[SECONDED] [BYLAW REVISION] Accessibility
Open Votes
I Kris Donihee, Assistant Head coord 2, do propose that the following changes be made to the OWBN Administrative Bylaws.
This proposal requires a [SECOND] in the email subject line from a supporting chronicle.
This proposal is being presented as part of the Accessibility Subdivision of the Executive Team.
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Bylaws After
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1. Chronicle
J. Accessibility
i. Every chronicle must have a written accessibility policy. This policy must include (at a minimum) the following details:
1. How a player can put in a request for accommodations, if needed, from the game's staff.
2. Whether or not the play site used for game is wheelchair accessible.
ii. These policies must be made publicly available on the chronicles' website, discord, or social media page so that players with disabilities can see ahead of time if the site of the game is accessible to them.
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Justification pt 1
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We have a lot of players in the Org that have disabilities of various types. Some are able bodied and some are not, some require accommodations and some would prefer not to have them. These are people already among us as part of our player base as Disability is the one minority group that any person on the planet can join at any time, for almost any reason.
We don’t want to lose players that we have enjoyed playing with for their whole play-time in OWbN - or our whole play time in OWbN - because of a player not being made aware what accommodations are available.
So, to open games up to the broadest player-base possible and allow players to continue to play even after real-life rakes them over the coals, having a way to request accommodations - and standards to determine individually for your game what is and is not a reasonable request - would help us ensure that our players that we have now can keep playing - and potentially sure broaden our player-base into the future as people see that we are willing to team with and be kind to those around us.
The accessibility policy doesn’t have to be complicated or long. The people who know what accommodations they need The process can be as simple as 1) the individual tells the staff what they need (preferably in a format that is written down, though not necessarily by the individual). 2) the staff determines whether or not this is something that they (or a player volunteer) can reasonably provide.
This can be detailed in a few sentences and posted on your site. If you cannot handle accommodations that is fine and cane outlined in your policy. Something along the lines of, “We only have one staff, so if your requested accommodations are not things that you can handle with tech or a player volunteer it is possible that we may not be able to accommodate.” It is also okay to say, “We do not own our site; it is not wheelchair accessible.”
Honestly, I suspect that OWbN players would much prefer to learn via your social media that you play up three flights of stairs in a building with no elevator than figure that out when they get there and have to turn around and find a way home.
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Implementation
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Games will have until 2025 - 01 - 15 to add their accessibility policy to their publicly available chronicles' website, discord, or social media page
Assistant Head Coord 2
due to its vagueness. Accessibility is not a catch-all term and questions asked for clarification were simply told this only affected mobility use but the prop itself does not make that clarification.