#the asterisk addition is because of all of the infurating responses i got last time i posted about this
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myautisticpov · 18 hours ago
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This is important, but it's also important if you're part of a volunteer group to make sure that information necessary for disabled people to get involved isn't hidden behind an extra step, like calling someone
If you're posting about a meet-up*, you should not be just posting the time and location, you should also be posting about car parking availability, about the nearest bus stop, about exactly how to find the exact location (e.g. which entrance into the building to use and the directions to the room you're in), about wheelchair accessibility, about where the nearest toilets are (and if there's a proper disabled stall), about how long you expect the meet-up to take and if it's acceptable to leave early, about whether food will be provided or if it's banned if they want to bring snacks (or if they have an allergy and might be worried about other people bringing snacks), and about what exactly will be expected of the people attending
If you're posting about needing volunteers, you should be posting exactly what work you need help with and exactly how much or how little people will be expected to participate
You should be using accessible language, you should be providing image descriptions of digital posters, you should be providing subtitles/transcripts of videos
Some of this stuff doesn't just help disabled people, it helps parents who need to find childcare (and speaking of, whether or not it's appropriate for children to attend is also important) or people with unreliable jobs or transport
You should also have a robust and accessible onboarding process to help new people figure out how best to help
Like, I know that it's work, but the easier you can make taking the first step for people, the more people you'll have to help with the work
Don't put this all on disabled people to bridge the accessibility gap
*And obviously, if you're not posting about meet-ups because the work is sensitive, then obviously this doesn't apply, I'm only talking about the groups where this does, because putting a fucking phone call in the way isn't going to stop people who are being paid to keep an eye on you, it will just stop everyone else
I rambled about this in tags on another post but I can’t emphasize enough how only focusing on large-scale issues WILL lead to hopelessness & burnout. Activism must include small-scale, achievable works. If you don’t have something you can get your hands around and look at directly, despair will eat you alive.
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