Accessibility & Inclusion

1. Accessibility Statement
   Elevate is committed to making Festival accessible and welcoming for everyone, ensuring they maintain their dignity and independence. We believe in inclusion and equal opportunity, and we are committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner.
   
   1. Relevant Definitions
      The following definitions apply throughout this plan:
      
      Disability: Any impairment or difference in physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, or communication ability. Disabilities can be permanent or temporary and can change over time.
      
      Barrier: Anything that might hinder full and equal participation by people with disabilities. Barriers can be architectural, technological, attitudinal, based on information or communications, or the result of a policy or procedure.
      
      Accessibility: The design of products, devices, services, environments, technologies, policies and rules in a way that allows all people, including people with a variety of disabilities, to access them.
      
      Inclusion: The practice of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups.
      

2. Accessibility Commitments
   
   2.1 Accommodation Requests
   Elevate formally collects accessibility accommodations from individuals through the Festival Registration form. Elevate will continue to collect and deliver these accommodations as long as they are submitted prior to the stated deadline.
   
   2.2 Training
   Elevate provides training to volunteers on Accessibility Standards and Human Rights. Elevate keeps and maintains a database of the training participant’s names and dates of completion. 
   
   2.3 Festival Venue(s)
   Elevate will establish plans to meet the Accessibility Standards for our venues. Elevate will strive to design and outfit every activation and space to meet AODA standards i.e. 5 foot pathways and emergency routes throughout the building.
   
   2.4 Service Animals
   Elevate welcomes people with disabilities and their service animals onto Festival property and into all Festival venues.
   
   2.5 Support Persons
   A person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person will be allowed to have that person accompany them to Festival. The person must notify Elevate Festival ahead of time so accreditation can be provided. A support person is not required to purchase a ticket.
   
   2.6 Presentations
   Elevate will provide recommended guidelines to presenters to ensure presentation materials are accessible. These guidelines will include using large fonts, high contrast colours and clean layout, as well as providing a visual description of slides when making a presentation.
   
   2.7 Videos
   Elevate will include captions for all Elevate-created videos shown during Festival, and will ask all presenters to include captions on their videos.
   
   2.8 Accessible Seating
   Elevate will provide accessible seating in the front rows closest to the stage in each theatre and seated activation.
   
   2.9 Signage
   Elevate commits to ensuring that signs are readable in all light conditions and follow accessibility guidelines.
   
   2.10 ASL Interpreters
   Elevate is happy to provide ASL interpreters for Main Stage programming upon request. Due to limited availability of interpreters, all requests for interpretation must be made at least 3 weeks prior to the Festival. If an attendee requests interpretation for other stages, Elevate will provide this, within reason.
   
   2.11 Emergency Response Plans
   Elevate will continue to update and improve its written emergency plans to outline processes specific to people with disabilities.
   
   2.12 Communicating with Elevate
   Elevate welcomes feedback on how we provide accessible customer service. Feedback can be provided by email at [email protected], or by phone if requested. Feedback will be reviewed by the Operations team and shared with relevant teams.
   
   Elevate is equipped to support over the phone ticket purchasing, if required. A request must be made via email at [email protected] with a phone number to call you at.