Editorial – Week Three: Accessibility cannot be an afterthought
As a visually impaired person, my experiences have led me to become passionate about accessibility issues. During education and my early employment experiences, I was very passive to obvious discrimination and didn’t want to bother anyone by asking for the accessibility arrangements that I needed. However, it’s not my disability itself that has been challenging, but rather the narrative and inaccessibility of our ableist society.
Able-bodies are, without a shadow of a doubt, seen as superior to disabled bodies. When I tell people that I love my visual impairment, I am met with a real disbelief. Through societal attitudes shaped on ableism, disabled people are made to feel like their disability is the problem. But the problem isn’t with the disabled person at all; it’s with society and its extensive inaccessibility and unequivocal exclusion of disabled people from what is considered ‘normal’.
As a society, we need to normalise disability so that accessibility is embedded in everything, everywhere. Media representations of disability have a lot to account for here. For example, I don’t wear sunglasses indoors, use a cane or a guide dog (nor do many in the Visually Impaired community). Hence, I differ, as many disabled people do, from the media’s stereotype. This means that when I ask for accessibility arrangements, it is hard to get across the severity of my visual impairment and to be taken seriously.
Media representations of disability can often be the only source of disability-related knowledge available to audiences and can therefore deeply influence public opinion about disability. For example, disability is often represented as a challenge that the disabled person fights to overcome and when they do, they serve as an inspiration to non-disabled people: what Stella Young refers to as “inspiration porn”. Such stereotypes impact the way non-disabled people interact with disabled people in real life. For instance, when I tell people of my visual impairment, I can be met with responses such as ‘you’re inspiring’ or ‘but you do so well’. I know these responses are well intended, but they feel incredibly patronising. I highly recommend watching Young’s TED Talk.
More specifically, when it comes to viewing artistic work in person, accessibility is a huge issue. Sometimes, I am able to sit in the front-row, which is great, and if I cannot, then trying to locate my allocated seat is a challenge. Even in the front-row, it’s often not possible for me to see the performers’ faces. Their features are often blurred, and it is difficult to distinguish between who is talking when you can’t actually see who’s who. I have limited vision in one eye and none in the other, so when I’m seeing a film, I don’t know where to focus my vision on a massive cinema screen. I absolutely love going to see artistic work physically, but these issues make it difficult for me to access, compared to people with full sight.
The online world, on the other hand, has provided a way for me to access artistic work in an easier way. As Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web comments: “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect”. When I am viewing the performances at Fringe of Colour Films, I am able to have the screen as close to my face as I want and I can zoom in, so I can actually see what’s going on.
Being able to experience this vibrant online arts festival in the same way as everyone else is something I have really appreciated. With the festival’s first panel discussion, This Sh*t Is For Us Part 1, I was able to see everyone’s faces - something that makes a huge amount of difference for me and improved the quality of my experience as a viewer. I have been working with Fringe of Colour as an Accessibility Director to improve the accessibility of our website, social media and films. This has involved, for example, liaising with the website developers to ensure the website is easy to navigate, especially for those who use screen-reading software.
I am loving the accessibility of online artistic work. Fringe of Colour Films has been wonderful so far, and Week 3’s content is no exception!
Here’s what’s in store for Week 3
Alegría Adedeji provides an exquisite representation of Black British culture in There’s Rice at Home: Voice of the People. It is full of hilarious one-liners, amazing talent and the best memes. In this premiere episode of the There’s Rice at Home series, we see Black Tory MP Sam participate in a highly entertaining interview.
Shrouds Apart by Tim Lo and Jen Lim is a beautiful, emotional depiction of a relationship between two women, told through the universal languages of music and dance. It’s a gripping story, despite there being no spoken dialogue. You feel enthralled in the captivating narrative and superb performances.
I’m sure we can all relate to the intense desire to try something new during lockdown, but I bet learning the skills of “telekinesis” hasn’t crossed your mind. Mind Tricks by Robert Hatton, presents one man’s attempt to develop the skills of moving objects with his mind, channelling his psychic ability to lift his phone into the air, Harry Potter style. Does he succeed in his mission? Well, you’ll have to watch.
I’ve never seen anything like Mint by Sheyamali Sudesh. It is an incredibly unique piece of work. At first watch, it seems it’s about mint in a greenhouse wanting to venture outside. However, it is metaphorical, using subtitled dialogue between two people to convey what the limits of control over another being look like. It’s set against calming, green imagery and bubbling sound effects. Not only is it thought-provoking but it’s also just a therapeutic experience to watch and listen to.
Nile Price presents a metaphor of depression in Bitter Earth. The film tells the powerful story of a man struggling with his mental health and negative self-talk. This short is set against beautiful landscapes and imagery, yet a dark narrative presents itself. It’s a captivating watch, importantly bringing to light Black masculinity and mental health.
A Fairie Tale is another beautiful film. Storyteller Niall Moorjani returns in Week 3 to present a magical story loosely based on a traditional Scottish tale. It’s a genius reinvention of the form, exploring Scottish-Indian mixed race identity.
Movement in Progress by Lucas Chih-Peng Kao & Kai-Wen Chuang depicts Kai-Wen’s experience of moving home an impressive twelve times. Kai-Wen is a Taiwanese choreographer, and this short film fantastically mixes documentary and dance to tell a one-of-a-kind story.
And the dance doesn’t stop there - this week, Fringe of Colour Films present two specially-commissioned dance films. Bloom by A.T. [@JournalduPole] is one of my personal favourites. It’s a gorgeous, mesmerising watch with a retro feel. A.T. does a superb job making pole dancing look elegant and effortless. It also makes me realise just how inflexible I am. A Service in Committing to Love: Manifestations of Love and Solidarity #2 by Mele Broomes is a creative delight. It has a dream-like quality and it is beautifully edited. The film depicts a woman treating herself to a romantic date with candles, flowers and delicious food, the ultimate of self-care and love.
Race Cards by Selina Thompson is a must-watch. It is a truly thought-provoking work of art. This immersive film, intended to be watched for as long as the viewer is able, displays the documentation of Thompson’s 2018 durational performance for Fusebox Festival in Texas. Here, she presents the 9th rewrite of 1000 questions about race. Each question is carefully selected and important to consider and we are challenged to note what, if anything, has changed in the last two years and during our current climate.
Last but not least are two powerful poetic pieces, part of the Sorry I Was On Mute series, directed by the brilliant Hannah Lavery and showcasing two poets a week throughout the festival. In Week 3, we are first treated to Burial Plot by Alycia Pirmohamed. This poetic reading expresses the relationship between daughter and family, childhood nostalgia and belonging. Next, we have Silk by Martha Williams. Beginning with “I am writing for”, Williams poetically tells the audience about why she is writing. Silk expresses intricate, diverse and beautiful motivations and insights.
As a platform, we are committed to accessibility and incorporating it into everything we do. There are lessons to be learnt from this year’s festival, for example, to brief our film-makers on accessibility early on in the process, ideally before the films are made. I would also like to see more disabled creatives commissioned by the festival to increase the representation of disabled talent. If I were to offer general tips to film-makers for making video content accessible, I would say add captions and transcripts to your videos, use a high colour contrast, don’t use flash content and if you are showing text, make it large.
In its third week, Fringe of Colour Films continues to impress with phenomenal creativity and outstanding talent. It reminds me of the possibilities of the online world, to showcase art in a means accessible to all.
