Dublin 2019 Worldcon Bid’s Access Report

The Dublin in 2019 Worldcon bid did a walkthrough of its facility and posted a preliminary access report on their website.

The Dublin 2019 Bid team take accessibility extremely seriously, and we want to work from the start to make our Bid, and our convention places where we have done our utmost to make the convention available to everyone.

On the blog, we’ve published our first accessibility report. Our team took an access specific tour of the Conference Centre Dublin (CCD), and the report also includes some observations from seeing the building in use. We are very positive about the building, and the steps it has taken in making the area accessible, and we’ve also added several observations that we’d like to work towards from our own perspective.

They would like to hear about any specific questions people think they should address in their next visit.

Recent issues experienced by other conventions also prompted the bidders to remind everyone they have a Code of Conduct for the bid itself, which can be read here. The committee will update it as necessary if Dublin is voted to host the Worldcon.

[Thanks to Esther MacCallum-Stewart for the story.]

5 thoughts on “Dublin 2019 Worldcon Bid’s Access Report

  1. Honestly, after the various things World Fantasy Con have failed at this seems positively magical. I can’t see much I’d want added so far, but insert-disclaimer-about-bears-of-little-brain-here. (I think I need to compress that into an acronym or something…)

  2. I’ve been somewhat ambivalent to the Dublin bid, but this report really shows that they are taking accessibility seriously, and are including it in their planning from the early stages.

    There are still lots of stuff to do: training moderators, panelists, and lecturers to use the damn microphones, make sure their staff has the right mindset and at least basic orientation, and so on, but they’re off to a very good start.

    Also, this report shows another thing: accessibility planning benefits everyone in the long run.

  3. Some thoughts about access issues you haven’t incorporated yet:

    Partially-sighted:

    High-contrast signage with adequate print size.
    Clear, high-contrast edging on walls, stairs, etc – if stairs are edged, is that edge a strong contrast to the rest of the stair?
    Never use colour alone to distinguish things. Contrast is not colour.
    Lighting shouldn’t be overly diffuse – if there are no shadows because light comes from everywhere, then it’s much harder for people lacking stereoscopic vision to judge distance.
    If you have to put things under low light (e.g. if you have art or historic documents that will fade) then only put things that absolutely have to be under low light there, as that is inaccessible to some partially-sighted people.
    I’m no expert on partial-sighted needs; this is just based on observing my friends who are partially-sighted.

    I’m not really knowledgable for fully visionless access needs, so you’d need to ask someone else, but I know they are different from the partially-sighted.

    Neurodiversity:

    Talk to someone (that isn’t “autism speaks”) about access needs for the neurodiverse. Having somewhere (quiet) you can retreat from the overstimulus that a crowded con represents is a really good start, and is something you need to design in early, because you can’t easily allocate space later on.
    This also means “don’t pack a room so tight that I don’t feel like I can get out”…

    Again, I’m not any kind of expert, and don’t rely on me! Talk to people who really know what they’re talking about.

    There are other types of neurodiversity than autism, and I don’t know anything about them other than that they exist.

  4. Thanks Richard and Karl! These comments have been passed on to the access team. We have lots to think about, and your feedback and suggestions are very much appreciated.

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