Community Assessment for Accessible Rural Events Toolkit

Public events, like annual festivals, rodeos, and hometown celebrations, are ways for rural communities to gather and celebrate community. These events are places for community members to reconnect with old friends and make new ones, and ways for people to meet new people and build relationships.

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Rural community events are important because they create and maintain community resources and promote social cohesion through celebrating community together. They also contribute to economic, social, and political power by providing a physical space for community organizations and leaders to gather and interact.

The processes of planning, developing, and maintaining rural community events are opportunities to be inclusive of all community members, especially those with disabilities.


group of people, many using wheelchairs, outside

The Community Assessment for Accessible Rural Events, or CAARE, Toolkit was created to help community members make sure their rural community events are accessible and inclusive. There are resources in the CAARE Toolkit to help with Planning, Indoor, and Outdoor Events.

The toolkit includes:

  • checklists of accessibility issues to consider
  • surveys about accessibility for event attendees
  • additional resources where you can find more information, guidance, and resources

Note: all of the considerations mentioned in the Toolkit checklists might not apply to your rural event. Every rural community is different and has different needs– there is no one-size-fits-all solution. What may work for one community event may not work for another.

This Toolkit is designed to be a starting place for event organizers and attendees to address accessibility and usability issues in their communities.

Learn more about how the the CAARE Toolkit was created in this blog post: New toolkit available to help make rural community events accessible for all

Table of Contents

Planning

In this section:

  • Who lives in my community?
  • Planning
  • Venue considerations
  • Promotion
  • Organizational policies

Indoor Events

In this section:

  • Parking
  • Bathrooms
  • Walkways
  • Programming
  • Entrances
  • Event Rooms & Materials
  • Service animals
  • Meals

Outdoor Events

In this section:

  • Parking
  • Bathrooms
  • Walkways
  • Service animals
  • Programming
  • Seating/Tables/Materials
  • Meals

Additional Resources

In this section:

  • Links to the tools in this guide:
    • Using the Attendee Survey: A How-To Guide
    • Event Accessibility Quick Assessment
    • Attendee Survey
    • Brief Event Report Template
    • Survey Data Template
  • Sources referenced in this toolkit
  • Additional resources
  • Event accessibility in the news
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