Provided by STEPHANIE BERK, CHAIR
Current Members: Stephanie Berk, Chair; Judit Sztaray, Vice Chair; Janelle Losoff, Michael Aigner, Martha Underwood, David Day, Jim Thoune, Louis Reed, John Fernandez, Jeff Wiewel.
What we are currently working on:
- Specific checklists to be part of the Accessibility Toolkit that can be made available to Tournament Organizers and Directors, as well as small stickers that can be put on approved devices.
- What “inclusivity” and “seat at the same table” mean in regard to equity and best practice for players, tournament directors and organizers, and families of players, in the context of US Chess and in the world of competitive play.
- Adding to the knowledge base of articles on accessibility, disability, accommodations, and other related topics that can be made available to those who are interested.
What we are additionally planning to work on in this coming year:
- Increasing awareness of what reasonable accommodations are and how to request them.
- Defining the responsibility of the player with a disability, the tournament director/organizer, and the timeframe needed for good communication to effect accommodations.
- Outreach via training modules, and visibility via creating Accessibility Liaison points of contact at tournaments for both staff and players. What we are thinking about starting (needs more discussion and possibly Board approval):
- Town Hall discussions and community forums about how to request accommodations, and what kinds are considered “reasonable.”
