Veronique West reflects on how they approach accessibility as a creative practice:

I’ve learned about the idea of “access aesthetics” from many Deaf, Disabled, Mad, and Neurodivergent peers. One of my inspirations in this area is Disabled dance artist Alice Sheppard (who is featured in the video on this page).

For me, access aesthetics is the understanding that accessibility practices both remove barriers and contribute to the creative vocabulary of a work. For example, audio description is often provided by a professional describer on specific shows aimed at Blind/Low Vision audiences. However, in Szepty/Whispers, audio description will be woven into my text as the performer during every show. Since I will bring my personal word choices and emotions, the act of describing will be both functional and artistically significant.

“For me, access aesthetics is the understanding that accessibility practices both remove barriers and contribute to the creative vocabulary of a work.”

On a political level, access aesthetics is one example of “cripping the arts.” As Mad, queer artist and activist Jenna Ried writes: “To crip the arts is to notice, embrace and lead with the difference and disruption that Disability creates within artistic production.” This is distinctly different from Disability inclusion, which often seeks to integrate our communities into able-bodied and neurotypical ways of working. To crip is to instead develop processes rooted in the specific knowledge and expertise of Disabled body-minds.