What does accessible and inclusive community engagement mean to us?
True community engagement involves building reciprocal relationships with the communities we are working with, sharing and learning from each other for their mutual benefit. At SFU Public Square, we strive to intentionally engage with equity-deserving groups who are often systemically excluded from university environments. By valuing all forms of knowledge (including lived experience), welcoming diverse perspectives and creating both physical and intellectual space for all communities, post-secondary institutions and other organizations can act in partnership to advance justice, equity, decolonization, diversity and inclusion.
If we are to live up to our values and fulfill our mission to foster community engagement, it is critical that we make our events as inclusive and accessible as possible. Here are some of the principles and concepts that guide our thinking about accessibility and inclusion in our events and programming.
Accessibility is about designing for the benefit of all of us, not just a few of us
When we think of accessibility measures as serving only those few who “need” them, it may feel hard to justify investing time, energy and money into them. But, consider the amenities that many of us expect as “standard” at the events we attend: comfortable seating, an intermission at a long event, access to washrooms and drinking water, speakers using microphones so that we can hear them when seated far away. These are accessibility measures too! They help all attendees enjoy the event in a safe and comfortable environment.
And accessibility measures that do require more thought and planning, like those outlined in this guide, can benefit everyone as well. Easy-to-read text, easy-to-use technology, and text alternatives like closed captioning and transcripts are just a few examples.
Resource
“Accessibility is not what you think” — Paul Boag provides some great examples of how good accessibility and inclusive design benefit all users.
Accessibility is not an afterthought
Incorporating accessibility is an ongoing process built on relationships, not a box to be checked off. Treating accessibility as an afterthought or a bonus, rather than an integral part of your planning process, will limit the utility and power of your community engagement work, as fewer voices will be included. We start these conversations as early as we can with our partners, as their accessibility and inclusion needs are of primary concern, and they often have a deeper understanding of our intended audiences.
Be proactive about increasing accessibility, rather than waiting for people to ask
It is not enough to wait for people to request increased accessibility from us. This places the burden of labour on them to make a request, not knowing what the reaction will be or the likelihood of it being addressed. People with accessibility needs often have to spend a lot of their time and energy advocating for their needs, so we want to reduce these barriers if we can.
We have learned that it is important to be transparent about what accessibility features we are offering, such as closed captioning or ASL interpretation, and provide them without having to be asked. This requires budgeting time and resources in advance, and developing a relationship with our potential audiences so we can anticipate ways to make our programming more inclusive and accessible.
Of course, there will always be things we haven’t thought of. When people do request new accessibility and inclusion practices for us to consider, we are committed to exploring how we can meaningfully incorporate them into our processes.
Reciprocal relationships with our audiences
We see our relationship with our audiences as reciprocal: while we are offering them space to engage with topics that matter to them, they are choosing to share their time and energy with us by participating. We want to treat that as the honour that it is. By making our events more accessible for everyone, we are recognizing them as valuable participants who deserve to feel comfortable and able to truly engage.
Our audiences are people, not just registration numbers
While measuring the impact and success of our community engagement work is important, the people participating in our events and initiatives are so much more than metrics to report out on. High attendance numbers look good on paper, but they mean very little if certain voices are still excluded due to accessibility barriers.
Meaningful and intentional inclusion
What does it really mean to include someone? Your event may technically be accessible for many people to attend, but will everyone feel welcome or comfortable participating?
Imagine being invited to a dinner party, but you can’t eat the food being served because of your dietary requirements. It’s nice that the host thought to invite you, but it would have made you feel more valued as a guest if they had let you know what was being served in advance, so you could choose to bring food you could eat—or even better, asked about your dietary needs and prepared something that everyone could enjoy.
Sometimes these are preferences, sometimes they are needs. Some people will be relatively comfortable in these situations, but for others these things will determine whether or not they will be able to attend, or feel like their voice is valued and important.
We recognize that we won’t be able to make all of our events perfect for everyone, but there are many things we can think about to help participants feel intentionally included and welcomed.