Your Website

What if I get it wrong?

This isn’t a test. The only way to lose is not to do it at all. The more information you include the better, and having anything at all indicates to disabled people that you are a safe person to contact even if you don’t mention their disability.

You also win when you mention the people your room isn’t accessible to. They might be disappointed, but they won’t be mad at at you, they are more likely to be grateful you thought of them at all, and appreciate you didn’t waste their time by making them contact you, or worse turn up and find out they couldn’t participate.

If you do nothing else – please put your accessability information on your website. It takes a few minutes and costs you nothing.

What do I need to include?

The main things to consider are to go through your room as we describe on the rest of the site, and for each domain let players know if your room is suitable, modifiable, or not accessible for the different disabilities. This doesn’t have to be a big long list, but can be combined into one paragraph. For example:

Our venue is step free but our rooms are small so wouldn’t be suitable for more than one wheelchair user. Most puzzles are within sitting height but you will need at least one group member that can crawl. There is one audio puzzle that can be substituted for a different puzzle so please let us know if this applies to your group. The room relies heavily on visual puzzles so may not be suitable for a player who is blind or has low vision.

What else do I need to include?

– Companion Cards: Disabled people who need a carer with them full time will have a companion card. This is a voluntary program where businesses will give the companion a free ticket in acknowledgement of the fact the companion is there for support not to participate. While you don’t have to do this, it’s a nice way to include disable people rather than making them pay for two tickets to be able to attend, so if you are willing to do it list it on your website.

– Assistance Animals: While it’s a legal requirement to allow assistance animals in your venue, it’s a big reassurance to show disabled people that you are aware of this so they know they won’t have to fight for their rights or potentially be refused service when they arrive. If you have anything else to support this such as an area to dog can relieve itself, water bowl etc mention this too.

– Your contact information: While you hopefully have this listed elsewhere, specefically telling disabled players you are happy to be contacted with accessibility questions reduces a significant barrier. It’s also worth providing two different methods to communicate with you such as phone or email to ensure you are providing an option that works for everyone.

It helps to include both both email address and phone number as well as when good times to take calls are. (For example if you’re too busy to take calls on a Friday night.) Be mindful some people may use a relay service to call. If you aren’t familiar with this it’s where a relay officer talks for the person and writes down what you say for the person calling. If you get a call like this just talk like you would a normal conversation because the relay officer will relay your words exactly. So instead of saying “ask them what they want help with” just say “what can I help you with?”

Where do I put this information?

Putting disability access information on your FAQ is ideal. You can also put information on game pages to go into specifics. (Eg. This game has ladders)

It’s easy to word things to avoid spoilers. Instead of saying “you’ll need to crawl into the air vents” you can just say “this game requires crawling.”

What about the website itself?

Don’t forget the accessibility of your website itself. It should be easy to find things, work on mobile, the colours should have good contrast, the text should be clear and easy to read and lastly it should be screen reader friendly.

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