Access Fandom

Megan Condis:
WisCon Recap part IV: Conference Organizing

The editor of the WisCon Chronicles is looking for more submissions, particularly regarding the portrayal of disability in speculative fiction.

Here's the LJ post!

She says:

I'm also willing to consider submissions from people who have never attended WisCon before, but who would like to. So as long as you know what the con is and isn't about, I'm all ears.

I am happy to say that we will be introducing ASL interpretation to WisCon for the first time this year. Thank you to the ConCom and to the Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services for their generous support, and to all the people who helped out with this project.

You will likely see ASL interpreters at Opening Ceremonies, the Tiptree Auction, and at a few panels.

Learn more about our accessibility policies at http://wiscon.info/access.php

For specific questions or requests for accommodations, write to access36@wiscon.info.

Geek Feminism Blog: Quick Hit: WisCon Gets its Own Strain of Norovirus

Good discussion of accessibility concerns at conferences in the article and in comments.

sophy: Wiscon Report: Including Disabled Characters in your works

Hi,
My ideas behind this community are as follows, but I hope you will use it however you like. Here are some of my ideas:

--complement the accessibility_fail and disability communities, but with more of a focus on improving access and disability-friendliness within fandom and specifically at science fiction conventions and conferences.

--promote the idea of Access for Everyone, as part of our culture, as just something we do and expect, and as something that benefits everyone. This is not meant to take the focus off of disabled people, but rather to shift cultural expectations so that access is something we can all think about and all work toward, whether we identify as disabled or not. All people benefit from good access: a excellent example of this is having good signs.

--promote and develop the Access Fandom Wiki. This will be a Wiki where people who are planning conventions can go and learn about how to do Access, and those of us who have done it before can perhaps impart some of our wisdom. A centralized location to discuss, learn, teach the nuts and bolts of this job. I've never worked on a Wiki before, so anyone who wants to jump in and help is so very welcome. All you need to do is register a username and password. This community is an ideal place to discuss the Wiki.


I learned about Access from WisCon. Here is our (WisCon's) Disability Inclusion Statement

While certainly not perfect, it seems that WisCon is ahead of other cons when in comes to Access, and we'd like to get this information around. This community and the Wiki are part of that effort.

Credit where credit is due: jesse_the_k, kestrell, and sparkymonster are current and past Access team members who have developed this statement, with the support of the WisCon Convention Committee.

I am WisCon Access chair for this year. Please note, however, that I'm not running either this community nor working on the Wiki as an "official" WisCon website-- just doing this as my own self.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact me or Jesse the K.