What a Furry Convention Taught Me About Event Accessibility

Picture my surprised Pikachu face as once upon a time, I was at lunch with my mother when she suddenly pointed out of the window to two fully suited up furries walking by. That’s how I found out that Awoostria was happening.

With this newfound knowledge, of course, I watched the livestream of the opening ceremony! As one would expect.

The first thing that caught my attention (okay, the second thing after the orange moth with extendable wings) was the mention of a quiet room in the second building. It is still rare to encounter a quiet room at any conference or convention that isn’t specifically about accessibility and disability inclusion.

What made it even better was the video explaining how to get there: It was a time laps of the Con’s mascot running door to door from the main location (where the opening ceremony took place) to the second building. And they made it fun too! Accessibility doesn’t have to be boring: You can set it to a fun racing soundtrack! You can include bloopers like a shoe (or paw) sliding off and having to wait at a red traffic light.

In general, alternate forms of information could be a lot more expressive than many think. Just because it’s an accessibility feature doesn’t mean it has to be sterile and clinical.

One thing I had not seen done before but am still thinking about: Bringing Security, EMT and First Responders on stage to show what they look like for easier recognition on the floors. It’s so simple yet so smart!

Especially in summer, overheating can quickly become a serious health issue. In addition to the EMTs in uniform, showing attendees what the Con’s security team and first responders look like is a smart move. They also empathized that they are around and happy to solve smaller problems before they turn into bigger ones, which is a good strategy to manage social anxiety.

With an extensive four-day multi-track program, how do you plan which panels and parties to attend? The event tags on the website were a neat support for this. They included warning tags for:

• Flashing lights: This event contains strobe effects or rapidly flashing lights. Warning for individuals with epilepsy or light sensitivity.

• Loud music: Expect high volume levels during this event.

• Anxiety warning: This event contains topics that might cause anxiety.

The physical event accessibility and organization was - in my opinion - exceptionally well thought out. Especially since these considerations (venue information, how to recognize support staff, warning tags) aren’t things that come up first when you google “event accessibility”. But they are inexpensive, and seem logical to do once you’ve seen it somewhere else.

Some things are not perceived as “accessibility”, but as what your community needs to enjoy the shared space.