DARCI Conference

event

We are delighted to announce that in September 2025 we will be hosting the Conference on Disability, Accessibility and Representation in the Creative Industries (DARCI) at the University of York (UK).

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

Wednesday 10th September – Friday 12th September 2025

School of Arts and Creative Technologies, University of York, York, UK

The arts are central to human experiences. However, lack of access to creative and cultural experiences, and to creative practice marginalises disabled people, and limits their representation. Moreover, most work on accessibility still occurs outside of the creative and technical workflows involved in creative productions, limiting opportunities for transformative collaborations among creators, accessibility experts and disabled audiences.

The Conference on Disability, Accessibility and Representation in the Creative Industries (DARCI) welcomed contributions that approach research and practice in the fields of disability, accessibility and representation from diverse perspectives. We received submissions from all areas of the creative industries, including theatre, film, television, music, gaming and interactive media more generally, as well as those linked to heritage and other cultural sites.

The conference will take place from Wednesday 10th September to Friday 12th September. Wednesday will be dedicated to pre-conference workshops and other events, whereas Thursday and Friday will be full conference days with a variety of activities.

Registration Open

Registration is now open, with early bird registration closing on June 30th, 2025. Tickets can be booked on Ticketsolve.

Large building with lake in front of it.


Keynote Speakers

Raymond Antrobus

Title: An Investigation of Missing Sound

Antrobus has described himself as an ‘Investigator of Missing Sound’, what does that mean to him and how might it apply to his, and potentially, our, writing lives?

Profile picture of Raymond.


Raymond Antrobus is the author of three poetry titles: The Perseverance (Penned in the Margins), All The Names Given (Picador) and Signs, Music (Picador). Antrobus’s poems have been added to GCSE syllabi, and his poetry has won the Ted Hughes Award, the Somerset Maugham Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. In 2019 he became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre. He is also the author of two children’s picturebooks, including Can Bears Ski? (Walkers Books), which became the first story to be broadcast on the BBC entirely in British Sign Language. Antrobus is an advocate for several D/deaf charities, including Deaf Kidz International and the National Deaf Children’s Society. Antrobus was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2020 and appointed an MBE in 2021.


Prof. Hannah Thompson

Title: The Sensational Museum: Disability Gain and the Journey from Access to Inclusion

The Sensational Museum is a 27-month AHRC-funded research project which runs between April 2023 and July 2025. Underpinned by specialisms in design, digital heritage, disability studies, psychology, public history, and professional experience in the heritage sector, TSM rejects the ‘look and learn’ approach that has influenced both how museums construct and store collections information and how this information is communicated to audiences.

In this plenary, project PI Professor Hannah Thompson will present the project’s key findings and argue that the project’s focus on ‘Disability Gain’ and the resulting progression from ‘access’ to ‘inclusion’ can offer a blueprint for the cultural sector more widely. The project is grounded in action research and co-creation with industry professionals. We worked with a range of museums across the UK, to create environments where no one sense is necessary or sufficient for a fulfilling museum experience. Rather than providing additional accommodations for workers’ and visitors’ specific needs, we explore how institutions might embed inclusive designs and content into everything they do, meaning that every museum visitor and professional can trust that the museum will be accessible to them.

This sector-transforming multisensory challenge raises a critical question – how do we unpick millennia of ocularcentric bias whilst still maintaining visitor and practitioner trust? Our solution builds on the theory of ‘Disability Gain’, recognizing that disabled living, and adaptations developed for and by disabled people, can enhance the experiences of everyone. TSM aims to put disability at the centre of all aspects of practice – from collections management and curation to exhibition design and education – and use what we know about disability to change how everyone engages in a museum. Thompson will present the theoretical underpinnings behind the Sensational Museum project, before exploring some of the project’s outputs and discussing the impact on TSM lessons learnt for the cultural sector more broadly.

Profile picture of Hannah.


Professor Hannah Thompson (Royal Holloway, University of London) is a partially blind academic and activist. Her research focuses on the intersections between Critical Disability Studies and French Studies and she has published 3 monographs and numerous papers on nineteenth-century French literature. Hannah is currently working on creative audio description in museums, art galleries and theatres and her notion of ‘blindness gain’. She was Production Consultant for the Donmar Warehouse’s installation BLINDNESS in 2020 and worked with a range of theatres and audio describers during her AHRC 2021-2 EDI Fellowship ‘Inclusive Description for Equality and Access’. In April 2023 she became PI on a £1M AHRC-funded grant The Sensational Museum which aims to ‘use what we know about disability to change how museums work for everyone.’ Hannah writes about her place as a partially blind academic in a resolutely sighted world in her blog Blind Spot.


Performance by Amble Skuse

Frequencies of Being: Sounding the Unspoken

(90-minute session followed by Networking/Drinks event)

Delve into an evening of musical discovery as we present a curated programme of works by composers Amble Skuse, Sonia Allori, Ailís Ní Ríain, and Walter Kadiki. These pioneering artists challenge conventional boundaries, employing spoken word, instrumental composition, improvisation, and electronics to articulate the rich tapestry of human experience.

This concert offers multifaceted perspectives on existence, artistic creation, and the very nature of sound. Drawing inspiration from disability philosophy, the works presented illuminate universal truths about embodiment and perception—inviting us to reconsider what it means to be human in a complex world.

Experience these intricate sound worlds and engage with ideas that resonate beyond the concert hall. These compositions invite you into a deeper understanding of how we inhabit our bodies, create meaning, and perceive the world through sound.

The concert offers an opportunity to connect with fellow delegates ahead of the conference, and to frame discussions around different approaches to sound and production.

Programme

The full 3-day programme, including the pre-conference day with workshops, can be found in this PDF file and this Word file.

Abstracts and bios for the Wednesday workshops can be found in this PDF file and this Word file.

Abstracts and bios for the conference (Thursday and Friday) can be found in this PDF file and this Word file.


Accessibility and Inclusion Information

We are working on making the conference as accessible and inclusive as possible, and we will continue to update this information. In the meantime we can confirm the following:

  • All rooms used as part of the conference are wheelchair accessible.

  • All presenters have been asked to make sure that any crucial visual material in their presentations is described as part of their presentations. If they display something we have asked them to talk about it.

  • We have asked all presenters to send slides in advance of the conference and to make sure all images have ALT text included. Those slides will be uploaded to our website in advance of the conference so they can be used with screen readers or magnified as needed.

  • All presenters have been asked to caption any audio-visual material included in their presentations.

  • Live captioning will be provided both for in person and online attendees by using the Zoom captioning system.

  • Prayer rooms will be available in the Rob Cooke Hub, a short walking distance from the main conference building.

  • A quiet room and a sensory room will be available to allow for guests to self-regulate if needed. The quiet room will be a calm and silent space for guests. The sensory room will be a space with creative and non-creative sensory options, such as headphone stations and drawing tables.

We will be updating this information on a weekly basis. We are currently looking into providing BSL interpreters and hearing loops. If you have any questions please contact enhancingad@gmail.com.


Deadlines

Abstract submission deadline: 4th November 2024 5pm UK time.

Notification of outcome: By end of February.

Registration opens: 31st March 2025

Submission of revised abstracts (if required): 2nd May 2025 9am UK time

Early Bird registration closes: 30th June 2025 5pm 7th July 2025 9am UK time

Speaker registrations closes: 8th August 2025 5pm UK time

All registrations closes: 27th August 2025 5pm UK time


Types of Registration and Fees

Registration is now open. Tickets can be booked on Ticketsolve.

In person

Standard Early Bird

£170

Standard

£200

*Concessionary Early Bird 

£85

*Concessionary

£100

Virtual

Standard Early Bird

£120

Standard

£150

*Concessionary Early Bird

£60

*Concessionary

£75

*Concessionary (students, retired, unwaged, low-waged)

Pre-conference workshops on Wednesday 10th September will cost £30 each and will include catering.


Conference Roles

Conference Committee

Reviewing Committee


Transport Information

Maps

Parking

The car parks available on campus include Field Lane Car Park. If this is full, then Kimberlow Lane Car Park is just down the road. If you need an accessible parking space, there are spaces available closer to our building. A full list can be found through this link.

Buses

More information on bus routes to the university can be found here. The buses that comes to our campus are called U1 and U2. From the bus station, it takes around five minutes to walk to our building once you arrive on campus. If you arrive in York by train, get on one of these two buses at the bus station located in front of the train station. Taxis are also available at the train station as an alternative to the bus.


Contact

If you have any questions please email enhancingad@gmail.com


You can visit our Call for Paper page to access the information we initially disseminated.