Accessibility
Events should be able to be attended by everyone, including visitors with disabilities. But as an organizer, how do you make sure your event or festival is accessible? How do you remove barriers and obstacles for visitors with disabilities, and make sure they can experience your event well? On this theme page, event organizers will find information on how to make their event accessible.
Culture accessible to all
We would like culture to be available and accessible to all. Unfortunately, there are several factors that can create barriers. Consider a site that is not passable for people in wheelchairs, a lack of accessible signage, or a website without a read-aloud feature. This can unintentionally exclude some of the audience, as well as, of course, creators and artists.
An event is accessible when people with and without disabilities can make the same choices about whether or not to attend. Accessibility thus goes beyond being able to get somewhere because it is also about being able to experience the event.
Who is this page for?
As an organizer, making an event accessible can be a challenging task. What types of disabilities do you all need to take into account? And what do you need to think about? To help organizers make their events more accessible, we offer a variety of tips on these pages.
The main tool is the checklist, which was developed in collaboration with cultural entrepreneurs and the Apcg, Arnhems platform for the chronically ill and disabled. This is a list of questions that can help organizers determine how far along they are in making their event accessible, and where areas for improvement lie.
How do you navigate through this page?
The pages in this knowledge base and checklist are organized into five themes:
The best starting point is the checklist of questions. Do you come across a question you need more information about? On the corresponding topic's page, you'll find background information to learn more about the topic.
Podcast
In the podcast series Accessible Events, experienced visitors and experts share their experiences and presenter Tim Kroesbergen questions them on how to make it even better. Listen to all podcast episodes, including transcript, here.
Podcast: Accessible Events
In this podcast series, experienced visitors and experts share their experiences at (accessible) events and presenter Tim Kroesbergen questions them on how to make it even better.
Bonus tip!
In our neighboring country, they are already one step further: there is the Accessible Event Label. This quality label from Inter (the Flemish accessibility expertise center) gives organizers tools to make events truly accessible, from accessibility and sanitation to the entire experience. No harm in taking a peek at their brochure and checklist - they offer many practical tips that can also be applied in the Netherlands.
Funding
How do you fund a cultural project? On the Cultuur Academy knowledge base we show you step by step how to go about it. The structure of these pages follows the logical order in which cultural projects arise: from first idea to execution - and beyond. You start with concept development, work on a realistic budget, research funding sources, learn to justify and think about the future.
Grants and funds
Would you like to apply for a subsidy or fund for your cultural initiative, but don't know where to start? On this page we clearly explain what subsidies and funds are, how to make a good application, and what to look out for. You will also find out which funds you can apply for directly through Cultuur Academy .
Marketing and communications
Marketing and communications is at its core about reaching your audience. Because no matter what you make or what service you provide as an artist or cultural organization, without an audience you are nowhere. But how do you figure out who your audience is and how to reach them?