Art of accessibility

Accessibility has been at the heart of Touch Compass since its formation in 1997 when founder Catherine Chappell began teaching classes with members of the disability community and decided to start the well-regarded performing arts company.

Guy Ryan, now the chair of the company, has had a relationship with Touch Compass as a former dancer and choreographer and says he jumped at the opportunity to work with disabled artists.

“I’m not an accessibility expert, but I’ve seen some of the barriers disabled people face. They are not just physical, but social, cultural and digital. The bigger picture is that accessibility is about equity and ensuring everybody has equal access,” he says.

Ryan was invited to be part of the company after he graduated from Auckland’s Unitec as a contemporary dancer in 1995. Chappell had been one of his dance tutors and he was excited to have the opportunity to work with her again.

While the corporate world is in a race to catch up, Ryan describes the arts sector as progressive and full of socially minded people.

“Artists are explorers and provocateurs who throw light on social and political issues. The arts are often ahead of the game on diversity, inclusion and culture. It’s no different with accessibility,” he says.

Currently, 25% of Aotearoa identifies as having an access need or experience of lived disability. One of the challenges is a lack of awareness of what accessibility truly looks like and the barriers in place.

As chair of Touch Compass, a role he has been in for two years, Ryan says board conversations focus on disability and cultural leadership, artistic vision, accessibility, and ensuring the company delivers professional artistic and community programmes.

“My job is to hold space as the company evolves toward a more disability-led model, and that’s where accessibility comes in,” he says.

“Rather than disabled people working within a model that has been set up and run by able-bodied people, we’re trying to shift towards a model where disabled people are increasingly in leadership positions and setting the agenda,” he says.

And what that entails is disabled artists feeding into the creative process and helping to drive the company’s artistic vision. Touch Compass has one person on the board who identifies as disabled, but Ryan would like to see more. “We would like to see a disabled chair or co-chair at some stage,” he says.

This will require proactively building opportunities for leadership development into Touch Compass’ strategy and Ryan says the board is considering how it can support disabled artists interested in leadership to gain further experience.

Touch Compass has designed its website with accessibility guidelines top of mind so disabled people, especially those with visual impairments or low vision can navigate the site more readily.

Ryan says businesses also need to think about access and adapt to the environment we are living in because consumer behaviour is also changing at a rapid rate.

“People will increasingly make choices beyond financial considerations. Younger generations care about climate change and social issues, so there’s both a talent and consumer angle to access for businesses. Some organisations are way ahead of others,” says Ryan.

While still new to governance, disability and the arts is a space that has allowed him to grow his knowledge of diversity and inclusion, and he is part of the Tuakana Teina Chair Mentoring Programme with Community Governance New Zealand and the IoD. “It just sounded great,” he says of becoming a teina (mentee).

Broader needs

Another person keen to push the conversation forward is Ant Howard CFInstD, the executive director and trustee for Be. Lab, an organisation supporting opportunities for the accessibility community. “I’d be really happy if accessibility was a consistent agenda item,” says Howard, who would like to see organisations put plans into action. “Like global warming, it has to be a long-term commitment and it will have peaks and troughs,” he says.

Howard joined the organisation as CEO this year and says his aim is to protect the legacy of Be. Lab’s first 10 years and also ensure its position for the next decade. Be. Lab was founded by Minnie Baragwanath, who now runs the Global Centre for Possibility.

Howard says Be. Lab was established to create a foundation for support and understanding and broaden awareness. Accessibility can encompass having a sight or hearing impairment, eating disorders and other physical mobility impairments.

But despite the organisation’s efforts, he says issues for the disabilities community have remained the same. “A large number of people have understood the need, but have struggled to address it,” he says of the lack of equity around employment opportunities, as just one example.

Be. Lab’s goal is to ensure the disability community are invited to participate in discussions and decisions that affect them. Previously, businesses have gone through an accreditation process to create ‘physical access’, such as accessible bathrooms and ramps for wheelchair access. But today, Howard says the discussions need to go deeper because the needs are much broader.

According to Be. Lab’s research, ‘culture’ plays a bigger role in making people feel welcomed, and Howard says companies using signs to illustrate their diversity and accessibility position goes a long way to bridging the gap and making people feel included. “Delivering that message is incredibly powerful. The most positive society we could have is an inclusive one, and all the studies show they are the most functional,” he says.

Accessibility is nuanced and different people will have a range of needs, so what looks accessible to one person with a sight impairment may be inaccessible to another.

“Our job at Be. Lab is to encourage, inspire and not shame people for not doing it . . . we also want people to go beyond compliance because it makes good economic sense.”

Howard says many organisations find themselves lost on the crucial next steps once initial conversations have taken place. It is Be. Lab’s role to provide tools, advice and support to help businesses and organisations activate the change they want to see.

These, according to Howard, need to be fully supported by a board committed to the journey.