Access All Areas: The UK’s live events industry is one where many foster communities and create memories. But for the 15% of Brits who identify as neurodivergent, the things that we consider hallmarks of a good night out can often create barriers to an accessible and safe night out.
2 comments:
While I found this article disappointing in its lack of detail on steps to be taken, I do appreciate how it is bringing to light how we can adapt to the entertainment industry. I’m an avid concert, festival, and live event goer, but also find crowds and loud noises overwhelming. I’ve had to learn how to manage the two: go to outdoor concerts, bring earplugs and sunglasses, and keep my things on me. Since honing in on this strategy, I’ve for the most part been fine. However as a concertgoer, maybe this shouldn’t have to be my job. It’s so silly that in environments where music is blasting disposable earplugs aren’t available. Also water? The last music festival I went to had water bottle refill stations and free water throughout the park and it was such a nice addition. I’m not educated enough on neurodiversity and how that changes the concert-going experience to make proclaiming statements about it, but I do think we need to add more access points to the concert experience.
I think this is a really important concept to think about when designing shows for a general audience and it's something that I try to keep in mind when designing and mixing shows. For one, I try not to have any very quick and large changes in volume as it can be quite disorienting, and not just for neurodivergent crowds. Another thing the article mentions that I would personally like to see change in the sound industry in general, is how load we run speakers out. I get that sound engineers want their speakers to be as loud as possible so that more people hear the source, however, it can cause the speakers to be run at dangerously high levels, as well as distort the sound. I try to have a soft limit of 90 db for most things I mix with a hard cut at around 100db, if even.
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