[hackerspaces] thinking (and talking) about how accessible our spaces are (or aren't)

[john arclight]

There was an interesting NPR segment about this a few days ago. One of the
interesting points was that architects are starting to design things with a
wide variety of people in mind. So instead of making every reading desk at
the library exactly right for wheelchair access and then make everyone else
suffer, the goal is to have different tables, chairs etc for old people,
young kids, disabled, short folks and more.

Arclight

On Sep 9, 2010 3:15 PM, "Leigh Honeywell" <leigh at hypatia.ca> wrote:
> Probably the most insightful and concise document I've read on the topic
> is the WisCon Access page:
>
> http://www.wiscon.info/access.php
>
> WisCon is a large (1100-person) feminist science fiction convention with
> a history of working really hard on access issues. I think the stuff
> they've run into and thought through maps pretty well to hackerspaces,
> except maybe in the scale of things :)
>
> I feel like the WisCon doc covers most issues hackerspaces are likely to
> run into except for chemical smells from equipment. If you're
> interested in reading more on the topic, a couple more resources I found
> are:
>
>
http://www.doitmyselfblog.com/2008/a-checklist-for-planning-an-accessible-event/
>
> Human Resources Development Canada's Guide to Planning Inclusive
> Meetings: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/disability_issues/doc/gpim/guide.pdf
>
> Hope that helps!
>
> -Leigh
>
> On 10-09-09 05:49 PM, Sylva1n wrote:
>> Great initiative.
>> Is there any checklist-style document you would recommend that lists
>> the main accessibility do's and don't's, or permits a easy assessment
>> of accessibility issues?
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 9, 2010 at 1:46 PM, Leigh Honeywell <leigh at hypatia.ca> wrote:
>>> This is a call to action, inspired by a blog post[0] about normalizing
>>> talking about accessibility in the same way we talk about parking
>>> availability, cost, time, location, etc. when we talk about events, but
>>> which I think is also relevant to general info about hackerspaces as
>>> many of our spaces hold regular non-event-events such as open houses,
>>> parties, and so on.
>>>
>>> If you scroll down to the bottom of the "location" page on the HackLab
>>> site, you can see the note we've included about the space's accessiblity
>>> (and lack thereof):
>>>
>>> http://hacklab.to/location/
>>>
>>> We've also started including mention of relevant access issues on event
>>> postings (laser and makerbot fumes? not so likely when we're running a
>>> food event, but then allergies come into play, etc.)
>>>
>>> It's a small, low-effort thing, but can make a big difference to people
>>> who might have not participated in your community otherwise, and I'd
>>> like to invite other spaces to consider doing something similar on their
>>> interweb presences. I'm totally happy to help draft this kind of access
>>> statements, if anyone wants to mail me offlist.
>>>
>>> Another fun thing would be to get various access issues added as a
>>> thing-people-can-sort-by on the wiki, but that's beyond my wiki-fu.
>>>
>>> Moar access == moar awesomeness!
>>>
>>> -Leigh
>>>
>>> [0] from FWD/Forward, a fascinating blog about gender and disability
>>> issues:
http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/09/09/normalising-accessibility/
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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