Inclusive and welcoming events

WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They’re one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizers are expected to prioritize inclusion and diversity by creating a 100% welcoming atmosphere at WordCamp and actively recruiting diverse organizers, speakers, and volunteers. For people who are not sure how to meet these expectations, this page includes some resources that we think might be helpful.

Accessible Events

What are some ways to make your event’s environment more inclusive and welcoming for attendees, organizers, and speakers?

Basic AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) List:

Watch language, such as gender pronouns and transgender terminology. You can check your language at: https://textio.com/
- For example, when speaking to a group, don’t use gendered words like:
  - Guys
  - Girls
  - Women
  - Men
  - Ladies
  - Gentlemen
  - Etc.
- Instead opt for words such as:
  - Folks
  - People
  - Friends
  - Assembled guests
  - Colleagues
  - Esteemed colleagues
  - Y’all
  - Guests
  - Esteemed Guests
  - Collaborators
  - My companions
  - Partners
  - All assembled
  - Etc.
Your images include folks from underrepresented groups. There are stock photo sites that feature diversity.
Offer childcare if you can.
Have the event at different times that work for people with children. For example, don’t hold them all at 9pm at night. Weekend afternoons may work. Ask those with children what works for them
Choose venues that have accessible alternatives to stairs, such as elevators and ramps, and use this venue accessibility checklist.
Consider venues that are not centered around alcohol (like bars and pubs). This will help open up your event to attendees who are under 21, recovering addicts, those who belong to a religious group that prohibits alcohol, and many other people who don’t feel safe or welcome in an alcohol-focused environment.
Restrooms:
- Have restrooms that are welcoming to all genders.
- Have private, single stall toilets available for trans and non-binary people who prefer it.
- Restrooms that are power wheelchair accessible

Request no one wear scents for the folks who are allergic or sensitive.
Show pronouns on the name badges so that people who don’t use the binary pronouns feel welcome. Make this optional so that folks who don’t feel comfortable outing their pronouns in public yet won’t feel obliged, and those who don’t feel comfortable without proper pronouns will feel included with the majority of folks sharing theirs.
Allow a way for people to opt out of being photographed, such as having a different color lanyard. Not everyone may want their photos online. It could be for personal reasons or even in some cases, safety reasons.
Have sensory break rooms and make sure that attendees are aware they are available:
- Speakers (many folks need quiet to prepare and recharge)
- Prayer / meditation
- Lactation
- Needs of neurodivergent people (e.g., Autism, ADHD)

Offer anything else you can think of that expands the kind of people who can speak at and come to your event.

Requests for special accommodations

Occasionally, an attendee will require that special accommodations be made so they can fully participate in WordCamp. This is usually brought to the organizing team’s attention when the person registers for WordCamp.

In the case of deaf or hard of hearing attendees, the organizing team should email the attendee to find out what kind of assistance they require. Some event teams provide CART services, while some arrange for sign language interpreters to accompany the attendee during the event.

If the attendee has a friend or friends who is willing to interpret for them, the volunteer interpreters should be given free tickets to the event. Interpreters who are hired through a service should also be given free tickets to the event so they can stay with the deaf or hard of hearing attendee throughout the event. If your WordCamp includes any official parties, mixers, networking events, etc, find out which “side events” the attendee plans to attend and arrange for interpreters to accompany the attendee for those hours as well. Be sure to post the ending time of all parties so that it’s clear when the “WordCamp portion” of the gathering is complete.

The global community teamGlobal Community Team A group of community organizers and contributors who collaborate on local events about WordPress — monthly WordPress meetups and/or annual conferences called WordCamps. can help WordCamps with an additional accessibility grant to cover the expenses related to special accommodation requests if necessary.

If you need help or have questions about responding to a request for special accommodations, email support@wordcamp.org — members of the Global Community Team have lots of experience with these requests. 🙂

Being Welcoming

In addition to the accessibility accommodations, do folks from underrepresented groups feel welcome and included? If someone came out once and did not return, how can you avoid having this happen again in the future?

Solution:

Create a welcoming environment:
- When the person comes in, welcome them. Say hello and tell them you are glad they are here.
- If the person is not speaking with anyone, introduce them to others.
- If the person looks uncomfortable, ask how they’re doing.
- When the person leaves, tell them you hope they come out again, and also invite the person to bring friends.
- Consider having an ice breaker game at the start to make everyone feel welcome
Ensure that your event’s talks are welcoming:
- Speaker slides include diverse images
- Panels aren’t all those who belong to the major population of your area
- Specific tracks like the contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. are also diverse
- Have a diverse representation of speakers (See http://tiny.cc/wpdiversity)
- Etc.
Have a Code of ConductCode of Conduct “A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party.” – Wikipedia in place. Post a link to it in every event description and mention it in every event’s introduction. https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/wordcamp-organizer/planning-details/code-of-conduct/
Be clear on what you will do if there is a transgression in the Code of Conduct. These are the WordPress guidelines: https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/meetup-organizer/responding-to-code-of-conduct-violations

Planning resources

What NOT to do

Exceptionalism and condescension
Sexualized environments
Harassment (Even if you know not to harass people, it’s good to read through some examples of harassment incidents to understand how they happened. Most people don’t wake up in the morning and think, “I’m going to harass someone today!”)

Panel discussion: Encouraging Diversity in Meetups and WordCamps

Check out this panel discussion featuring @angelasjin, @alliennimmons, @jillbinder, @khleomix, and @mariaojob on how we can better encourage and support diversity in MeetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. and WordCamps, and in the broader WordPress community.

A Transcript for this session is available here.

Participants in this panel also referenced a few resources that they hope you will find useful when it comes to thinking about and supporting diversity in your WordPress community.