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Wisconsin Arts Board urges detailed accessibility plans, including disability accommodations and language access
Summary
WAB staff told applicants to describe accessibility measures in applications, use census links to document community needs, and consider ASL, audio description and language access; NEA reporting requirements shape some questions.
Wisconsin Arts Board staff told applicants during an information session that accessibility information — including disability accommodations and language access plans — should be explicit in Creative Communities applications.
“The more you can tell the panel, the better off they'll understand the nature of the work that you're doing in that space,” Caitlin, a Wisconsin Arts Board staff member, told applicants discussing a dialogic oral‑history/project prototype. She and other staff suggested practical accommodations such as American Sign Language interpreters with advance notice, audio descriptions or QR codes for murals and planned alternate ways to gather stories for people with communication differences.
Why this matters: applicants serving diverse communities should show how proposed activities will be accessible to people with mobility, hearing, vision or communication disabilities and should document community language needs using the census link included in the application.
Staff guidance and examples
• Census link and community description: Staff explained that applicants should place the census link and demographic data in the designated application field so panelists can see counts such as the number of community members with disabilities.
• Practical accommodations: Examples discussed included providing an ASL interpreter with one to two weeks' notice, audio descriptions or QR‑linked audio for murals, recorded descriptions available at a welcome center, and planning for methods to gather stories from people who are deaf or have speech differences.
• Language access: Staff said current application questions are shaped by National Endowment for the Arts reporting requirements but acknowledged that language access (for example, Spanish translation) is an important issue and could be added to future iterations of the application.
• Project design: Staff advised applicants to explain which accessibility needs are most relevant to their project and describe concrete plans to address those needs rather than promising to accommodate “every possible” disability.
Ending
Staff encouraged applicants to document likely accessibility challenges in the application, cite local census data as context, and contact board staff to discuss specific accommodations or to request further guidance.
