EVERYONE’S INVITED INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

with Laura Grunfeld

EVENT ACCESSIBILITY AND COVID-19

Periodically clean the RFID scanner. Note the wider portal for use by people with mobility disabilities.

Photo by Laura Grunfeld

What will happen when we are allowed to roam free and congregate again after this round of COVID19 isolation? We don’t really know but I doubt that it will be back to business as usual. Events will have to develop new systems for providing a safe way for all of us to participate. This article focuses on how we can help keep our patrons with disabilities safe when we begin producing events again. I do not claim to be any sort of expert on virus transmission. Many of the suggestions shared here come from festival patrons and members of the Everyone’s Invited Access Team in a crowd-sourcing exercise. I am grateful for their input. Their names are listed at the end.

People with disabilities, like other attendees, will yearn to rejoin the masses in experiencing a massive amount of joy when our events recommence. Having a disability does not in itself put someone at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, however some people with disabilities have underlying medical conditions that can make them more vulnerable to contracting a virus or other infectious disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that “Adults with disabilities are three times more likely than adults without disabilities to have heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer...” (1)

See what you think about my suggestions below but understand that I can’t predict the future so each event will need to develop their own procedures and adopt what works for them at the time.

1. INFORMATION: While it is up to us to do everything we can reasonably do to provide for the health and safety of our patrons and team members, each person at the event needs to take precautions and responsibility for themselves. Everyone will need educating about the new procedures. Inform patrons, staff, sponsors, and vendors of your event’s infectious disease procedures. The more transparent you can be about what precautions you are taking and what you are expecting of attendees and workers, the more secure your patrons will feel. Get the word out via social media, publicity, your website, and with signage.

Events are already identifying the location of medical stations and toilets on their maps but add the locations of your hand washing/sanitizing stations so people are clear where they can go to freshen up.

2. ENTRANCES: Be sure your event has a designated Access Entrance so that patrons with disabilities are not required to stand for long periods of time in the hot sun, so that they can bring any service animals, special gear, food, or medications they may need and have specially trained gate staff handle their entry. Even if it is not required for other entrances, but for the protection of your patrons who may have suppressed immune systems, you may want to issue protective gear like masks and gloves to those that staff the Access Entrances. Be sure to frequently disinfect tables where belongings are searched, RFID scanners, and any other high-touch surfaces.

3. ACTIVITIES, SERVICES, FACILITIES: Think through all that your event does where touch and human interaction occur. Water slides, Ferris wheels, silent discos, hammocks, picnic tables, games, yoga mats, sponsor activations, charging stations, ATM machines, information booths, vendors, bars, door knobs, light switches, counter tops, the list goes on and on. What will you do to make your event safe for all?

4. ACCESS CENTER: At the Access Center where we sit across from patrons, sometimes for long involved conversations, clean the tabletops and chairs frequently and consider wearing protective gear. Have a hand sanitizer or hand washing station nearby and disinfectant available for patrons to use on their mobility devices, medical equipment, and other gear whenever they wish.

5. TOILETS: Using the bathroom is such an important aspect of a patron’s experience. Yet many events, not every event but many, provide subpar toilet facilities. The long lines and the filthy toilets, the lack of hand washing stations and soap, will no longer suffice.

People with mobility disabilities, transferring from their wheelchair to the toilet or balancing on crutches, sometimes slip and fall to the floor when they are using the toilet. More than others they are required to touch surfaces when negotiating the facilities. Some people, women especially, will put off drinking beverages in order to avoid standing in a long line to use a foul toilet. This can lead to dehydration and other complications. Festival attendees should be encouraged to hydrate, not dehydrate!

For the health and safety of our patrons, festivals must provide plenty of frequently serviced clean toilets, stocked with seat covers and toilet paper that does not fall apart at the slightest tug. Make sure you have provided at least the minimum number of accessible toilets required by law, 5% of each cluster of toilets. If you have twenty toilets grouped together, at least one must be accessible. If you have 1 stand-alone toilet for use by the public, it must be accessible.

To protect toilets that are reserved for patrons with disabilities and help keep them clean, some of the toilets should either be staffed or locked. Give out the code to those who have permission to use them. The ADA requires that accessible toilets be identified with signs that have the wheelchair symbol. I suggest adding the word “ONLY!” In years past I used gentler wording, “Please be considerate,” but people disregarded that signage. These toilets will need frequent cleaning but, for additional safety, talk with the toilet vendor. See if the accessible toilets, where patrons are touching more surfaces and may have delicate immune systems, can be sprayed down with alcohol or another cleaner that will not pool on the floor and create a mess. You might reserve one toilet for use by “Immunocompromised folks only.” Service that toilet even more often.

Post the Access Center phone number and toilet I.D. 6. number inside the accessible toilets so patrons can notify staff if the toilet needs servicing or if they need assistance. Keep extra toilet paper, hand sanitizer, spray cleaner, paper towel, and gloves in your Access Center and viewing platform storage totes so that Access Program staff can provide light servicing between routine servicing. The accessible toilets need periodic monitoring so that the maintenance crew can be called when needed.

6. HAND WASHING AND SANITIZER STATIONS: Make sure there are ample hand washing stations near the toilets and the food. Festivals often use portable, foot pump operated hand washing stations. These are not accessible to many people with disabilities. Within each cluster of hand washing stations, at least five percent must be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant with accessible faucet controls such as lever or paddle handles. Service the water stations frequently to make sure the water and soap do not run out.

Hand sanitizer is not as effective as washing hands but helpful where water is not available. Place hand sanitizer stations in high-touch locations throughout the event. Place them at the event entrances to be used before going through the RFID scanner that everyone touches and so everyone is entering “clean.” Scatter sanitizer stations among the vendor and merchandise booths where people are touching products, at the entrance to spaces where there is seating and people touching chairs, at the entrance to each sponsor space, and so on.

Per the ADA, the hand sanitizer dispensers should not be installed higher than 48” so that everyone, including people who use wheelchairs, people of short stature, and children can reach them. Use touchless hand sanitizer dispensers or have staff frequently sanitize the dispenser itself, a place that many people touch!

7. WATER REFILL STATIONS: Find a way to distribute drinking water in refillable bottles so that the water nozzles do not touch the bottles. You may need staff to handle this operation rather than allowing patrons to refill their bottles. Clean the nozzle frequently.

At your event’s entrance, staff that are searching bags may now want to wear a mask and gloves, both for their protec4on since they are in close quarters with many people, and for the protec4on of patrons who may have compromised immune systems. Clean the table top periodically as well.

Photo by Laura Grunfeld

8. SHOWERS: If you have a camping event, disinfect the accessible shower after each use. Pay special attention to high-touch surfaces like the door lever, shower seat, faucets, and handrails.

Accessible shuttle seats and other surfaces will need frequent cleaning. Remember to disinfect the steering wheel between drivers. The drivers assist patrons with loading mobility equipment. They may want to wear gloves and a mask.

Photo by Laura Grunfeld

9. VIEWING PLATFORMS: Post a hand sanitizer dispenser for patrons and staff to use before approaching the ramp leading up to the viewing platform. Have staff sanitize handrails, chair backs and seats regularly.

10. ACCESSIBLE SHUTTLES: Periodically sanitize the railings, seats, and frequently touched surfaces.

11. AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ASL): The ASL interpreter and the patron must both be very thorough with their hand washing before engaging in tactile interpreting services (handover-hand interpreting for a person who is deaf-blind).

12. QUIET AREA: Individuals who have sensory-sensitivity or who have conditions such as anxiety or PTSD, may be even more prone to sensory overload considering the recent COVID-19 experience. Many events have already designated a quiet room or quieter space where people may take a break. It’s time for more events to create a space like this. The event can provide noise-cancelling headphones or recommend that patrons bring their own. The Pennsylvania Office of Developmental Programs has this handy guide for “Hosting a Sensory Friendly Event.” (2)

13. READY ASSISTANCE: Distribute the Access Center phone number with the access wristbands and post it at various Access Program locations such as shuttle stops and viewing platforms.

14. HEALTH PRODUCTS: Sell or give away (a branding opportunity) hand sanitizer, gloves, and masks at your gates, general store, Access Center, Info Booth, merchandise booth, etc. You might ask that patrons wear a mask when in close quarters. If they forget to bring one, they can get one at the event.

15. UTENSILS: Some people may feel more comfortable bringing their own set of reusable bamboo utensils rather than using utensils that have been handled by the vendors and possibly other patrons depending on how they are distributed. Alert security to this and provide a dishwashing station near the food courts. You may want to only allow forks and spoons, or “sporks,” not knives.

16. PROTECTING WORKERS: Your staff, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, and everyone working the event, is serving food, interacting with the artists or the public, cleaning toilets, or any other myriad of jobs. Their working conditions must be such that they are able to keep themselves, their teammates, and the public safe from contracting the virus. If you are putting up teammates in hotels, is it a clean hotel? If you are giving them camping space, make sure you have clean toilet and showering facilities. Read the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommendations. (3)

17. DENSITY: Producers, this is a good time to think about lowering density. Keep crowding to a minimum. I know these are difficult times but perhaps it is time to focus on sponsorship sales and cap attendance.

18. TICKET REFUNDS: Encourage people who are sick to stay home. Offer a ticket refund for those who are ill.

The Access Center can be close quarters even when there aren’t that many people in it. Clean table surfaces, chair seats and backs, and other high-touch surfaces frequently. Staff who have close conversations with patrons may want to wear a mask and gloves. Note the tactile checkers game in 3-D so that people who are blind can play. That will also need cleaning.

Photo by Laura Grunfeld

19. ONLINE SERVICES: What to do when you can’t hold your event? Make sure your website, and streamed programming is accessible. (4) Be sure to caption your videos. Audio description is becoming more common and more available and ASL interpreting will bring in a larger audience. Remember to include your staff with disabilities and make sure that your online meetings are also accessible. (5)

20. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES: A Columbia University researcher is working on a new type of light treatment called Far-UVC that cannot harm humans. It “zaps airborne viruses” and cuts down on “the person-to-person spread of COVID-19 in indoor public places.” At an outdoor event, would it be effective where crowds form such as in front of a stage? It could be used in enclosed spaces such as your merchandising tent. We will have to watch how this technology progresses. (6)

A FINAL NOTE: Select the suggestions that make sense for your event. Add in other precautions. Have a beautiful and rejuvenating festival!

My thanks to those who helped with ideas for this article: Mary Cormaci, Roberta Goldberg, Ashley Head, Holly Maniatty, Kayla Harvey Nasca, Todd Oaks, Cody Coelho-Oxley, Ruth Ann Reyna, and Shaneena Woods. You are all brilliant!

RESOURCES

(1) “COVID-19: People with Disabilities.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 Apr. 2020 www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-disabilities.html (

2) “Hosting a Sensory Friendly Event.” PAAutism.org, an ASERT Autism Resource Guide paautism.org/resource/hosting-sensory-friendly-event/

(3) “Safety and Health Topics / COVID-19” United States Department of Labor. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/controlprevention.html#health

(4) “How to Pick an Accessible Virtual Meeting Platform.” Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT), 10 Apr. 2020 www.peatworks.org/content/how-pick-accessible-virtual-meeting-platform

(5) “Checklist for Creating Accessible Videos.” Bureau of Internet Accessibility www.boia.org/blog/checklist-for-creating-accessible-videos

(6) Cantor, Carla. “Could a New Ultraviolet Technology Fight the Spread of Coronavirus?” Columbia News, 21 Apr. 2020 news.columbia.edu/ultraviolet-technology-virus-covid-19-UV-light

About the Author:

Everyone’s Invited, LLC, founded by Laura Grunfeld, is winner of the gold level “Best Accessibility Program,” for the 2018 and 2019 IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards. Laura writes a regular column helping producers make their events accessible to people with disabilities. She has worked many festivals across the nation and readers can learn more about her event accessibility consulting, training, and production company at www.EveryonesInvited.com and www.linkedin. com/in/lauragrunfeld. Suggest topics or ask questions by writing to Laura@EveryonesInvited.com. © Laura Grunfeld, Everyone’s Invited, LLC, October 2019

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