Truly accessible art requires a deep, sustained effort. Inclusion is more than simply building a wheelchair ramp or having an ASL interpreter at an occasional performance — though those accommodations are important.

The Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC) brings together all kinds of artists and arts organizations to find out what’s really needed for an accessible Seattle arts scene — and to show others how to do accessibility right. We were proud to sponsor and attend SCAC’s Deep Dive Day 2025. This day was held on October 16, 2025, at Town Hall Seattle, which has hearing loops in each venue. To hear more clearly, people with hearing loss can tune into the loop by switching their hearing aid or CI to T or telecoil mode. You can also check out a headphones and a hearing loop receiver to hear through the loop. At our booth, we handed out equipment and showed people how to use it. (Note: Town Hall Seattle is also accessible to people with other disabilities.)

In talking with attendees, we were reminded that many people don’t yet know that hearing loss is a spectrum. While sign language is often immediately considered as an accommodation, most people with hearing loss don’t use or know American Sign Langue (ASL). While ASL is an important accommodation for Deaf communities, most people with hearing loss rely instead on residual hearing, hearing aids, captions, and assistive listening technology. It was important for us to be at the Deep Dive because we can remind people of what we need to participate equally.

We loved hearing stories from artists like Grace Flott and Teal Sherer. And we heard what other arts organizations, such as the Friends of Waterfront Park, and The Fifth Avenue Theater, are doing to improve accessibility. It was such an uplifting, optimistic day. Thank you to SCAC founder Elizabeth Ralston for bringing everyone together for this event and in so many other ways.