Accessibility in Theatre Customer Service

by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

As we first reported back in January 2009, theatres in Ontario will need to comply with the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service by 2012.  This is part of Ontario's commitment to a fully accessible Ontario by 2025.

Last month, I attended a forum run by the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, aimed at the not-for-profit sector on how to implement these requirements. We've already started discussions with other arts service organizations on how we can collectively train you on these new standards and how they impact your theatre.

This particular standard and the 2012 compliance deadline is not about the requirements for the accessibility of your "built environment" (your theatre itself) but rather how you interact with audience members who may have a disability.

But that also means that it's not just theatres that have a venue that need to pay attention to this standard...it's any theatre company that has an audience.  (Hopefully that's all of you!)  Indeed, it's an opportunity for theatres to assess better how you can reach a significant and often neglected audience.

Feel free to contact me at brandon@theatreontario.org or call 416.408.4556 x.15 if the standard is causing you anxiety, and you'd like to have a one-on-one chat about it.