THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2024! A very important press release today from our friends at the Comics Cultural Impact Collective. For comics event organisers you can now download their Comic Art and Zine Fair Organiser’s Accessibility Checklist which provides some vital pointers for comics event organisers to think about to make their venues accessible for disabled guests, exhibitors and attendees. Print copies will be available at Thought Bubble this weekend too (they’re free but donations to cover costs are also appreciated.) Full details below.
New toolkit checks all the boxes for accessible events
- A simple toolkit helps event organisers to understand how accessible their venue is
- Give disabled guests, exhibitors and visitors the information they need to make an informed decision on participation
- Simply share what you and your venue offers — not what it doesn’t
- Help make the comics community actively inclusive
The Comic Art and Zine Fair Organiser’s Checklist, is a new initiative from graphic novelist and Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC) co-Director Zara Slattery.
This simple booklet gives organisers a checklist covering whether their venue has disabled parking facilities, flat access routes, accessible toilets and several other aspects that make an event more accessible to all.
“The idea is not to discourage event organisers,” says Slattery, a disabled graphic novelist herself, “but to start the conversation. There are some great examples of access information and inclusion, however, all too often, accessibility is overlooked, or, at worst, not considered at all. And even the best events may not include some aspects that literally make the difference between a disabled person attending or not.
“I made this checklist so that it’s all in one place, and everyone can clearly understand what accessibility really means.”
The eventual plan is to create a digital version, which would allow organisers to tick the boxes for their own venue and then display an infographic on their website.
“No one location is likely to be perfect for every consideration when putting on a comics event,” says Slattery, “but the idea is that if the organisers can communicate what their venue does have, disabled people are informed ahead of time, and can plan accordingly.”
With 24% of the population and an estimated 21% of the comics-making community* identifying themselves as living with a disability, accessibility is not just a ‘nice to have’. On a purely practical level, organisers could be missing out on a huge potential audience.
And by including this information in all their communications, organisers will help build awareness of what’s possible for a more inclusive event — and society more broadly.
If you have ideas for funders to make the digital version a reality, please get in touch with CCIC at helloccic@gmail.com.
*Hannah Berry/Audience Agency 2020
For further information
- Email: helloccic@gmail.com & zara.slattery@hotmail.co.uk
- Phone: Zara Slattery: 07821269813
- Comic Art and Zine Fair Organiser’s Checklist
- CCIC website
- Zara Slattery’s website
The Comics Cultural Impact Collective will be at Table B3 in the Bubbleboy Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2024 runs from November 11th-17th with the convention weekend taking place on the 16th-17th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2024 coverage so far in one place here.
Art by Rocío Arreola Mendoza
