Technology, access & inclusion

Reflections on accessibility practices – digital and human-to-human

A couple of years ago I presented at a conference on Accessibility & the Arts for VSA/Kennedy Center. The conference organizers required all presenters to submit their slideshows, plans, and handouts months before the actual conference, and to use specific templates. This was not the way I usually work – I like continuing to shape my workshop plans up to my actual presentation, and was reluctant to commit to something that might still be evolving. I probably spent more time trying to align my presentation to all of the formatting requirements and checklists than I did planning the presentation itself.

But I understood the reason.

Conference organizers were attempting to make materials available to attendees well in advance so that they could provide large-print paper versions and allow attendees to plug materials into their various readers and support software, and to prepare ASL interpreters. I was reminded that inclusive practices take time, and that this work deserves that time. However, for all the advance work to supposedly help make things run smoothly for attendees, on my end, things felt clunky and stressful. I had a dozen things running through my head from the checklist – make sure I speak slowly, make sure I audio describe all of my slideshow images, make sure I warn folks before I turn on the music, make sure the volume is not too loud to start. These are points I try to attend to anyway, but in this setting, I felt the pressure of doing them “right”. Ironically, a technical error on the conference app rendered all presentation materials inaccessible – no one could open them! I had to rely on being responsive in the moment to the attendees in the room. All I could say was, “I am continuing to strengthen my inclusive practices and language, but if there is a specific way I can support you – for example, turning up the volume or explaining something in a different way – please let me know. Let’s have this be a dialogue.”

This experience, while expanding my mind about what I should consider when I prepare a workshop for a diverse – or any! – audience, reminded me that it’s my responsibility to 1) design materials to be as inclusive as possible and use the digital tools available, and 2) connect with my participants, and build relationships with them so that they feel safe enough to share what they need from me. Both the digital support and the human-to-human support are necessary.

Why do we overlook digital accessibility practices?

There are so many reasons I think we overlook digital access. One is that content creators are unaware of how their digital messages may appear to different audiences, and another is that they don’t have the training to test and improve accessibility. Also, as I stated above, considering all access needs takes time, and aligning with accessibility practices may conflict with branding and aesthetics, or the desire to be eye-catching in a content-flooded digital world. For those who do not regularly consider access needs, the process can feel cumbersome and tiring – there’s a lot to think about! – but some very basic tools, like font-to-background contrast, headings, and alt-text for images require minimal time and skill. They are accessible accessible practices. While I can’t invite audiences to be in dialogue with me about how I can support their access needs, like I did in my conference workshop, I can use these tools to try to meet new audiences where they are. Because if I’m not considering inclusivity, I am inherently being exclusionary.