Skeptionites,

Every year, we do our darndest to make sure that our convention is as welcoming to as many people as possible. This year, we’ve upped the ante! Here’s a full run down of the new features we will have at SK8 to make the weekend more awesome for all:

  • Live Closed Captioning courtesy of the amazing people over at White Coat Captioning
  • Live sign language interpretation for main stage speakers
  • Use of unscented soaps in all public restrooms
  • Small basket of fidgets available at merchandise table
  • Plenty of room on our lanyard to write your name and pronoun preferences
  • Gender neutral restrooms in the hallway leading to the main venue from the hotel (with feminine products stocked)
  • Quiet Room (located in the venue in the “Sonoran” room)

But that’s not all! We’ve also updated our Policies to include Universal Design and Access Details! 

We’re overjoyed to announce we’ll be implementing the following this year at SK8:

Traffic-Friendly Hallways

We will be dividing the main hallways between our tables, main stage, and workshops into two sections. One half will be dedicated to movement only–that lane is for getting from point A to point B as fast as possible! The other half (in front of tables), will be for stopping and socialising. This way, when you need to get where you need to go, you can get there faster AND not have to worry about dodging around or through conversations. How awesome is that?

Three Color Communication Stickers

We are going to provide small, circular Green, Yellow, and Red stickers at our merchandise/registration table to indicate social availability. It’s a pretty direct system:

  • Green: Actively seeking communication
  • Yellow: Only want to talk to people they know
  • Red: Probably does not want to talk to anyone
  • No sticker: Actively seeking communication

We’ll have stickers available at our merchandise/registration table all weekend for you to use when you need them!

Skepticon would like to thank the great people over at WisCon who allowed us to use a lot of the verbiage they use for their own convention. We also need to give a hearty thanks to the ladies over at Secular Women Work who hosted the Accessibility 101 workshop (hosted by Olivia James and Haddayr Copley-Woods) that basically changed our lives. You all rock!

Together, we can make this year one of the best yet!

Love,

Skepticon

P. S. We here at Skepticon HQ strive to create an event that works for attendees in all our physical and mental variety. We must balance that goal against limited fiscal resources, the paradox that sometimes one attendee’s accommodation is another attendee’s barrier, and an entirely volunteer work force. We always welcome discussion exploring how we can better accommodate our attendees. We attempt to answer common questions and be honest about known barriers. Please contact [email protected] for accommodation requests, questions or suggestions. We want to work with you!”

P. P. S. Here is our venue’s very own accessibility brochure, go ahead and take a look!

P. P. P. S. Like Skepticon? Think we’re the bee’s knees? Donate today and make the world more awesome!

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