Film Festival Alliance invites you to join a new webinar series exploring the experience of disabled patrons at film festivals, and the real impact that good (and bad) accessibility can have on that experience.
This series is free and open to all, though registration is required.
Structured around the theme of a dinner party, each session welcomes guests with diverse perspectives on disability to the table for candid conversation on accessibility in the festival space.
Join us on Thursday, July 23rd at 2PM EST for our first session in the series – Setting the Table: Intro to Disability, Statistics & the ‘Fear of Mistakes’
Before you can serve the meal, you have to set the table.
In our inaugural session, we are laying the groundwork for festival accessibility, exploring what true access looks like, why it benefits everyone, and how to build a roadmap that survives seasonal staff turnover.
We will openly tackle the “perfection paralysis”—the fear of making mistakes that so often leads to inaction—and show you how to start exactly where you are.
Register to Join Us on July 23rd here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8Y9yl3zoRieeUhS8zTaeQA#/registration
Celebrate Disability Pride month with us by joining the live webinar. You will get direct, real-time access to our expert panel for an interactive Q&A. We invite attendees to submit their access questions ahead of time, so we can work to address those questions in this series. This is your opportunity to bring your specific festival logistics, anxieties, and questions directly to the table.
We also invite you to share your access wins! We want to celebrate the creative solutions you have brought to your festival, and share them with everyone so we can all benefit and learn together.
Your Hosts:
Mikaela McParlan: Filmmaker, Accessibility Advocate, Festival Organizer, and the Film Festival Alliance Accessibility Advisor.
Michael McNeely: Media critic, and legal advocate who brings a vital, first-person perspective on navigating film spaces as a d/Deaf-blind patron.
Melissa Simpson: Inclusion specialist, festival consultant, and educator dedicated to breaking down physical and digital barriers for disabled audiences.
Questions? Reach out to accessibility@filmfestivalalliance.org ahead of the call.
Accessibility: Open Captioning
Website: https://filmfestivalalliance.org/education/accessibility-series
Disability Justice Grounded Birthwork – Starting Friday March 20th, 2026, 12 – 2:30pm CST via Zoom
is a:
12 week series (10 weeks of content; 2 weeks of community building) on the intersections of Disability Justice and Reproductive Justice. We will immerse ourselves in the origins of eugenics and how it has shaped the medical industrial complex and policing we see today. Then we will ground in how the MIC and policing have shaped and sustain the current ableist and hostile state of reproductive care and anti-bodily autonomy. We will take considerable time centering the most and multi marginalized folks navigating these systems and communities. We will round this experience out with how to do this work mindfully, equitably and sustainably, while centering care.
This is for: All birthworkers, doulas, birthkeepers and folks who do reproductive care and support. Abortion, Birth, Fertility, Grief & Loss, Postpartum and more. While this series is centered on the full spectrum of birth and reproductive care workers, it is also open to parents and caregivers and I encourage you to sign up!
We have 4 AMAZING queer and trans Black covid cautious Birth and Reproductive care workers as community facilitators
We got ASL, CART (live transcription) and Captions
We have 30, Thirty!?, yes THIRTY full scholarships for:
– Black and Indigenous Disabled Birthworkers and/or Parents
– Disabled, DEAF/Hard of Hearing, and/or Blind/Low Vision folks/careworkers
– Just email me: rise@riotousroots.com
What’s the line up you ask?
Week 1: Grounding: Disability Justice, Reproductive Justice, Disability, Ableism and Access!
Week 2: Interrupting Ableism and AntiBlackness: Internally and Intuitionally
Week 3: Impacts of Environmental and Global Injustice on Reproductive Health
Week 4: Protecting Disabled, Chronically Ill and Neurodivergent Pregnant People: Lateral Advocacy, Harm Reduction and Carceral Systems
Week 5: Centering Survivorhood
Week 6: Break/Integration Week
Week 7: Reclaiming Grief
Week 8: Respecting Black, Indigenous and Ancestral Cultural Practices
Week 9: Postpartum is Forever and PMADS Suck!
Week 10 : Centering Parents and Caregivers A-Z: Community is Liberation
Week 11: Sustaining in Community: Self Solidarity, Accountability, Humility and Interpersonal Connection
Week 12: Closing/Community
I’m so excited to be in this 3rd year! This is still the only Birthwork course that is completely centered in Disability Justice. Not a module or brief mention. I truly believe Disability Justice is the grounded for all other justice movements!
Will you consider joining? Sharing especially with those you think would be interested? Hyping me up?
Again, the link is here below:
https://riotous-roots-site-e183.thinkific.com/courses/copy-of-disability-justice-grounded-birthwork-spring-2026
Hope to hear from you <3
~ Rise
Accessibility: ASL Interpretation, CART (live transcription), and Captioning
The ways you communicate directly with your audiences – on social media, through email, on your website, and in your printed materials – can say a lot about your commitment to accessibility. In this practical, interactive training, we’ll explore how you can reach a wider audience with accessible marketing content. Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies Emma MacLean will lead you through context and best practices for making your online presence accessible and building trust with disabled audiences. Participants will interact in the chat and utilize a range of testing tools to create alt text, test color contrast, and write captions, link text, and plain language guides. You will come away with actionable ways you can make your content more accessible and free resources to keep learning!
This session is ideal for marketing managers and content creators interested in reaching to disabled audiences. But, anybody who uses a computer to create content – whether that’s social media posts, emails, or anything in between – is welcome to join us and learn something new!
Advanced registration is required. Registration will close on Thursday February 5th at 5pm.
Accessibility at this session:
Website: https://ableensemble.com/event/digital-accessibility-feb26/