Interview with influencer Life on Wheelz
What makes an event people-with-disabilities-friendly?
Life on Wheelz: There are different things to consider before, during and after the festival.
Before the festival: Offer clear and easily-accessible information on your website. That includes detailed information on
- the people/department responsible for accessibility at the festival, and how to contact them (email, phone)
- how to receive help and an assistant at the festival site
- how to find accommodation suitable for people with disabilities (PwD)
- how to plan a comfortable route to the festival site
During the festival:
- Offer an alternative, quick and easy entrance to the festival site.
- Allow access to every stage and zone at the festival.
- Employ assistants who can welcome PwD, show them around the points of accessibility, provide a telephone contact, or even accompany them throughout the festival if needed (which would require a pre-order service).
- Create a ‘PwD Zone’ with accessible toilets, a place to lie down, to charge medical equipment, to change clothes, eat, drink and rest – for PwD and their caretakers.
- Offer “huts” for PwD – an accessible accommodation space, where PwD with movement limitations and their caretakers can rent rooms to stay at the festival without need to travel every day.
- Offer platforms for PwD and their caretakers close to the stage (!) with chairs and a person on stand-by (to provide water if needed etc.). In tent stages, offer an alternative entrance and platform or zone close to the stage.
- Employ trained security and festival staff, and have clear procedures determining how and where PwD can watch a show close to the stage (if there is no platform: a safe space and exit close to the stage).
After the festival: The festival should contact PwD for feedback and potential improvements.
What can be improved at festivals in the upcoming years?
LoW:
- Carry out an audit among PwD (a variety of disabilities) and their caretakers interested in festivals. Create changes with them, and collect feedback from them afterwards.
- Create an Accessibility Department responsible for PwD services.
- Offer qualified assistants for PwD, dedicated to accompanying them during the festival (if there is a need).
- Train festival employees on accessibility and how to treat PwD at the festival.
- Offer accommodation at the festival for people with reduced mobility.
- Create alternative routes/entrances for PwD to spare them from waiting in line for hours.
- Create a ‘PwD Zone’ with accessible toilets, a place to lie down, to charge medical equipment, to change clothes, eat, drink and rest – for PwD and their caretakers.
- Get better at communicating your accessibility options.
What is the most visible accessibility improvement introduced at festivals in the last 5–10 years?
LoW: Platforms with wheelchair ramps at the main stages (although they are often too steep, or too far away from the stage to see and experience the show properly).
About: Wojtek and Agata Sawiccy, also known as Life on Wheelz, are an interabled couple from Poland. They call themselves “influencers with a mission”, because they use their social media reach to break stereotypes about people with disabilities and show the highs and lows of their everyday life and love.
Wojtek has had Duchenne muscular dystrophy since early childhood. It is a very rare and incurable disease that leads to a complete loss of body control. He requires the use of a ventilator and to be enterally fed. Despite the enormous limitations of the disease (he controls the computer with his eye movement only), Wojtek was able to be a successful editor-in-chief of the iconic music portal Porcys (Polish) for eight years without revealing his condition. The couple connected through their online music community – Agata was a songwriter, copywriter and a fan of the website.
Six years later they are married and living together, working with companies and institutions on accessibility and inclusion projects and navigating a 350k online community. Check out their Instagram.
