Disability Checklist for NYU Events
Here is a basic checklist for events
On your e-blasts and posters, we recommend adding this: This event is wheelchair accessible. For other accommodations, contact: xxxx@nyu.edu
For mobility impairments
- Make sure your venue is wheelchair accessible, and check to be sure bathrooms are accessible as well.
- Check the building for automatic door openers, and be sure they are working and check the room to be sure there are spaces for wheelchair users in the room.
Assuming people will contact you if they need any of the following, these are basic guidelines.
For hearing impairments
- If you have a speaker, ask them to bring several copies of their talk (or send and you can print) in large font (14 pt) that can be used for audience members who have hearing impairments.
- If people let you know that they need ASL (American Sign Language) support, contact Bridget Betts (bcb4@nyu.edu) and Diane Carol Raboud, (dr926@nyu.edu) at the Moses Center as much in advance as possible. They usually assign 2 ASL interpreters since it's very tiring for a person to interpret for more than 30 minutes at a time. This is free of charge.
- Another option or helpful additional support is CART (Communication Across Real-Time Translation), much like having a court reporter, requires securing someone via Bridget Betts (bcb4@nyu.edu) and at the Moses Center. If you request it, ask that the person bring a screen with them so that their text can be seen by the audience. We recommend asking for Jonathan Edwards if you request this service; he is fantastic. (Here is a good piece explaining what that is). This service is free of charge.
A side benefit of this is that you have an immediate transcript which the CART person can email you right away.
For visual impairments
- If your presenter is showing visual materials, ask presenters to be prepared to give a brief audio description of the visuals (as in: "My slide shows three middle-aged white women at a table enjoying coffee together on a winter day.") It's very easy to get up to speed on this.
- If you are showing a film or film clips, do your best to get a version with audio description included. If that is not possible, a quick and easy provision is to have someone sit next to the person with the impairment and quietly tell them what's going on.
If you are unfamiliar with audio description, here is a great 2-minute example (along with a signer) as well as a terrific article on this topic by the brilliant blind scholar Georgina Kleege.
Checklist developed by the NYU Center for Disability Studies and the NYU Disability, Inclusion and Accessibility Working Group.