Is Your Event Accessible to Everyone? A Guide to Event Design that Fully Includes Participants with Disabilities

Recorded On: 10/19/2022

ADA guidelines provide a good foundation for creating accessible events, but they only scratch the surface. Participants may need accommodations for a wide variety of physical or cognitive disabilities, or sensory challenges and supports – some of which may not be immediately visible to observers.

We will discuss the accommodations that should be part of every event team’s toolkit, from the most common to some that you may not have encountered firsthand yet. Learn how to think with an accessibility mindset and develop a habit of identifying and resolving potential barriers to access throughout the event planning process.

After participating in this session, you will be able to:

Develop workflows in your event planning process that seamlessly incorporate accessibility considerations
Incorporate language and tactics that respect the dignity of every participant equally
Learn how to resolve unexpected challenges onsite

This session/course/webinar is eligible for 1 clock hour towards CEM recertification.

IAEE Webinars are FREE to members and available to non-members for $49.

Catherine Dorrough

Creative Director

JDC Events

As Creative Director of JDC Events, an event management agency based in Washington, D.C., Catherine draws on a well-rounded background in brand development, marketing, graphic design, editorial writing, and art direction to deliver highly tailored strategies for the agency’s clients.

Catherine graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in 2009 with a degree in photojournalism. After getting her professional start as an editor of Mobile Bay, a regional lifestyle magazine in Lower Alabama, she joined the monthly international B2B magazine Breakbulk as its graphic designer. While on staff at Breakbulk, Catherine branched out into branding, marketing, and immersive experience design for the company’s international trade shows. Catherine applied the same aesthetic sensibilities she honed through years of magazine design to creating large-scale trade show graphics and supplemental collateral for its events in the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. During her tenure at Breakbulk, she initiated and completed a total rebranding effort that included both the magazine and the event division.

Today she enjoys working with large and small clients across a wide variety of industries, including nonprofit advocacy, public safety, high-end real estate, interior design, and consumer products. Her specialties include creating brand identities for new companies, refining and redefining established brands, and marketing events. She also manages JDC Events’ internal marketing efforts and handles creative direction for JDC’s emerging portfolio of company-owned events.

Website: https://jdc-events.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-dorrough-071875a5/

Stacey Herman, MS Ed., CESP

Assistant Vice President Neurodiversity and Community Workforce Development

Kennedy Krieger Institute

Stacey Herman is the Assistant Vice President of Neurodiversity and Community Workforce Development at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Her role includes the creation and supervision of programs designed to support individuals with disabilities as they transition to the workforce and access their community. This role allows Stacey to interact directly with individuals while working with multiple departments inside Kennedy Krieger Institute and the business community to raise awareness, train and develop employment opportunities for individuals of all abilities. Stacey leads Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Neurodiversity at Work program, working with community leaders, business professionals, and policymakers to realize the Institute’s long-term goal of improving employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Stacey is currently the president of the Association of People Supporting Employment First Maryland Chapter and is an appointed member of the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in Maryland. Stacey is a leading member of the Maryland Project SEARCH Leadership Committee.

Stacey graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Inclusion Elementary and Special Education. She then continued her education receiving a Master of Science in Special Education at John’s Hopkins University. In her studies, she focused on severe disabilities with an emphasis in autism.

Website: Neurodiversity at Work at Kennedy Krieger | Kennedy Krieger Institute

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/st...

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