requires only minor adjustments, or an extra moment to reflect on the skills of your audience and artists. Other recommendations are larger and require more money and time: however, these adjustments can also have a big impact.
Additional information can be found via itools, an initiative of Inter vzw – the Flemish expertise centre for accessibility – with a guide for accessible events. Through this tool, you can also get the ‘Label Toegankelijk Evenement’, and a step-by-step plan to organise an accessible event. We also recommend Cripping the Space’s Charter, or consult our publication Art, Crisis and Transition. A Fair New World in the Arts?! for some basics around sustainable and inclusive change.
Physical accessibility
Physical accessibility is one of the first things people think about when talking about ableism. Can everyone enter the room? Can everyone handle the light switches? As an institution, can you ensure that the accessible entrance is also, or becomes, the main entrance? Is the toilet accessible to everyone? Are all counters at wheelchair height? Is your back-of-house as accessible as your front-of-house?
Making a space physically accessible sometimes requires structural modifications to the building. Think about wider doors, different lights or a lift. To do this, it is important to budget.
Flanders has a trajectory where they come and check your building, give advice and provide an accessibility label. You can also find a checklist for accessible buildings via the design tool on their website.
Tools
There are many tools that enhance accessibility. Here, we share a non-exhaustive list of tools that are often easy to implement in your organisation.
Facilities for the deaf and hearing impaired
To make your exhibition more accessible, provide a guide who gives the tour in Flemish Sign Language. Communicate clearly when these guided tours take place. Provide closed captioning on all video work in your exhibition, and a written description of sound art. You can also work with a deaf sign language interpreter who can interpret your guide Flemish Sign Language into another type of sign language.
If you show a performance with spoken text, you can choose to work with overhead or subtitles, or with a Flemish Sign Language/deaf interpreter. For an event such as a public talk, for example, you can also hire someone. More information can be found here.
Through a written interpreter, you can provide a live transcription of the event or performance, while this appears as subtitles or surtitles.
Via hearing loops, spoken text is broadcast directly to the hearing aids in the audience. This way, all text can be understood. More information on hearing loops can be found here.
Sensory chairs convert sound into vibrations for people with hearing impairments. This allows them to feel sounds. They are often a useful supplement to Flemish Sign Language interpreters and/or surtitles.
Closed Captioning provides deaf and hard-of-hearing people with a transcription of dialogue and a description of sound, tone and music. You can recognise media that features Closed Captioning by two white Cs in a black frame.
Facilities for the visually impaired
You can also add audio description to your show. An interpreter then translates what can be seen into an audible description for blind and visually impaired people via headphones. You can provide an e-mail in advance with a description of the sets and costumes. Check Nevero‘s website for more information.
You can also provide an audio-described tour of your performance. Here, a guide or an audio guide with headphones can describe the artworks.
You can recognise media with audio description by the letters AD in a black frame.
Guidance is a tactile line on the ground that blind and visually impaired people can follow, in order to navigate themselves during the event.
Screens or projections that magnify what is happening on stage can also help the visually impaired, as well as pictograms that indicate clear places at your event. You can find more information on the Sclera website.
You can have your brochure printed in Braille, just like the signs in your building.
Tours of exhibitions that have tangible artworks where people who are visually impaired or blind can touch the works, combined with an audio description and a map in Braille can be an added value. You can use replicas of the artworks.
Provisions for neurodivergence and people with mental vulnerability
Be as transparent as possible in communication: mention the start and end time of the event, whether there are seats, the route to the venue and pictures of what the space looks like.
A Content Warning (CW) informs your visitors about possible sensitive topics covered in the exhibition or performance, so that they can make an informed choice whether or not to attend. For people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and survivors of abuse, an (unexpected) confrontation with certain topics can lead to a range of emotional and physical consequences. Ideally, content warnings should be above the description of an exhibition or performance, and in any communication about the event.
You can make it explicit in your communication whether it is about a mention, an image or an afterthought of the topic in question. For example, there is a difference between, “CW: rape” or “CW: mention of rape.”
Some common CWs (this list is not exhaustive):
- Sexual violence
- Abuse
- Pedophilia
- Incest
- Animal cruelty
- Self-harm
- Suicide
- Eating disorders, fat phobia
- Violence
- Pornographic content
- Abduction
- Death
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Miscarriages and abortion
- Blood
- Validism
- Racism
- Sexism and misogyny
- Classism
- Islamophobia
- Anti-Semitism
- Transphobia and transmisogyny
- Homophobia
It is also important to mention the use of flashing lights or strobes for visitors with photosensitive epilepsy, as well as avoiding sudden loud noises for visitors with PTSD. You can also prepare your audience for confusing situations, such as a mirror room that can be disorienting.
The purpose of content warnings is not to censor the artist or the institution, as these topics can still be discussed. However, it allows the visitor to decide for themselves whether to expose themselves to these topics.
Consent or permission can be applied in several ways. Above, the use of content warnings was discussed. In performances with audience interaction, consent can be given in advance by designating some places where audience members can sit or stand who have no problem with interaction. Especially when it comes to touch, this is best communicated clearly and in advance. The performer himself can also ask for permission during the performance, when this fits within the artistic framework.
There are many guidelines around readable communication. On AnySurfer, you’ll find comprehensive information about the accessibility of your website and documents.
Some basic tips:
- avoid bold text or all caps for a long block of text;
- use lists if possible;
- always use a sans-serif font for a long block of text;
- use 16-18 font size for people with low vision.
For neurodivergent people, the presence of a low-stimulation space can be an added bonus – to de-stimulate or unwind. Do you have an extra room that is rarely used? Then you can easily transform it into a low-stimulation room. Provide aggravation blankets, cushions, yoga mats, BOSU balls and dimmed light.
For people with autism, it can be important to get context about what is expected as social interaction before, during and after the event. A social story guides the person with pictures through how the day or evening will go.
Facilities for people with physical disabilities
Besides making your building accessible, it is also important to remember that some people with physical disabilities or chronic illnesses cannot get to your building. Therefore, livestreaming events and giving online tours of your exhibition can be a way for people with limited mobility to experience art. We’ve known since the Covid lockdown that institutions can do it, so don’t hesitate to keep providing this technology.
Notify the audience that is physically present if you also broadcast an image of them, then they can choose to position themselves less visibly if necessary.
Other things to consider
Do you provide food and drinks? Provide a list of possible food allergies (nuts, gluten, dairy, soy, seafood). Certain food allergies can lead to severe shock. If possible, provide an adrenaline shot. Consider providing drinks without alcohol, as well as a vegan option.
Recognising substance use and dependence and being able to deal with it constructively can lead to what is called harm reduction.
Provide free tap water at openings. Do not put a person who has used too many substances outside, but find a quiet and safe place where they can rest (and consider calling an ambulance when necessary). Learn to recognise what someone who has been drugged looks like.
The Supreme Health Council has been recommending the possession of Naloxone to opioid users since 2022. Naloxone is a short-acting opioid blocker that can prevent a fatal overdose. Look into the possibility of keeping Naloxone in your building, and teach your staff to recognise opioid overdose and administer Naloxone.
The UITPAS and European Disability Card are already opportunities to provide discounts for people with disabilities. However, also consider selling tickets via pay what you can or a sliding scale. This allows everyone to indicate for themselves what price they can pay, which is barrier-reducing. It also allows people who have more resources to pay extra.
A buddy can reduce mental and practical barriers. For a neurodivergent person or someone with anxiety, exploring a new place can be difficult. For persons in wheelchairs, it can be difficult to get up a steep slope, or manoeuvre through narrow paths. Circuitsortie.be offers a buddy operation.
Some people with disabilities have a personal caregiver. Consider the possibility of giving them free access, so the person with a disability has no extra costs. Also check whether your institute is accessible to assistance animals.
