Accessibility at the Bisexual Health Summit: Reflections and Lessons for Improving Event Accessibility

Abstract

Planning for accessibility is key to ensuring that community members of diverse backgrounds can fully participate in events and organizations. This article offers an introduction to an intersectional Disability Justice approach to accessibility. Coauthored by a Chicago Bisexual Health Task Force steering committee member who planned accessibility for the Bisexual Health Summit (first author) and a disability cultural worker and accessibility strategist (second author), this article reflects on the importance of accessibility for bisexual+ organizations and offers key planning considerations, using the Bisexual Health Summit as a case study. Authors draw upon their personal expertise as queer and disabled people and their professional work as Disability Studies scholars to offer strategies and examples to aid readers in improving accessibility in their organizations, both bisexual-specific and otherwise.

Keywords:

• Disability Justice
• disability
• accessibility
• bisexuality
• Disability Studies

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interests.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth A. Harrison

Elizabeth Adare Harrison (OTD, OTR/L) is a bisexual, white, and disabled scholar-activist. They are currently a PhD Candidate in Disability Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago. Their dissertation work examines experiences of chronic pain among bisexual women. Their research interests include health equity, pain, mental health, Mad Studies, LGBTQ health, and language equity. Harrison is also a practicing occupational therapist.

Alison G. Kopit

Alison G. Kopit (MS) is a queer, white, and disabled Disability Justice activist, artist, and access strategist based in Chicago. She earned her Master of Science in Disability and Human Development from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017, where she is a current doctoral candidate in Disability Studies. Her research and dissertation are about strategizing for Disability Justice in cultural spaces such as museums, festivals, and art collectives. She is particularly interested in building Disability Justice-based curricula for cultural workers and artists to learn and begin to embody these principles in creative ways.