SIGNAL Disability Action Plan

With the aim of creating a more inclusive, accessible and anti-ableist SIGNAL, we have devised a Disability Action Plan (DAP) to guide us in our events, programming and everyday activities.

You can read or find out more about the Disability Action Plan in the following formats:

Or you can read a summary of each section of the Disability Action Plan below.

This DAP has been created through a direct co-design and peer review process with Disabled people. The reasoning for this is to ensure SIGNAL is accountable and responsive to the needs of many Disabled communities.

Whilst this plan uses the term Disabled person/Disabled people, we are aware different people use different language for themselves and their communities. We will always respect people’s self-identification when they’re describing themselves.

In this plan and in our work we recognise a broad definition of disability, including physical disability, intellectual disability, neurodivergence, mental illness, chronic illness, deafness, cognitive disability, and sensory disability.

As the Disabled experience is varied, we have collaborated with six young Disabled artists to create visual and audio responses to this DAP. You can view the artistic interpretations of our Disability Action Plan here.

The implementation of the SIGNAL DAP will be maintained by the SIGNAL Access and Inclusion Working Group which will meet quarterly to ensure the strategies and goals outlined in this plan are actioned, and updated according to the timeline.

SIGNAL Disability Action Plan

With the aim of creating a more inclusive, accessible and anti-ableist SIGNAL, we have devised a Disability Action Plan (DAP) to guide us in our events, programming and everyday activities.

You can read or find out more about the Disability Action Plan in the following formats:

Or you can read a summary of each section of the Disability Action Plan below.

This DAP has been created through a direct co-design and peer review process with Disabled people. The reasoning for this is to ensure SIGNAL is accountable and responsive to the needs of many Disabled communities.

Whilst this plan uses the term Disabled person/Disabled people, we are aware different people use different language for themselves and their communities. We will always respect people’s self-identification when they’re describing themselves.

In this plan and in our work we recognise a broad definition of disability, including physical disability, intellectual disability, neurodivergence, mental illness, chronic illness, deafness, cognitive disability, and sensory disability.

As the Disabled experience is varied, we have collaborated with six young Disabled artists to create visual and audio responses to this DAP. You can view the artistic interpretations of our Disability Action Plan here.

The implementation of the SIGNAL DAP will be maintained by the SIGNAL Access and Inclusion Working Group which will meet quarterly to ensure the strategies and goals outlined in this plan are actioned, and updated according to the timeline.

Auslan Introduction

Auslan Introduction

Culture and Employment

The culture of SIGNAL is driven by those who are part of our programs and those we hear from most. To ensure we are best serving the interests of Disabled people, we must include them in all stages of our practice and activities.

To guarantee equal opportunity, access and connection, we must become more educated on the wide range of lived experiences within the Disabled community.

We aim to do this with two main goals – by increasing the number of Disabled people we work with and by participating in relevant Disabled-led training and educational programs.

SIGNAL commits to increasing the representation of Disabled people among our staff, commissioned artists, and guest facilitators.

We will do this by

  • Reviewing our hiring processes for barriers, bias and ableism
  • Actively seeking out Disabled people for the roles we hire
  • Recognise the lived experience of Disabled people as a qualification itself
  • Restructuring SIGNAL’s Young Creatives Lab panel to ensure a minimum of 20% of the assessment panel members are Disabled
  • Ensuring that alongside a minimum of $1000 for access funding is available in SIGNAL’s Young Creatives Lab, the program will also reserve one spot for a young Disabled artist every alternate year with the other year reserved as a spot for an artist from another under-represented community

This work will be measured every six months by reviewing

  • Number of Disabled artists, staff or guest facilitators who have been engaged and how it is tracking over time i.e. % increase
  • Number of artists, staff, or guest facilitators who declare access needs
  • Any accessibility improvements to the hiring process that have been made and which ones have been effective based on feedback from an external Disabled accessibility consultant
  • Feedback and observed impact or changes in response to access funding and consultation being implemented as part of SIGNAL Young Creatives Lab
  • Number of young Disabled artists successful in SIGNAL Young Creatives Lab program
  • The Young Creative Lab assessment panel made up of minimum of 20% Disabled artists

SIGNAL will engage in training on disability and accessibility at least twice a year to ensure staff hear a range of Disabled perspectives and lived experiences.

This training will be sought out from Disabled-led organisations and individual Disabled educators. Types of training relevant to SIGNAL include but are not limited to Disability Justice, Basic Auslan, d/Deaf Awareness Training, Neurodiversity in the arts and more.

We will review the progress of this training every 12 months by looking at:

  • Which training has been completed
  • Positive and negative feedback from staff
  • Observed impact or changes in response to training
  • Planning for most relevant training to schedule and refresh taking into account feedback from Disabled young people and artists

Communication

Accurate, clear, honest communication is the first step in creating an accessible space and organisation.

SIGNAL will be honest and specific about where we are in our access work. Providing details about accessibility and inaccessibility in our venues, programs, and events gives Disabled young people the information they need to make an informed choice about what works for them.

While we’re always working to be more accessible and address barriers, we will never shy away from being upfront about the barriers we haven’t addressed yet.

Providing as much information as possible is part of how we respect the autonomy of Disabled young people.

An access key is a description of access features and barriers in a venue. Key information often includes descriptions of the space, videos and photos, a sensory map, locations of available accessibility features within the space and information about the area surrounding the venue such as parking and public transport.

SIGNAL will work with a Disabled access consultant to develop access keys for all SIGNAL venues, both in print and digital formats. As part of this process, SIGNAL will train staff to be familiar with access keys so they can best support people to use them.

Once SIGNAL’s access keys are developed, we will pay young Disabled people to test them, provide feedback and we will review any required changes needed based on their feedback.

The reviewal process for our access keys will take place every six months.

SIGNAL will include detailed descriptions of what an event involves in our promotional material and registration forms. This includes linking to our access key and describing relevant access information in detail, including what materials and tools may be used at an event. Contact details will be made readily available for people to reach out with any other questions or access needs.

Once event descriptions have been created, we will pay young Disabled people to test them, provide feedback and we will review any required changes needed based on their feedback.

The reviewal process for our event descriptions will take place every three months.

Supporting a wide range of communication methods is vital to include everyone in the conversation. SIGNAL will:

  • Include image and video descriptions on all visual content online
  • Include manual closed captions on all our videos and transcripts with all audio content, to be released at the same time as the video/audio content itself
  • Develop Easy English and Plain Language descriptions of our programs and forms
  • Develop descriptions in Auslan of our programs
  • Ensure staff are familiar with how to communicate with participants who use AAC devices, communication boards, Auslan, visual frame, tactile sign, or writing

This work will take place across three years with reviews taking place annually.

For 2023, we will begin with image descriptions, video descriptions and captions before moving on to program descriptions in Easy English, Plain English and Auslan in 2024.

By 2025, our staff will be familiar with how to communicate with participants who use AAC devices, communication boards, Auslan, visual frames, tactile sign, or writing.

Events and Programs

Designing and running accessible, inclusive events means thinking about Disabled needs and experiences from the very start. We know that when accessibility is tacked on at the end we get an event that’s primarily for non-Disabled people even if Disabled participants are there.

When accessibility is recognised as relevant to every step of planning and delivery and Disabled participants are part of how we imagine our core audiences and community, we create events and programs that are really for everyone.

SIGNAL will work with a Disabled access consultant and young Disabled people to develop a set of minimum standards for accessible events at SIGNAL. Any events that do not meet the minimum standards will not proceed.

The minimum standards guide will be created using funds from the annual operations budget to ensure these standards are met each quarter.

This clear, detailed and practical guide will:

  • Be publicly available on SIGNAL’s website so attendees know what they can expect
  • Include information on physical venues, online events, and facilitation styles
  • Include links to resources (training, external guides, internal staff support, mentors, etc.) to support staff to learn more if they don’t know how to implement something

SIGNAL will have a feedback process that’s directly tied to taking action and is reviewed quarterly.

This process will be:

  1. Attendees and potential attendees have the option to give feedback in writing phone, or a direct conversation
  2. They can give feedback anonymously online or by phone
  3. They can give feedback by phone or email with their name attached, and can ask for a response from SIGNAL. SIGNAL will aim to respond within 7 days.
  4. SIGNAL will actively seek feedback, including making it easy to find information about this feedback process
  5. SIGNAL will create a centralised record of complaints/feedback that staff can access, and will review it regularly to find patterns and identify areas that are most in need of improvement
  6. When SIGNAL receives feedback about a problem or barrier staff will look at what can be done to avoid that problem next time. This might include:
  • Updating the access key
  • Updating the minimum standards for accessible events
  • Educating and upskilling staff

Although lockdowns created many challenges for many people, we saw one area of accessibility increase dramatically: online access.

Organisations that had long insisted that their work, events, or programs could not be delivered online suddenly found that they had to adapt. As restrictions have eased we’ve seen some of that accessibility disappear. SIGNAL will not take that step backwards.

We understand that for some Disabled young artists online events are necessary to provide access to community and culture.

By 2025, SIGNAL will ensure that 10% of our programs each year are delivered online, and will review how we can increase that percentage to at least 20% to provide more access beyond the timeline of this plan.

These programs will be designed to run online, and will not be limited to zooming in to events designed for on-site delivery.

Venue

SIGNAL is located in Melbourne’s Northbank precinct and offers studio workshops for young people aged 14 to 25 years. Whilst we aim to be accessible to all who enter our spaces, we know this is not always the case.

As part of our Disability Action Plan, SIGNAL will undertake an audit of our venue so more Disabled people can enter our facilities without encountering barriers to access.

SIGNAL will have an access audit of the venue and develop a timeline for enacting any recommended changes.

The audit should include:

  • Building structure (door sizes, door types (automatic, push, pull, etc.), door opening (button, sensor, automatic, handle, etc.), hallway sizes, turning circles around corners, rails etc.)
  • Bathrooms (e.g., automatic doors/locks, hoist availability, changing tables for both adults and children, type of tap (whether is automatic, twist, or lever), type of soap dispenser, availability of hand towels, etc.)
  • Sensory-friendly design (e.g., how does noise carry, is lighting adjustable, etc.)
  • Access-specific equipment (e.g., hearing loop)
  • Temperature control
  • Furniture (range of seating types and sizes available, relevant furniture dimensions, height of benches/tables if applicable, etc.)

Ongoing Process

Implementing this Disability Action Plan will be an ongoing process and engaging with disability culture and knowledge will be part of SIGNAL’s work for as long as SIGNAL exists.

Our Disabled Co-Design group and the SIGNAL Access and Inclusion Working Group will guide us in the implementation of this DAP and together we will review and re-develop future plans as they are created.

We are committed that decisions about disability inclusion at SIGNAL will always be made by and for Disabled people.

We strongly value community feedback in this process and we encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences to ensure our continued improvement.

You can give feedback in the following ways:

  • Complete our anonymous survey: Signal Accessibility Survey
  • Leave a voicemail on the phone
  • Email your feedback
  • Email and ask for a SIGNAL staff member to call you back to hear your feedback

When giving your feedback, please let us know if you would like a SIGNAL staff member to respond.

Our phone number is (03) 9658 7808 and our email is signalaccess@melbourne.vic.gov.au