what is an access doc? — Access Docs for Artists

“access documents are used by rock stars and divas all the time—they’re simply called riders and no one bats an eye. this is because they are helpful for everyone involved: the person can say what they need in order to do their thing, and the venue/institution knows exactly how to provide support for them to do their thing.”

— Johanna Hedva

An access doc, or access ‘rider’ is a document that outlines your disability access needs. You might make one so that you can give it to galleries/institutions/organisations when you start working with them on a project, such as a gallery you’re doing a show at for example, to let them know what you need them to facilitate to make sure you have equal access to work.

You might want to make one if you are an artist or art worker and identify as sick/crip/disabled/D/deaf and have found that you have encountered barriers in your working relationships or ability to take on opportunities because of your disability.

We’ve made everything here from our own positions as disabled artists and writers, but we hope this site might be useful for other kinds of art workers too.