Free Resource Directory · Artistic Accessibility Collective

Law & Policy

The foundational international disability rights instrument, entered into force 2008, 190 states parties. Article 30 explicitly requires access to cultural life including theater, film, and museums. Free PDF.

The authoritative free source for WCAG, the global de facto standard for digital accessibility. Includes WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 specifications, Understanding documents, and tutorials. Referenced in law in the US, EU, UK, Canada, and Australia.

The authoritative free source for all Americans with Disabilities Act guidance. Focus on Title III (public accommodations, most relevant to arts venues). Includes DOJ web accessibility guidance and the 2024 final rule requiring WCAG 2.1 AA for state and local government websites.

Ten regional centers (one per US region) offering free ADA training, webinars, detailed guides, and a live helpline: 1-800-949-4232. The most accessible entry point for arts organizations trying to understand their ADA obligations.

WCAG 2.1 is the current US legal standard for web accessibility (confirmed by DOJ in 2022 for Title II and III entities). WCAG 2.2 (October 2023) is current best practice. Free and authoritative, this is what you cite for US legal compliance.

FCC guide to captioning requirements under the CVAA and the four FCC quality standards: accuracy, synchrony, completeness, and placement. Essential background for film, broadcast, and streaming accessibility work in the US.

Free policy guidance, case studies, and vetted resource links for US arts organizations. Accessibility is increasingly required in NEA grant criteria, this is the place to understand what NEA expects and what they fund. Includes accessible event planning guides and ADA compliance resources.

Free government guidance on the Equality Act 2010, the UK's single national disability rights law. Key feature: an "anticipatory duty" requires arts organizations to proactively plan for disabled access before an individual asks. Stronger model than the US ADA's reactive approach.

Free resources on the Accessible Canada Act (2019), Canada's federal accessibility legislation covering broadcasting, telecommunications, banking, and federal government. The foundation for federal arts organizations and broadcasters in Canada.

Free, printable ADA compliance checklist for existing buildings, covers parking, entrances, restrooms, seating, and signage. Developed by the New England ADA Center. The most practical starting point for any arts venue doing a self-assessment of physical access before bringing in a consultant.

The official US government hub for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires federal agencies and federally funded programs to make their technology accessible. Free guidance, training, and checklists on buying, building, and managing accessible digital content. Relevant for any arts organization receiving federal funds or selling to federal agencies.

The federal agency that writes the accessibility standards behind the ADA, the Architectural Barriers Act, and Section 508. Free guidance documents, technical assistance, and webinars on accessible buildings, sites, and technology. This is the authoritative source for the actual design standards (ramps, signage, ICT) that arts venues must meet.

The international treaty that lets organizations create and share accessible-format copies (braille, audio, large print) of published works across borders without seeking copyright permission. Directly relevant for accessible scripts, theater programs, educational texts, and film materials. Free official WIPO resource, including the Accessible Books Consortium.

The official European Commission page for the European Accessibility Act, in force since June 2025. Covers accessibility requirements for products and services including e-books, e-commerce, ticketing, and audiovisual media services across all EU member states. The key reference for any arts platform or service operating in the EU.

The EU's official resource centre for accessibility, covering the built environment, transport, and information and communication technology. Free guidelines, an online training campus, a digital library, and a community of practice. The most practical starting point for understanding European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive obligations.

A long-running resource hub for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, the most developed provincial accessibility law in Canada. Free online training, plain-language guides to the Act, and articles on the five accessibility standards (customer service, information and communications, employment, transportation, built environment). Ontario arts organizations with 50 or more employees must meet WCAG for their websites under this law.

Official guidance from the Australian Human Rights Commission on web accessibility obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Recommends WCAG Level AA as the standard and explains how the DDA applies to websites, apps, and digital content. The authoritative reference for Australian arts organizations.

The national arts advocacy organization's accessibility hub, with free webinars, research, and policy resources on welcoming disabled audiences and artists. Frames access as going beyond ADA baseline compliance. A useful US-wide complement to the NEA's grant-focused guidance.

A leading national disability rights law and policy center, directed by disabled people, founded 1979. Free legal information, technical assistance, and policy analysis on the ADA, Section 504, and current threats to disability rights. The place to understand the law from a civil-rights and movement perspective, not just a compliance checklist.

The harmonized European standard for accessibility of ICT products and services, aligned with WCAG and referenced by the EU Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act. Free to download from ETSI. This is the technical standard EU public bodies and many private services are measured against.

Free, confidential expert guidance on workplace accommodations, funded by the US Department of Labor. Its searchable A-to-Z database and Situations and Solutions Finder are the definitive US reference for reasonable accommodations for disabled workers and artists.

The federal civil rights law barring disability discrimination in any federally funded program, with the strengthened 2024 rule covering web and app accessibility and accessible medical equipment. An essential companion to the ADA for any arts organization receiving federal funds.

The modern US law behind accessible phones, video description, and internet closed captioning. Broader than the FCC television captioning rules, it also covers advanced communications, relay services, and emergency information. The key statute for online video accessibility.

W3C guidance on applying WCAG to non-web technology: documents, PDFs, and software. Incorporated into Section 508 and the European standard EN 301 549. The reference for holding non-web content to the same bar as websites.

The EU law requiring public-sector websites and apps to be accessible, distinct from the European Accessibility Act, which covers private-sector products and services. The authoritative primary source for public-body digital access obligations across the EU.

The gateway to the largest free legal-advocacy network in the US, connecting disabled people to their state Protection and Advocacy agency for help with discrimination, abuse, and access to services. The place to find free legal help enforcing disability rights.

A national, cross-disability, disabled-led civil rights organization advancing the political and economic power of disabled people, with leadership programs, voting-access work, and policy resources. A strong disabled-led anchor for the US policy landscape.

Captioning

The defining open-source resource on expressive/creative captioning, developed with the Deaf community, recipient of the Academy Award of Merit. Explores style, color, animation, and personality in captions beyond compliance defaults. Free and globally applicable.

The most detailed and widely-used quality standard for captions in educational media, broadly applied across the industry. Covers accuracy, placement, speaker identification, and sound effects. The US captioner's go-to reference.

Publicly available guide required for all Netflix content. A detailed, practical industry reference for anyone producing captions, even for non-Netflix projects. Free to read.

Extensive free guides on captioning standards, CVAA requirements, platform specifications, and quality. One of the most regularly updated US resources for captioning practitioners.

Practical guidance from Utah State University's WebAIM on captioning for web and media: evaluating quality, working with caption files, and platform best practices.

Administration for Community Living guide to basics of captioning for events, meetings, and media, includes tool comparisons and practical how-to guidance. Good for organizations just getting started.

Free, open-source caption and subtitle editing software with Whisper AI integration. Works on Windows (and Mac via Wine/Mono). Widely used by independent filmmakers, festivals, and small organizations for creating and editing caption files.

Free online captioning and subtitling platform supporting collaborative caption workflows. Popular with nonprofits, educators, and independent filmmakers who need to create or crowdsource captions without a large budget.

UK-based research and creative practice on expressive captioning, the approach of encoding acoustic information (whispering, shouting, music, tone) through caption style rather than just text. University of Sheffield research base. Companion to Caption with Intention.

The W3C's free, authoritative guide to captions, audio description, transcripts, and sign language for online media, with project-planning advice and links to the relevant WCAG criteria. The best single starting point for understanding which media access features your video needs and how they fit together.

Free, downloadable caption-authoring software from GBH's National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM). Runs locally in your browser with no internet required, so private content never leaves your computer. Imports and exports WebVTT, SRT, TTML, SCC, and more, and can also generate audio-description scripts. Won an FCC Chairman's Award for accessibility.

Free, open-source, cross-platform subtitle editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) built for precise timing to audio and rich visual styling, with a real-time video preview. Long favored by fansubbing communities for fine-grained control. A powerful option when you need more styling and timing precision than basic caption tools offer.

Free, open-source speech recognition that runs locally and handles many languages and accents well. Independent filmmakers, festivals, and small organizations use it to generate first-draft captions from audio without paying for a service. Not real-time and the output always needs human editing, but a strong, private, no-cost starting point for transcription.

AI transcription and live-caption tool that displays captions for online meetings (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet) and exports SRT files for video. Freemium: a free tier covers limited monthly minutes, with paid plans for more. Not CART-quality, but useful for captioning panels, interviews, and meetings on a small budget, and for producing an editable transcript to publish alongside video.

Netflix's publicly readable audio description style guide, a companion to its Timed Text (caption) guide. A clear, practical industry reference for AD scriptwriting conventions, useful well beyond Netflix projects. Free to read.

A clear, current walkthrough of correcting YouTube's auto-captions and uploading your own caption files, written from an accessibility standpoint. Practical and free, aimed exactly at the small organization or creator captioning their own video for the first time.

The National Association of the Deaf's captioning hub: what quality captioning requires, when it is legally mandated, and ready-to-use letters for requesting captions at venues and businesses. The authoritative Deaf-led US voice on captioning quality, including its position on automatic speech recognition.

A live captioning and speech-to-text app built by and for the Deaf community for in-person conversations and video calls. Deaf-founded. The free tier covers unlimited basic captions in shorter sessions; human-scribe accuracy is the paid upgrade.

A free real-time captioning app for over 80 languages, developed with Gallaudet University and led by a Deaf developer, that also flags environmental sounds. A handy pocket tool for captioning conversations and small events (Android only).

An all-volunteer nonprofit founded by a deafened consumer that educates and campaigns for quality captioning everywhere it is missing. A consumer-led, Deaf and hard of hearing captioning-advocacy community, free to join and learn from.

Audio Description

EU-funded international reference for audio description standards, covers theory, methodology, and practical guidelines across media formats. The most comprehensive AD guide available.

Widely referenced standards document covering best practices for audio description in film, television, theater, and museums, written by working describers. The original coalition site is no longer maintained; the standards live on at Audio Description Solutions. Free PDF.

One-page guide from the federally-funded Described and Captioned Media Program covering core AD principles: objective language, present tense, visual identity description. A perfect starting handout for workshops.

Comprehensive federally-funded style guide for captioning and audio description in educational media. Covers AD script writing, voice talent, and quality review. The most widely referenced US AD standard for educational content.

Free federally-funded courses on accessible media in the classroom, educational interpreting, captioning, and video description. No admission requirements, no cost. Among the most accessible AD training available in the US.

American Council of the Blind training resources, educational guides, and a four-course series in inclusive media. Scholarships available. Core US professional development resource for AD.

Introductory free online course: what audio description is, why it matters, and basic script writing principles. A good first step for practitioners new to the field.

Free audio description workshops for live events, with a focus on live theater and community performance contexts. Sponsored by the Haymarket People's Fund. Accessible entry point for small organizations and community practitioners.

The most important US organization for audio description. Maintains AD quality standards, a database of AD-accessible venues and media nationwide, and training resources. The place to start for US AD advocacy and standards.

Created the first broadcast audio description in the US (Described Video Service). Now a leader in captioning and AD research and advocacy. The institutional origin of much US accessibility infrastructure.

Free tool enabling anyone to record audio descriptions for YouTube videos. Community-created descriptions are stored and playable alongside videos, expanding the universe of described content beyond what professional AD services cover.

Multi-track, audience-choice audio description for live dance performance, a landmark in creative access. Kinetic Light's app lets audience members choose among multiple AD tracks for the same show, with different voices, styles, and perspectives. Freely documented and open source.

Canada's leading organization for live performance audio description. Offers freely available guidelines for live theater AD, describer training resources, and guidance for dance and experimental performance. Among the best published live AD resources in the English-speaking world.

The UK's leading audio description organization for live arts, visual arts, heritage, and live performance. Distinct from VocalEye Canada: VocalEyes UK provides audio description at major UK galleries, museums, and performing arts venues, and offers the most comprehensive free training guidance for live performance AD in the UK context. Operates under the Equality Act 2010's anticipatory duty. Essential for any UK practitioner or organization.

Royal National Institute of Blind People. UK standards and advocacy for AD in theater, film, and broadcasting. Produces guidance documents for venues and broadcasters, and advocates for AD quality and availability under the Equality Act.

UK training and standards body for live theater audio description. Guides for describers and theater producers on commissioning and delivering quality live AD, including the specific requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

Adelaide-based Australian organization offering the country's most developed professional training in audio description and captioning for the arts. Their 12-week AD course is a leading professional training program in the Asia-Pacific region. Free introductory resources; the longer courses are paid professional training.

Austin-based nonprofit dedicated to making live arts accessible through audio description. Provides AD services for theater, dance, and live performance in Central Texas, and advocates for audio description as standard practice at arts venues. A community-rooted model for regional AD infrastructure outside major coastal arts centers.

Virtual professional training in all aspects of audio description, film, television, live performance, and visual art, taught by blind and sighted professionals. Small classes with individual practice time and peer/expert feedback. Graduate network spans 17+ countries. One of the most accessible professional AD training programs available internationally.

Raleigh-based nonprofit offering annual audio description training, describer workshops, and AD services for arts organizations. One of the clearest regional models in the US for building local AD infrastructure, with an Artist Link directory and community education programs alongside hands-on training.

Podcast and media platform by Thomas Reid, blind filmmaker, audio description narrator, and educator. Widely regarded as the most important ongoing practitioner resource for audio description craft: interviews with AD writers, blind consultants, and filmmakers. Reid was the narrator for the first open AD screening in Sundance history (Joybubbles, 2026). His framing, "better is better" over perfectionism, is essential for small organizations starting out.

The detailed, free companion to the DCMP Captioning Key: a thorough standard for writing description of educational media, developed with the American Foundation for the Blind. Covers what to describe, word choice, timing, and voicing. Among the most-referenced AD writing standards in the US, and a strong free training text.

A free, field-shaping research report on when and how to describe people's visible characteristics (race, gender, disability, age, body) in theater audio description, produced with Royal Holloway, University of London. Includes twelve principles for describers and recommendations for theaters. Essential reading for anyone wrestling with identity and representation in AD.

A free, open-access, open-source research project (University of Hawaii with the National Park Service) advancing audio description of the visual world. The free UniD app delivers audio-described park brochures for 200 or more National Park sites, and the UniD Academy and library offer training. A leading model for describing places and printed materials, not just film.

Audio description training from Joel Snyder, one of the first US describers (working since 1981) and author of The Visual Made Verbal. Offers workshops from 45 minutes to multi-day intensives for communities building AD services for live performing arts. One of the longest-established AD training providers in the country.

Resources and practical writing from Cheryl Green, an access artist who frames captioning and audio description as creative, justice-centered craft rather than a technical add-on. Free articles (including "Audio Description as a Tool for Equity") and credit-line templates. A vital practitioner perspective for arts organizations who want access done with care.

A publicly searchable directory of described titles and the narrators who voice them, plus interviews and a podcast, built for blind and low-vision audiences who develop narrator preferences the way audiobook listeners do. A blind and low-vision-centered complement to the ACB described-media database.

A regularly maintained free guide from the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled: where to find described films and shows, who provides description, and background on the practice. A trusted, current starting point for AD users.

Clear, plain-language practitioner guidelines for writing and producing audio description, from the Government of Canada's Digital Accessibility Toolkit. An approachable complement to the heavier international AD standards.

Digital Accessibility

Free authoritative tutorials for making specific content types accessible: images, tables, forms, carousels, and menus. Applicable everywhere.

The best free practical web accessibility resource, run by Utah State University. Articles, guides, the WAVE browser tool, and the Screen Reader User Survey, which is the most important data on how disabled people actually use the web.

Community-maintained free resource with accessibility patterns, checklists, and articles for developers and designers. Practical, current, and well-organized. One of the best free resources for the practical "how do I implement this?" questions.

Free framework: Recognize Exclusion, Learn from Diversity, Solve for One Extend to Many. Introduces the "persona spectrum" model of permanent, temporary, and situational disability, a powerful reframe for non-disability-specialist designers.

Among the most thorough publicly available design system accessibility guidelines in the world. The BBC is legally required to meet OFCOM captioning and audio description standards, their guidelines reflect that. Includes disability personas, visual design standards, and content guidelines.

The most widely used free, open-source screen reader for Windows, developed in Australia, used worldwide. Essential for manual accessibility testing and for understanding how blind users experience the web. Free download.

Industry-standard free accessibility testing extension for Chrome and Firefox. Catches approximately 30% of accessibility issues automatically. Used by accessibility professionals worldwide.

Free browser-based accessibility checker. Visual overlay shows errors and warnings directly on your page, great for quick checks and for learning what to look for.

Free accessibility auditing tool built into Chrome DevTools. No installation needed, open any page in Chrome, open DevTools, go to Lighthouse. Generates an accessibility score and flags common issues.

Free desktop tool (Mac and Windows) for checking specific color values against WCAG contrast requirements. Works on any color anywhere on screen, including colors in design software. Essential for designers.

Free open-source accessibility checker from IBM with detailed reporting. A strong complement to axe, catches different classes of issues. Includes an accessibility toolkit for teams building accessible products.

Free, MIT-licensed, open-source media player with excellent WCAG compliance. Supports audio description tracks, caption tracks (WebVTT, SRT, SBV), chapter navigation, keyboard control, and transcript view. The best free option for organizations hosting video online.

Free, open-source tool from the DAISY Consortium for checking EPUB accessibility compliance (EPUB Accessibility 1.1). Essential for any organization publishing digital books or documents. Works on Mac, Windows, Linux.

Free browser extension and desktop app from Microsoft for thorough accessibility testing. FastPass catches common WCAG violations instantly; Assessment mode walks testers through a full WCAG 2.1 AA evaluation with step-by-step guidance. More systematic than axe or WAVE, the best free tool for a complete manual audit.

Free color contrast tool that shows how a color combination affects people with different types of color blindness, low vision, and other visual conditions, not just a pass/fail contrast ratio. Uniquely useful for designers: see the real impact of your palette choices across the disability spectrum before you build.

Google's comprehensive free accessibility course, structured, practical, and kept current. Covers ARIA, keyboard navigation, color and contrast, forms, images, video, and testing. One of the best self-paced learning resources for developers and designers building accessible digital content.

The most widely recognized professional training program for web accessibility. Paid courses on WCAG, ARIA, screen reader testing, and accessible development, used by accessibility specialists, QA engineers, and designers at organizations of all sizes. Offers free introductory content. If your team is investing in one paid accessibility training, Deque University is the field standard.

The W3C's free library of accessible UI patterns (menus, dialogs, tabs, accordions, comboboxes) with keyboard interaction models and working code examples. The go-to reference when you need to build a custom component correctly instead of guessing at ARIA. Authoritative and continuously maintained.

The W3C's filterable, customizable WCAG checklist: every success criterion with techniques, filterable by level (A, AA, AAA) and technology. Essentially the working WCAG checklist most teams actually use for audits and sign-off. Free and authoritative.

The most widely used free web tool for checking text color contrast against WCAG AA and AAA. Enter two hex values and instantly see pass or fail for normal and large text. The fastest way to settle a color-contrast question, and a companion Link Contrast Checker covers the 3:1 link rule.

Free, open-source command-line accessibility testing tool. Built for automation: run WCAG and Section 508 checks across your pages in a CI pipeline and get JSON, CSV, or HTML reports. The standard free choice for teams that want accessibility regressions caught automatically on every build.

Free, open-source accessibility checker built for content authors rather than developers. A small bookmarklet or CMS plugin (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla) visually flags issues like missing alt text and bad heading order right on the page, with plain-language fixes. No tracking or data collection. Maintained by Toronto Metropolitan University.

Free, open-source accessibility checker that gives content authors live feedback as they type in CKEditor, TinyMCE, and Gutenberg, with site-wide reporting for admins. Built in parallel with Sa11y and focused on the mistakes a content author can actually fix. Plugins for Drupal, WordPress, and more. A great fit for arts organizations with non-technical staff updating the site.

The accessibility guidance behind the UK government's widely admired design system: how to use semantic HTML, test with assistive technology, and avoid introducing barriers even with accessible components. Free, practical, and battle-tested at enormous scale. A strong model for any team building or maintaining a design system.

The UK Home Office's famous set of one-page posters distilling design dos and don'ts for users who are autistic, blind, low-vision, D/deaf, dyslexic, or have motor impairments. Free, Creative Commons licensed, translated into many languages, and ideal for putting accessibility principles in front of a whole team at a glance.

Free, open-source image-description tool and API born from a partnership between the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Prime Access Consulting. Supports a distributed workflow for authoring, reviewing, and publishing alt text and long descriptions at scale. Built for cultural institutions with large image collections to describe.

A free, thoughtful framework from the Smithsonian's design museum for writing image descriptions and alt text, covering subject, color, medium, and the sensitive question of how to describe people. Goes beyond mechanics into sensory and narrative description. One of the best museum-developed references for writing alt text with craft.

The standard free tool for checking PDF accessibility against PDF/UA and WCAG, maintained by the PDF Association. Drag in a file and get an instant report. Essential for any organization publishing PDF programs, reports, or documents, since inaccessible PDFs are one of the most common access failures. Windows only.

Apple's official user guide for VoiceOver, the screen reader built into every Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Free and essential for manual testing: VoiceOver is the screen reader many disabled people use on Apple devices, so testing with it (alongside NVDA on Windows) is part of any real accessibility check. The iPhone version includes a built-in practice mode.

A free resource hub by social media strategist Alexa Heinrich on making social media content accessible: writing alt text, captioning video, camel-case hashtags, emoji use, and platform-specific quirks. Includes free guidebooks and a checklist. Directly useful for arts organizations promoting events and artists online.

An accessibility tool suite that plugs into design tools (Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) to check color contrast, simulate color blindness and low vision, set focus order, and suggest alt text while you design. Freemium: a free tier covers basic contrast and vision simulation, with paid plans for the full suite. Catching issues at the design stage is far cheaper than fixing them later.

A free, open tool from T-Mobile's accessibility team that generates ready-made acceptance criteria, code samples, and testing steps by component and platform, for web and native apps. Turns "make it accessible" into concrete, testable requirements.

A free, tutorial-style guide to designing, building, and testing accessible websites, mapped closely to WCAG. Hands-on and example-driven, a good how-to companion to the reference specifications.

The seven widely cited principles (provide a comparable experience, give control, offer choice, and more) for taking digital products beyond bare compliance toward genuinely inclusive design. A short, quotable framework for teams.

A free, open bookmarklet from the US Social Security Administration that inspects accessible names, contrast, structure, tables, and Section 508 compliance right in the browser. A no-install way to test a page's accessibility.

A community-maintained reference showing which HTML and ARIA features are actually supported by which screen reader and browser combinations. Answers the question specifications cannot: will this really work for users?

A free Chrome and Edge browser extension with over 200 WCAG checks, a contrast checker, a keyboard and landmark inspector, and disability and screen-reader simulators. A friendly first-pass testing tool; the toolbar is free, with a separate paid platform.

The free, open-source screen reader for Linux and GNOME, useful for testing content on a third major screen reader alongside NVDA (Windows) and VoiceOver (Apple). Also the daily driver for many blind Linux users.

Live Events & Theater

Free tip sheets, staff training guides, and professional development resources for US arts organizations. Covers physical access, communication access, and programming for disabled audiences and artists. VSA is part of the Kennedy Center's national accessibility work.

Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD), free tip sheets, guides, and video resources on physical access, communication access, assistive listening, and programming for diverse disability communities. The US field's go-to professional development conference materials.

NYC nonprofit and national model for theater accessibility. Resources on captioning, audio description, and Deaf/hard of hearing access. Pioneered open captions and GalaPro integration in New York theater. Their online resources are useful for any US theater.

Free toolkit for theater organizations covering physical access, captioning, audio description, relaxed performances, and sensory-friendly programming. A strong regional model with broad applicability for mid-sized US theater companies.

Free smartphone app delivering synchronized captions or audio description to live theater performances. Audience members download the app and receive captions tied to the show in real time. Used at Broadway and major regional venues, allows Deaf/HoH patrons to sit anywhere in the house.

Standard UK guidelines for relaxed/sensory-friendly performances, adjusted sensory environment, chill-out rooms, visual stories, and staff briefing. Developed in London theater, now adopted internationally as the benchmark model.

UK benchmark framework for accessible live music venues and festivals. Bronze/Silver/Gold Charter levels, adopted by hundreds of UK venues. Their annual State of Access Reports (based on first-person Deaf and disabled fan data) are the most important evidence base for accessible live music.

The foundational UK disability-led theater company (founded 1980). Graeae integrates captioning, BSL, and audio description as theatrical language, not add-ons. Free resources and case study material for any arts organization. Co-directed the 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony. Internationally significant.

The UK's leading organization for live theater captioning for Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing audiences. Stagetext provides live captioning at hundreds of UK theater performances annually, trains captioners, maintains quality standards, and publishes free guidance for venues on how to caption live theater. The UK counterpart to TDF (New York), their free resources on commissioning and delivering live theater captions are the best available for UK practitioners.

Free, globally accessible archive of essays, articles, and recorded conversations on disability aesthetics, accessibility in theater, and disabled theater artists. HowlRound TV provides free open-access livestreaming and a permanent video archive.

US community of cultural administrators and disabled people working to remove access barriers. Offers free professional development workshops, an equipment loan program, and a shared-access calendar. Strong disability-centered approach.

US advocacy for hearing loop installation in venues nationwide. Includes a free Loopfinder directory of loop-equipped venues. Essential for understanding hearing loop technology as best practice and for advocating for loop installation at US arts venues.

Free ongoing webinar series on ADA issues in arts, performance, museums, zoos, exhibitions, concerts, fairs, and recreation, one of the best free ongoing professional development resources for US arts accessibility professionals.

Free webinars on ADA accessibility topics with recorded sessions available in a searchable archive. The regional ADA Centers host these regularly, accessible professional development for US arts practitioners.

Webinar series for local and state arts agencies going beyond compliance to center disability justice frameworks. Partnered with Americans for the Arts. Free and recorded for later viewing.

UK disability arts development organization. Free access consultancy resources, articles, and guidance for cultural organizations. Strong on the intersection of access and artistic identity, particularly useful for UK arts administrators navigating the Equality Act.

New South Wales-based arts and disability organization. Free training, resources, and advocacy for accessible arts programming in NSW and applicable more broadly across Australia.

New Zealand's national organization for arts and disability. Free resources and advocacy for accessible arts, accessible venues, and disability arts programming across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Sensory accessibility certification and training for venues, sports arenas, cultural institutions, and events. Their Sensory Inclusive™ certification is held by hundreds of NFL stadiums, NBA arenas, museums, and concert halls. Free app lets patrons find certified venues nearby and request sensory bags, provided at no cost at certified locations. Practical and scalable model for neurodivergent and sensory-sensitive audiences.

Chicago-based professional performing arts company creating and performing work by and with artists with disabilities. A leading disability-led theater in the Midwest, one of the clearest examples of disabled artists as full creative agents, not subjects.

New York professional theater company (formerly Theatre By The Blind) integrating blind, visually impaired, and sighted artists. Productions build integrated visual description into staging and direction, access as artistic form, not retrofit. Over 50 years of practice.

Free resource hub from Arts Midwest covering physical access, communication access, sensory accommodations, digital accessibility, and virtual programming, curated specifically for arts and cultural organizations. Includes links to ADA guidance, captioning how-tos, image description resources, and accessible event planning tools. A strong aggregator for any organization starting its accessibility work.

SOLT maintains the central access hub for London theatre, including a regularly updated diary of captioned, audio described, BSL-interpreted, and relaxed performances across West End and member venues. The reference point for how the UK industry coordinates and publicizes access performances. Free to use.

Free sector guidance from UK Theatre on running accessible and relaxed performances, inclusive casting, and disability inclusion for theatres outside London. Connects venues with access providers like Graeae and Create Access. A practical companion to the SOLT access diary.

The UK's leading company creating dance by and with disabled and non-disabled artists (founded 1991). Candoco treats access as artistic material and runs widely respected artist development and education programs. A foundational case study for integrated dance internationally. Free resources and performance documentation online.

Zurich-based professional theatre whose ensemble members all have cognitive disabilities, widely regarded as one of the most artistically rigorous disability-led companies in continental Europe. Their collaboration with Jerome Bel, Disabled Theater (2012), is a landmark in disability performance studies. Winner of the Swiss Grand Prix Theatre.

Berlin inclusive theatre (founded 1991) bringing professional actors with and without disabilities together for roughly 100 performances a season, with a repertoire spanning contemporary and classical work performed with full theatrical seriousness. A model emerging from the German disability rights movement. Free education programs for schools.

Jaffa-based arts center run by and for Deaf, blind, and DeafBlind people. Their production Not by Bread Alone, performed entirely by DeafBlind actors, is one of the most original works of disability theatre anywhere, and the center also runs a dark restaurant and tactile workshops. DeafBlind self-representation as artistic practice.

Major Creative Europe program supporting disabled artists to push the boundaries of theatre and dance across the continent. Publishes free resources, research, and artist profiles, and runs international showcases and professional development. The most significant pan-European disability performing-arts initiative. Free to read.

Philadelphia nonprofit removing economic and disability barriers to cultural participation. Runs the ACCESS Card program offering deeply discounted museum and arts admission for people with disabilities and those on public assistance, plus accessibility consulting and training for cultural organizations. A leading US regional model for cultural access infrastructure.

University-based national center providing free resources, technical assistance, and a directory of disabled artists. Covers arts programming, careers for disabled artists, and accessible cultural organizations. A core US research-and-referral hub for the arts and disability field.

The US professional body for stenographic captioners. Maintains the Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC) credential and a searchable directory for finding qualified CART providers for live events, theatre, and conferences. The place to source vetted live captioners in the US.

Disability-led nonprofit making live music more accessible. Maintains a crowdsourced database of venue accessibility details (entrances, seating, bathrooms, parking) submitted by disabled concertgoers, and advocates directly with venues and promoters. The US counterpart to the UK's Attitude is Everything, built from first-person experience.

A free guide to writing an access doc (access rider), created by disabled artists Leah Clements, Alice Hattrick, and Lizzy Rose. Explains what an access doc is, why artists need one, and how to write and send one, with real examples. The go-to starting point for any disabled artist formalizing their access needs with venues and institutions.

The Sunflower lanyard scheme is a globally recognized, discreet signal that a person has a non-visible disability and may need extra time or support. Widely adopted by airports, transit, and increasingly arts venues. Their site offers free guidance for organizations on training staff to recognize and respond to the Sunflower.

A UK consortium of mainstream theatres embedding Deaf and disabled people on and off stage across large-scale touring productions, with free anti-ableism resources and case studies. A leading model for making access central to the art rather than an add-on.

The UK's leading professional performing arts company of visually impaired artists, which also leads sector-wide work on visual-impairment access, including at the Edinburgh Fringe. A blind and partially sighted led company and resource.

The longest-running US theatre company casting exclusively actors with disabilities of all kinds, founded in 1989 in Denver. A disability-led professional company and a model for disabled-led production.

A neuro-inclusive theatre company in New York and Los Angeles creating professional performance opportunities for neurodivergent and disabled artists, with over a hundred free arts classes a year. A working model for neuro-inclusive rehearsal and production.

Scotland's disabled-led touring theatre company, which embeds "Creative Access" in its work, trains the wider sector, and runs the Access Scottish Theatre guide to accessible events. A practical disabled-led model for touring access.

The definitive disabled-led plain-language guide to relaxed and sensory-friendly performances, from Jess Thom of Touretteshero: what they are and how to run one, including pre-show information, staffing, quiet spaces, and lighting and sound adjustments.

Film & Screen Media

Complete international resources hub from FWD-Doc: a global intersectional community of disabled documentary film creators and allies. Includes a 62-page free toolkit covering disability inclusion across development, production, post-production, and exhibition.

Academic and practical guide on accessible and inclusive filmmaking, developed in part through Canadian and UK research collaboration. Covers accessibility for disabled cast and crew as well as accessible output. Free to read online.

International Documentary Association's free resource hub for nonfiction accessibility in the US and internationally. Includes the 2024 report on accessibility and support for disabled nonfiction media makers.

Mentorship, script development support, and research on disability inclusion for disabled writers in Hollywood. Free guides on disability representation in screenwriting. An important entry point for industry inclusion advocacy.

Free research reports on disability representation and hiring in film and television, including the landmark "Inequality in 1,300 Popular Films." Essential data for evidence-based arguments about US industry change.

US coalition with resources on disability inclusion in entertainment. Runs an Entertainment Lab for disabled writers and a free Media Guide for journalists and critics covering disability representation.

Free US guide for journalists and critics covering language, sourcing, and common mistakes in writing about disability. Accessible and practical, good for newsrooms and arts publications.

World's longest-running disability film festival, hosted by the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University. All films are captioned and audio described. Centers disabled perspectives and filmmakers. The benchmark for film festival accessibility practice. Free public screenings.

US disability-focused film festival with strong access practices, free educational programming, and chapters in 20+ cities. An important showcase for disability-centered storytelling with broad geographic reach.

Annual US filmmaking competition promoting authentic disability storytelling by and with disabled creators. Free to enter. Held at Sony Pictures Studios (Los Angeles). Good gateway for emerging disabled filmmakers.

Disability media-monitoring organization founded by filmmaker Dom Evans (it began as a Twitter conversation in 2014). Researches representation of disabled people in film, TV, and games, and consults for studios and journalists on authentic portrayal. A disabled-led watchdog and education resource. Free to read.

Coalition of disabled creatives working to change representation and hiring in film and television, named for the roughly one in four people who are disabled. Advocacy, community, and industry resources centering disabled writers, directors, and crew. Free to access.

Long-running festival presenting films by and about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, touring screenings nationally. One of the few festivals centering intellectual and developmental disability representation, an area often overlooked in disability film culture. Run by the nonprofit Sprout.

Disability Belongs (formerly RespectAbility) runs an entertainment program with a Hollywood lab for disabled creatives and free guides for studios, journalists, and critics on authentic disability representation. The entertainment industry arm of one of the most active US disability inclusion organizations. Free resources.

The American Council of the Blind's continually updated master list of audio described films, DVDs and Blu-rays, and streaming titles, with notes on where AD is available. The single best place to find which films have audio description and how to access it. Free.

A disabled-led global nonprofit promoting authentic disability inclusion across media, grounded in the CRPD, with research and authentic-representation projects. A worldwide counterpart to the US-focused advocacy organizations.

Founded by disabled filmmaker Jason DaSilva, this fund gives grants to nonfiction filmmakers and new-media creators of color who have disabilities. A disabled-led, intersectional source of support for disabled documentary makers. Free to apply.

A disabled-led coalition (including 1IN4, AXS Film Fund, and FWD-Doc) building funding and infrastructure for disabled nonfiction media makers. A hub for the disabled documentary field.

A group of working TV writers publishing free, practical resources on authentic storytelling across marginalized communities, including disability, plus reports on inclusion in TV writers' rooms. A screenwriter's reference for getting representation right.

The landmark research documenting that nondisabled actors play the large majority of disabled roles on screen, and tracking authentic-casting progress. Free and widely cited when making the case for casting disabled actors. A family foundation, not disabled-led.

A free-loan library of thousands of captioned, audio-described, and ASL educational videos, administered by the National Association of the Deaf. Full streaming access is free for anyone connected to a student with a disability; the Learning Center is open to all.

Deaf Culture & ASL

The leading US Deaf advocacy organization. Free position papers on captioning, cochlear implants, ASL recognition, and Deaf civil rights. Essential reading for understanding the Deaf community's own advocacy positions, not what hearing organizations say about Deaf people.

The world's leading publisher of Deaf-centered academic and cultural writing, based in Washington DC. Some titles available open access. Essential for understanding Deaf culture, ASL linguistics, and Deaf history from the inside.

Free two-hour documentary on 200 years of Deaf culture in America, covers Deaf history, ASL literature, Deaf education, the cochlear implant debate, and Deaf arts. One of the best entry points for hearing practitioners new to Deaf culture.

International advocacy for sign language recognition and Deaf rights globally. Free resources on international Deaf policy, sign language recognition campaigns, and CRPD Article 30.4 (explicit recognition of Deaf cultural identity in international law).

The longest-running professional touring theater company in the US (established 1967). Pioneer of theatrical ASL, their work shaped how theater engages with Deaf communities. Free resources and history available online.

Los Angeles company integrating ASL and spoken English as co-equal theatrical languages. Known for Spring Awakening (Broadway 2015). Foundational case study in Deaf aesthetics as artistic practice, not accessibility as afterthought.

Free essays and recorded conversations on UK Deaf performance and disability theater, including resources on theatrical interpreting, BSL aesthetics, and integrating access as artistic language.

The world's only university designed to be barrier-free for Deaf and hard of hearing students, and a global center of Deaf culture, ASL linguistics, and Deaf studies scholarship since 1864. A bilingual ASL/English institution whose research and public resources shape the field. Free public resources.

Gallaudet's ASL learning hub, including free, topic-organized video lessons for basic vocabulary taught by Deaf instructors, alongside paid structured courses. One of the most authoritative free entry points for learning ASL from a Deaf-centered institution.

Dr. Bill Vicars' free, comprehensive ASL curriculum: lessons, a large video sign dictionary, fingerspelling practice, and culture notes. Used worldwide by self-learners and ASL classes. Among the most widely referenced free ASL learning resources on the web.

Long-running online ASL dictionary and Deaf culture resource created by native signer and ASL instructor Jolanta Lapiak. Includes a searchable sign dictionary, grammar and culture tutorials, and baby sign content. Core site free to use (optional ad-free membership).

The first peer-reviewed academic journal published bilingually and bimodally in American Sign Language and English. Showcases Deaf scholarship, ASL literature, and visual-language creative work in a Deaf-centered format. Open access, free to read.

The seminal scholarly journal on signed languages and signing communities, founded by William Stokoe in 1972. Covers signed-language linguistics, Deaf culture, history, and literature from communities worldwide. The reference journal for ASL and signed-language research.

A space for Deaf performance, ASL storytelling, poetry, and rap, hosting open-mic-style events that celebrate creative expression in sign language. Centers ASL as a living art form and the Deaf signing community as its artists. Free to participate and attend.

Free streaming platform of British Sign Language programming made by and for Deaf people, running since 2008 (rebranded from BSL Zone). Drama, comedy, documentary, and children's content in BSL. A rare example of sustained Deaf-led broadcast media. Free to watch.

Deaf-led media network co-founded by Sean Forbes making music and culture accessible in ASL. Known for its ASL music videos, Deaf-produced news and entertainment, and for putting Deaf musicians and performers at the center of music culture rather than at its edges. Free to watch.

The US national certifying and membership body for sign language interpreters and Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDIs). Its position papers and standards articulate professional and ethical interpreting practice, and its directory locates certified interpreters. Essential for understanding qualified interpreting in Deaf cultural contexts.

A Deaf-led nonprofit founded by Deaf scientists, building ASL vocabulary, explainer videos, and storybooks for science, technology, engineering, and math. Fills a real gap in STEM access and models Deaf-led educational media. Core resources are free.

Deaf-hosted daily news delivered in ASL with Deaf-culture framing, by Alex Abenchuchan. A rare source of current events made natively in sign rather than captioned after the fact. Free on YouTube.

The national advocacy organization by and for Black Deaf and hard of hearing Americans, founded in 1982 with chapters nationwide. Centers Black Deaf voices and leadership, a perspective most Deaf directories leave out.

A DeafBlind-led training center whose resources page gathers free ProTactile materials: the ProTactile principles, introductory videos with transcripts, and DeafBlind-led curricula. Rare, genuinely DeafBlind-authored content on tactile language.

A Deaf-led arts organization running the Seattle Deaf Film Festival, a Deaf literature festival, a BIPOC Deaf arts grant, and a Deaf arts directory. Centers Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, and hard of hearing artists.

Disability Justice & Frameworks

Free PDF laying out the 10 Principles of Disability Justice (2016). Short, accessible, visually rich. The foundational text of the Disability Justice framework, should be the first thing read in any accessibility training.

Free foundational essay introducing "access intimacy", the feeling when someone gets your access needs intuitively, without it being a burden or transaction. One of the most widely assigned pieces in the field, used in courses worldwide.

Free, searchable blog archive by disability justice writer and organizer Mia Mingus. Covers access intimacy, transformative justice, disability and race, pod mapping, and access as love. One of the most important ongoing writing projects in the field.

Free New York Times essay (2003) in which disability rights attorney Harriet McBryde Johnson debates philosopher Peter Singer on the value of disabled lives. A masterpiece of disability rights writing, sophisticated, funny, and essential.

Free, captioned TED Talk (~9 min) critiquing "inspiration porn", the use of disabled people's existence to inspire non-disabled people. The most accessible entry point to this critique. Essential first viewing in any accessibility training.

Netflix/Higher Ground documentary on Camp Jened and the 504 Sit-In disability rights movement. Free on YouTube with captions and audio description. Widely praised by disability communities as the most important disability rights documentary in decades.

Free online project by Bojana Coklyat and Shannon Finnegan reframing alt text as a creative and political practice, not just a technical requirement. Includes a free workbook, principles, and examples from museums and artists. Changes how you think about image description entirely.

San Francisco-based home organization of Disability Justice as a framework. Free resources, videos, performance archives, and the Skin Tooth and Bone PDF. Annual performance showcases model fully integrated access as artistic practice.

Video archives of Sins Invalid's performance showcases on Vimeo, disability justice as art, performance, and political practice. Among the most important documentation of disability-led artistic work available online. Some films are free; full showcases rent through Vimeo On Demand.

Created by Alice Wong to amplify disability media and culture. Free archive of essays, podcasts, and media criticism, including the Disability Visibility Podcast (100+ episodes) and ongoing cultural commentary. Essential reading.

Curated by Alice Wong. Disability media criticism and cultural commentary, an excellent source of first-person responses to disability representation in film, theater, and media.

Free archive by Leroy Moore at the intersection of disability, race, and hip-hop. Articles, music, poetry, and advocacy with particular focus on police violence against disabled people of color. Based in the Bay Area; nationally significant.

Disability-centered media organization producing free accessible videos and guides on disability rights topics, including an Access That hub for accessible media production. Disability-led; US-based.

The leading US autistic-led disability rights organization. ASAN is the correct organization to reference for sensory-friendly programming guidance, not Autism Speaks. Free toolkits, policy positions, and guides on neurodivergent inclusion developed by autistic people.

A global nonprofit platform for disability-led storytelling and journalism, featuring documentary and reporting by disabled creators, including from the Global South. A source of first-person disability media and news from the frontlines of the movement.

Previously the Icarus Project, a US peer support network and disability justice organization centering people with psychiatric and mental health experiences. Arts-rooted; distributes zines, guides, and mutual aid resources on navigating mental health outside clinical models.

A long-running psychiatric survivor advocacy organization in the US. Challenges forced psychiatric treatment and institutionalization. Free resources on Mad Pride, psychiatric survivor rights, and disability justice applied to mental health.

The UK's leading free platform for disability arts criticism, reviews of theater, film, and visual art by disabled critics. Cultural commentary, artist profiles, and industry news. Essential reading for anyone working in UK disability arts or wanting a non-US perspective.

Free essays and conversations on disability representation in theater and film, including how disabled artists navigate and push back against representation norms.

The UK's most significant arts commissioning program for disabled artists, funds and develops new work, tours internationally, and publishes free guides on accessible marketing and arts production. Their "Accessible Marketing Guide" (2024) is one of the best practical resources on disability-inclusive communications, alt text, and accessible social media for arts organizations.

Disability dance company by choreographer Alice Sheppard, their Audimance® multi-track audio description app and their commitment to creative alt text as public-facing content have made them a landmark in access-as-aesthetic practice. Free resources and design documentation available on their website.

The only US journal dedicated to poetry and prose by disabled writers, published free online since 2007. A living archive of disability literature across every form: fierce, tender, comic, formally experimental, politically exact. Quarterly; no subscription required. An essential resource for disability arts programs and literary educators.

US professional theater company committed to producing work by and for disabled people in partnership with regional theaters nationwide. Focuses on hiring disabled directors, designers, playwrights, and performers, and on changing systemic hiring practices in professional theater.

Oakland-based contemporary dance company integrating wheelchair users and standing dancers, one of the longest-running integrated dance companies in the US. Their work makes the strongest possible case that diverse embodiment is not a limitation but an artistic vocabulary: the specificity of different bodies is the aesthetic.

Free stock photography and media collection centering disabled Black, Indigenous, and people of color, created by and for disabled BIPOC communities. A direct response to the near-total absence of disabled BIPOC people in stock imagery. Free to download and use. Essential for any organization that wants its visual materials to actually reflect the disability community as it is.

Free Heritage Lottery-funded archive documenting the UK Disability Arts Movement: artworks, artifacts, films, and oral histories of the disabled artists and activists who helped change the law and culture. An essential, freely browsable record of disability arts history. Open access.

Peer-led, disability-justice-rooted organization building alternatives to the clinical mental health system through peer support and education on madness, trauma, and neurodivergence. A current, youth-driven complement to older psychiatric survivor organizations. Free toolkits and resources.

Disability-led organizing group building the political power of disabled people, with a notable focus on accessible community events and an access-checking practice for venues. A model of disability justice applied to local civic and cultural life. Free resources.

Chicago network advancing disability arts and culture through residencies, public programs, and field-building, anchored at the University of Illinois Chicago. A key Midwest hub connecting disabled artists, scholars, and audiences. Free programming and resources.

A network surfacing disabled creative and design talent so organizations can hire disabled people as experts rather than consult them as an afterthought. Embodies the "nothing about us without us" principle in design and the arts. Free to browse.

Sins Invalid's resource hub, including their widely shared access suggestions for public events, grounded in disability justice rather than minimum compliance: fragrance-free practice, ASL and CART, image description, mobility access, and more. A free, copy-ready starting point for organizers.

The widely cited, regularly updated working definition of ableism, in English and ASL, from disabled abolitionist and community lawyer TL Lewis, rooting ableism in anti-Blackness, eugenics, colonialism, and capitalism. A foundational teaching text.

The campaign by Mia Mingus, Alice Wong, and Sandy Ho reframing access as collective love and shared responsibility rather than compliance or burden, with a practical resource list to act on. A short, powerful reframe for any organization.

An autistic-led nonprofit with a free resource library centering autistic women, nonbinary, and trans people, grounded in disability justice and neurodiversity. A corrective to a public autism conversation that centers boys and men.

A self-advocacy organization founded by Vilissa Thompson, a Black disabled social worker who started the hashtag #DisabilityTooWhite, centering Black disabled women and femmes. A key voice on race and disability together.

An Oakland-based collective of disabled and neurodivergent QTBIPOC organizers running mutual aid and disability justice work, from emergency preparedness to mental health. A grassroots, disabled-led organizing model.

The longest-running national cross-disability grassroots organization run by disabled people, rooted in the independent living movement, with advocacy resources and an annual march on Washington. A cornerstone of the US disability rights movement.

A Chicago center for independent living, largely governed and staffed by disabled people since 1980 and a cornerstone of the independent living movement, with advocacy, services, and community organizing. A model disabled-led center for independent living.

A Deaf-led, cross-disability abolitionist organization supporting incarcerated Deaf and disabled people, with free fact sheets and the #DeafInPrison campaign. Bridges Deaf culture and disability justice at the intersection of disability and incarceration.

Research, Libraries & Publishing

The most important open-access peer-reviewed journal in disability studies. Published by the Society for Disability Studies. Covers arts, culture, media, law, and history, free to read online, no subscription. Searchable archive going back to the 1980s.

Free Library of Congress service for any US resident with a print disability, blindness, low vision, physical disability, or dyslexia. Provides digital talking books (via the free BARD app), braille books, and specialized playback devices mailed free. One of the most valuable and underused US accessibility services.

The world's largest accessible online library, over 1 million titles in DAISY, EPUB, BRF (Braille-ready), and audio. Free for qualifying individuals with print disabilities in the US and in 70+ countries under the Marrakesh Treaty. Organizations can also join. A lifeline for print-disabled readers.

Canada's national accessible library service, the equivalent of the US NLS/BARD. Talking books, braille, and DAISY format in English and French, accessible to Canadians with print disabilities. Free with registration through member libraries.

The world's largest library catalog, search any book and find your nearest library holding it, anywhere on earth. Enter a title and your location to see which libraries near you have it. Essential for finding accessible format books and out-of-print materials globally.

Peer-reviewed, fully open-access journal from the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii (since 2003). Interdisciplinary scholarship including disability arts, culture, and the lived experience of disability, with an international scope. Free to read, no subscription.

Peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the Canadian Disability Studies Association, hosted at the University of Waterloo. No reading or publishing fees. Strong on Canadian disability culture, arts, and policy, with international relevance. Free to read.

The leading peer-reviewed journal on literary and cultural representations of disability, published by Liverpool University Press and edited from the Centre for Culture and Disability Studies. Essential for arts and humanities scholars working on disability. Subscription or library access (no author fees).

The international body developing accessible-reading standards (DAISY, and the accessibility of EPUB) used by libraries for the blind worldwide. Offers free self-study courses and tools for producing accessible digital books and documents. The technical backbone of accessible publishing.

A DAISY Consortium hub of free guidance, news, and resources on born-accessible publishing for authors, publishers, and producers. Practical reference for making EPUBs, documents, and digital books accessible from the start. Free to read.

WIPO-led global partnership working to end the "book famine" for blind and print-disabled readers. Runs an international library-to-library book exchange (the Global Book Service, over one million accessible titles), capacity building, and inclusive-publishing promotion. Free to participating organizations worldwide.

The nonprofit behind Bookshare, the world's largest accessible ebook library, and a leader in born-accessible publishing and digital accessibility for education. Their tools and standards work help make reading materials usable by people who read differently. Free and low-cost services for qualifying readers and institutions.

Free, authoritative guidance from the Smithsonian, including the Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Exhibition Design (label design, fonts, color, wayfinding, interactives, seating, egress) plus toolkits for accessible digital interactives. The most widely used free reference for accessible exhibition and museum design.

Osaka studio (founded 1999) supporting artists with intellectual disabilities, whose members have exhibited internationally and entered major collections. An influential model worldwide for disability art studios and for valuing disabled artists' work on its own aesthetic terms. Free to read about online.

A foundational anthropological collection documenting how disability is understood very differently across African, Asian, and other non-Western cultures. Essential for practitioners working internationally and for resisting the assumption that Western disability frameworks are universal. Publisher page; available through libraries.

A long-standing nonprofit for blind and low-vision learning, whose free ConnectCenter advice line and APH Hive online courses are open to everyone (its product shop is separate and paid). A trusted hub for blindness resources and training.

An open, editable catalog offering free controlled digital lending of millions of books, with a dedicated program for print-disabled readers. A nonprofit, free complement to Bookshare and library services.

Thousands of free expert resources on blindness, low vision, cortical visual impairment, assistive technology, and transition, for learners, families, and educators. One of the deepest free knowledge bases in the field.

The largest blind-member-led organization in the US, whose free programs include the NFB-NEWSLINE news service and free white cane and slate-and-stylus programs. A major disabled-led resource and advocacy voice.

A volunteer, open-source project producing free public-domain ebooks with clean semantic markup, careful typography, and accessible EPUBs. A model of accessible publishing done right, and a free library in its own right.

Submissions

A plain language guide to driving as a Deaf or hard of hearing person: what the law actually says, how licensing works, what to do at a traffic stop, and which technology helps. It cites the ADA, the FMCSA hearing requirement review, AAA Foundation research and NIDCD data, and it pushes back on the myth that Deaf people are unsafe drivers. Published by Harding Mazzotti, a personal injury law firm, who sent it to us themselves. It ends by asking you to call them for a free consultation, so read it as a law firm's guide rather than a neutral one. Free to read.