Resources
A range of documents and resources to develop your knowledge of disability equality in the arts
D/deaf and disabled artists and arts workers face additional barriers in establishing a career the creative industries. Below we have collated various resources that you might find helpful in developing the creative practice for you or your organisation.
If you know of a resource that should be listed below, please get in touch
Internal Documents
The documents below have been informed by past events and experience and we update them as any new learning occurs — they are live documents. We are very happy for other people to use them and we encourage further input and suggestions, which can be emailed to all@boptheatre.co.uk.
This document is a checklist that BOP use as a reference when planning events.
This toolkit is a checklist that BOP use as a reference when creating marketing material.
This is an example of one of the ways we might help someone to write and Access Statement. This is a way of communicating your access requirements in general or for a particular project or activity – for instance travel.
Some things to consider when you are writing your own alt-text into digital images
A research project investigating the barriers faced by young disabled and D/deaf people in accessing Scottish youth arts provision. Written by Dr Matson Lawrence. To find out more about the research project, and to find plain text and easy read versions of the report click here.
This document is a preview of the questions we ask in our Equalities Monitoring Form. The version we send out to people who work with us is a Google Form, so the questions are check boxes that people can select. Circular icons for a question indicate only one option can be selected, square icons for a question indicate multiple choice is available.
This is the form we send out to all freelancers we engage in work to ensure that we are made aware of any access requirements they might have. We are then able to more easily accommodate these requirements in a way that is useful for the individual. By sending it out to everyone we work with we ensure that even people who might not have raised their access requirements to us prior to that point are given an opportunity to update us on their personal situation.
This form is a varyiation of the standard Access Requirements form, but has been adapted to focus on how to make digital working environments (such as Zoom) accessible to individuals.
Created by Electronic Note Taker Louisa McDaid, this document outlines the ways in which you can provide live captions for meetings held of providers such as Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.
Created by Electronic Note Taker Louisa McDaid, this document outlines the ways in which you can provide live captions for meetings or events held on Zoom.
Compiled by San Alland, this document is a list of external organisations whom provide support for people who may have be experiencing some porr mental health. Please remember, these are external resources and BOP does not have any control over the support they provide.
External Links
CRIPtic Arts and Spread the Word: Being Hybrid – a guide designed to support time- and resource-limited organisations in working out what they need to do to offer the best hybrid programme possible.
Shape Arts: resources to help improve your organisations confidence in working with disabled people, and making your organisation more diverse and inclusive.
Theatre Tech BSL: The Technical Theatre BSL (British Sign Language) Project aims to promote technical theatre for Deaf people. They do this through exploring and translating technical theatre words and jargon into BSL. This in turn will provide greater access for Deaf people to training and employment in technical theatre.
Touretteshero: A place to celebrate the humour and creativity of Tourettes. Website details the projects of Jess Thom but also has a really insightful blog pieces about the experience of a disabled person living in contemporary society.
Unlimited: An arts commissioning programme that enables new work by disabled artists to reach UK and international audiences.
We Shall Not Be Removed: An intersectional UK Disability Arts Alliance formed as an emergency response to the pandemic.
External Documents
The documents below come from our colleagues in disability arts in Scotland, the UK and beyond. We encourage further input and suggestions, which can be emailed to all@boptheatre.co.uk.
by Unlimited
A guide for producers and performance makers: how to create better access for audiences to the performing arts
by Ciné-ma différence
A comparative survey of sixteen organisations delivering Relaxed-type performances in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and France.
by British Council Canada
A guide for producers and performance makers: how to create better access for audiences to the performing arts
by Neuk Collective
Neuk Collective, a new neurodivergent artists’ collective in Scotland, are writing a new manifesto for neurodiversity in the arts. As part of that we have been researching the experiences of neurodivergent artists.
by Ben Fletcher-Watson and Shaun May
Evaluation of the Autism Arts Festival’s attempt to develop the idea of relaxed performances further to create an entirely autism-friendly festival in Canterbury.
Artist Interviews
We have spoken to some of the UK’s best and brightest D/deaf and disabled talent from the performing arts, so you can understand the decision process that steered them through their career and discover what they believe is important to give yourself the best chance at establishing a career.