Hands-on Humanities Day 2022 | Accessibility
Summary
We aim to make Hands-on Humanities Day an enjoyable experience accessible to everyone.
Hands-on Humanities Day will be taking place on Saturday 19th November, from 10:30 to 16:30, at the University of Southampton's Avenue Campus. Building 65 is fully wheelchair accessible.
Parking
Car parks near to the Festival venue include a number of dedicated bays for Blue Badge holders. The closest ones are located at the side of Building 65a - take the first left just after entering the campus from Highfield Road.
Who is who
Our Festival team (lime t-shirt) and Student Ambassadors (blue t-shirt) will try their best to assist you during your visit.
Hands-on Humanities Day exhibitors will wear pink t-shirts.
The Security team at the University of Southampton will be patrolling the event. They will wear a black uniform with yellow high-vis jackets on top.
All Hands-on Humanities Day signage will have a pink/purple background.
Upon arrival
There will be a Welcome Desks located at the entrance of Building 65.
Please make sure to check-in to collect your event map and talk to the Welcome Desk team if you have any queries upon arrival.
We will have a series of stickers available at the Welcome Desk to support people with different needs in engaging with our exhibitors, the Festival team and Students Ambassadors.
Check-in
To reduce waste to a minimum, we kindly ask everyone to avoid printing their tickets.
Once at the Welcome Desk, please show on your mobile phone the QR code on the email confirmation you received from Eventbrite or just provide the name and surname of the contact you used for booking. You can also download the Eventbrite app onto your iPhone or Android device to show the QR code at the desk.
Event maps
The official Hands-on Humanities Day 2022 map will be available on the event main page closer to the time.
Printed flyers with the official map, including a list of activities and locations, will be available as A5 6-pages leaflets at the Welcome Desk. If you wish to print a copy of the map in A3 for easier readability, please contact us to festival@soton.ac.uk or use our dedicated contact form
Sensory map
To help you plan your visit and to provide some more information on what to expect on the day in Building 65, we have developed a new interactive maps in ThingLink.
Quiet Rooms
A quiet room - for some peace and privacy, and to recover from sensory overload - will be located at the end of the South Corridor, in Seminar Room 1113 (Level 1).
The room will have chairs, a sensory tent with padded flooring, soft dimmable light, hand sanitiser and sanitising wipes.
Sensory overload
We know that Hands-on Humanities Day can be intense and overwhelming at times for some.
A few areas of the festival venue might become crowded and the programme includes some activities with loud noises, flashing lights, and darkened spaces. You can check each individual activities for accessibility information on our website: this will help to inform your choice of activities to visit.
A few ear defenders will be available to borrow on a first-come-first-served basis at the Welcome Desk at the entrance of Building 65. Please note that ear defenders will need to be returned once leaving the venue.
Explore our Sensory map in ThingLink to find out a bit more about what to expect on the day - see the Event map section above.
Our friendly exhibitors, students and Festival team will wear a name badge on top of their branded t-shirts.
This year, for the first time, we are introducing a set of three stickers with a traffic light system. This will help Festival members be more considerate and will aid better understanding e.g. how visitors in the autistic spectrum feel during the day. The colour of each sticker represents the following:
- RED = I can’t interact with others and I need some quiet time.
- YELLOW = I am anxious so don’t interact with me unless I initiate it.
- GREEN = I am feeling okay.
The stickers are free to take and will be available for pick-up at the Welcome Desk at the entrance of Building 65.
Please also remember that a Quiet Room with a sensory tent (as detailed above) is available on the day. Just ask a member of the Festival team (lime t-shirt) or a Student Ambassador (blue t-shirt) for directions if needed.
Buggy Park
Two small buggy parks are located closer to the side entrance of Building 65, near to the Welcome Desk.
Feel free to leave your buggy there, however please be aware of the following:
- make sure to park your buggy within the bay lines to avoid obstructing emergency exit routes;
- the buggy parks are not guarded, so keep personal valuables with you. All items in these bays are left at your own risk.
Breastfeeding and Baby changing Room
Baby changing and breastfeeding rooms are provided with soft furnishing, partition/screen for privacy, hand sanitiser and sanitising wipes, and are located as follows:
- Level 1, in Room 1089
- Level 2, in Room 2121
A wipeable baby changing mat will be available in Meeting Room 1089 (Level 1), close to the main entrance of Building 65. The closest bathrooms to this room are located at the side of the main entrance, next to the entrance of Lecture Theatre B, in Room 1193 (female), in Room 1195 (disable) and Room 1197 (male).
A wall mounted baby changing table is instead available in Room 1089 (Level 2).Multi-Faith Room
A Multi-Faith room (for some peace and privacy for praying) will be located at the end of the South Corridor, in Seminar Room 1111 (Level 1).
The room will have chairs, a partition for privacy, space with padded flooring, hand sanitiser and sanitising wipes.
Hearing Loop
All Lecture Theatres (LT) where most shows and talks are taking place are fitted with induction loop for hearing aid users.
The front 1-2 rows at each talk or show will have priority seats for hard of hearing, deaf, visually impaired and blind visitors.
Assistance Dogs
Fully trained assistance dogs are welcomed at Hands-on Humanities Day.
Water bowls will be made available for them at the entrance of Building 65.
Where possible, we kindly ask you to have your dog wearing a harness or jacket to identify it as an assistance dog.
Routes, toilets and building evacuation for disabled persons
All events and activities will take place on the ground floor (Level 1, connected to the main entrance by a ramp), on the first floor (Level 2) and in an outdoor marquee with flooring.
Toilets for disabled persons are available in Building 65 at:
- Level 1
- Room 1021
- Room 1117 (in male WC)
- Room 1147 (in female WC)
- Level 2
- Room 2113 (in male WC)
- Room 2133 (in female WC)
Some activities will take place on Level 2 that will require evacuation through a service lift in case of emergency. In case the alarm is set off, please ask a Student Ambassador (blue t-shirt) to assist you in reaching the refuge point next to the lift (east side of Building 65, on the side of the main entrance), and wait until a member of the Festival team (lime t-shirt) will assist you to enter the lift to leave the building.
For more information on accessibility in Building 65, please refer to the University of Southampton's Accessible website.
If you require further assistance on the day, please get in touch asap by emailing us at festival@soton.ac.uk
