Talk Outline: Making Communities Inclusive

Introduction and Speaker Background (0m00s)

Jenny Wong introduces herself as someone deeply involved in community work, explaining how she entered the tech industry by volunteering for PHP Northwest conference after failing to secure an internship.

"So community has been the bread and butter of my life since I joined this industry."

"I have a nice stack of badges that, of every single meetup I've ever been to, including the sticky labels that people give you, because I'm rather proud of them."

Shifting from Diversity to Inclusivity (3m37s)

Wong explains her decision to focus on inclusivity rather than diversity when organising WordCamp London, defining inclusivity as actively including marginalised people rather than just seeking variety.

"I don't really like that. So I kind of threw the word diversity out the window."

"Inclusivity is an interesting word, because it means the intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised."

"I decided that I was going to cherry pick my organisers, and basically, ask them if they would help me make an inclusive event."

Accessibility as the Core Principle (5m28s)

The team adopted accessibility as their central goal, asking whether each decision made the event more, less, or equally accessible, and took inspiration from industries outside tech.

"When you put accessibility at the core of the goal of the event, it actually made things a lot easier."

"Does blank make the event more accessible, less accessible, or stay the same?"

"Train stations, airports, the hospitality industry are exceptional at making spaces and environments accessible."

Content and Communication Strategies (8m30s)

The team carefully crafted gender-neutral content, maintained consistent tone of voice, and ensured correct accessibility terminology throughout all communications.

"We made a conscious decision to make all the information gender neutral, regardless of whether the person had submitted their abstract with pronouns or not."

"We had one person in our organising team whose sole job was to make sure the tone of voice was correct and felt welcoming."

Implementing Childcare Services (10m08s)

Despite initial uncertainty about uptake, Wong invested £2,344 in professional childcare, which grew from one child in 2016 to ten children by 2018.

"If you join the organising team, I will make sure you have the budget to have childcare."

"In three years we went from one person to 10 children."

"It became a family affair, which is amazing, 'cause I just assumed it was gonna be single parents."

Space Planning and Physical Accessibility (15m21s)

The event featured widened aisles for wheelchairs and companions, verified hearing loops and lifts, plus dedicated spaces including multi-faith rooms, lactation rooms, quiet rooms, and sprint rooms.

"It's not really fair, just because someone's in a wheelchair, that they can't talk to the person next to them because there's not enough space."

"The idea that someone doesn't have to go and find the synagogue, or someone doesn't have to apologise for not being talkative by walking into a room where the whole point is to be quiet."

Comprehensive Signage Strategy (17m38s)

Wong invested £3,500-4,000 in signage, inspired by a talk on neurodiversity that highlighted the importance of self-support through clear wayfinding.

"They really enjoyed the idea of self-support, that signage was a good thing, because it enabled them to get around places without having to ask for help."

"You will always need more signage than you think."

"And as a five foot two person, please hang them above head height, because there's nothing more annoying than a massive body in front of me."

Scheduling Considerations (24m03s)

The event featured 20-minute changeover times between sessions to accommodate people with mobility issues, parents checking on children, and general comfort.

"It was really useful for people in wheelchairs, people who have injuries, me, people with children."

"It also meant that everyone had a five minute breather, because you know, you consume all this information, and then you're like, oh my gosh, what do I do with this information?"

Live Captioning Investment (26m23s)

Despite being one of the most expensive accessibility features, Wong invested in professional stenographers for live captioning across all tracks.

"It doesn't just help with hard of hearing people. It also helps with people with accents or that moment when you go, did they really say that?"

"I had seen this done at PyCon UK and fell in love with it, so I knew full well, this was a no question asked, and I was gonna put my foot down on it."

Bathroom Accessibility and Life Essential Boxes (28m55s)

While avoiding poorly-planned gender-neutral toilets, the team provided 'Life Essential' boxes with sanitary products in all bathrooms, including men's toilets for people who are transitioning.

"Mother nature does like to turn up, regardless if it should be in our schedule or not, just whenever it wants to."

"Someone pointed out to us after the first year, 'cause we only put them in the female toilets was that we needed to put them in all the bathrooms."

"Do not put them on the floor, just don't."

Inclusive Ticketing Process (31m35s)

The ticketing system collected detailed information about dietary requirements, sign language needs, childcare requirements, and carer tickets to ensure appropriate accommodations.

"We asked people if they needed sign language, so that we could actually hire somebody to do the sign language if they needed it."

"I don't feel like just because someone needs a carer, they should have to pay for two tickets."

Creating Non-Alcohol-Centric Socials (34m31s)

The social events featured food before drinks, retro gaming activities, and intentionally listed non-alcoholic drinks first on menus to create an inclusive atmosphere.

"So we eat before you drink. You get your drink tokens after you go and get your evening meal."

"Because when you read a list, once you find something that sounds good, you stop reading."

"We learned that Jenga is the best game on the planet."

Final Reflections and Lessons Learned (38m49s)

Wong shares the total event costs (£74,000 in 2016, £77,000 in 2017) and emphasises that any improvement is better than none, offering to help other event organisers.

"We put accessibility as a first-class citizen. It was something that we didn't falter on, and we made no apologies for."

"Any improvement to any event is better than no improvement."

"This is an open invite to anyone doing any event of any sort to contact me whenever you want, with this stuff."