Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium

Mission

The Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium connects arts and cultural organizations with information and resources to improve accessibility for people of all abilities.

Description

The Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC) envisions a world where people of all abilities are an integral part of Seattle’s arts and culture arena. Our core values are advocacy, convening, and educating about accessibility.

One in four Americans currently has a disability, and that number is increasing as the population ages. Access to art is a vital part of the human experience and has immeasurable positive public health implications while simultaneously addressing equity and inclusion issues. We aim to help the arts and culture sector integrate inclusive design and accessibility planning at the forefront rather than as an afterthought. We offer workshops, networking opportunities, and a website with accessibility resources.

Through our programming, we spark conversation and give voice to people with disabilities and advocates who are striving to make the arts in Seattle and King County more inclusive and accessible. The arts and culture workers who attend our workshops then bring these learnings back to their organizations and use them to effect change. 

SCAC has completed 7 years of presenting workshops that explore a range of topics, including intersectionality, the ADA and racial and disability justice, accessibility 101, and internal accessibility practices, to name a few. Workshops have included: a panel of people with disabilities sharing their experiences accessing the arts, an overview of accessibility and accommodations for various disabilities, and developing an access plan within an arts organization. Our moderators are experienced facilitators with a background in the arts, equity, or accessibility. Our panelists range from community members, artists, cultural administrators, and people with disabilities. Each year, we look at our evaluation results, listen to community input, and brainstorm with the steering committee to come up with yearly themes. Our workshops are intentionally developed with these themes in mind, and we also track the challenges and opportunities the arts sector is experiencing.

SCAC is an excellent role model for demonstrating what an accessible event should entail. Our marketing practices are accessible, our events are free or low-cost, and we have ASL interpreters and captioning as well as tools in place to aid those with non-apparent disabilities. 

Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium is here as a resource and facilitator to bring together the key players for critical conversations and provide the tools arts workers need to transform their organizations. We provide a critical service to our area that would otherwise go unserved.

Our GiveBIG goal is $1,000, which helps provide workshops, like our Audio Description Training Program, or our Seattle-wide Deep Dive Day conference, panelist stipends, captioning, ASL interpreters, and administration costs. Please consider giving BIG to SCAC today!