Inclusion is not an add-on: designing activities everyone can finish

When the question "we have a colleague who uses a wheelchair — can they take part?" arrives before an event, the most common response is to arrange an alternative task. But the alternative task is frequently the very thing that excludes someone from the shared experience.

A better approach is to treat the barrier to participation as a design condition when the activity is chosen in the first place.

Look at the steps, not the theme

Whether an activity is inclusive depends on its steps, not its name. Three questions usually settle it:

• How much force does it need? Steps requiring hard pressing, striking or sustained bracing will exclude some participants.
• How many hands does it need? If a step requires both hands at once and the work cannot be held in place, a one-handed participant cannot complete it independently.
• Does it require standing? Any step involving standing or moving around should have an equivalent that can be done seated.

Height and reach

Wheelchair users typically need more clearance under a table than a standard meeting table provides. Checking in advance whether tables have cross-braces is far more effective than rearranging seating on the day.

Materials should sit within arm's reach of each participant. Pooling shared materials in the centre of a long table looks tidy, but in practice it leaves some participants repeatedly asking others to pass things.

Steps that cannot fail

For participants with special educational needs, and for adults short on confidence, what matters most is not low difficulty but a narrow margin for failure.

Some processes have this property built in: a cyanotype develops an image whatever the composition, and tie-dye produces a pattern however it is bound. Formats like these let everyone finish something they are happy with, without a facilitator stepping in to rescue the result.

Language matters more than logistics

Even with everything well arranged, "let us make an adjustment for you" can leave a participant feeling singled out.

A workable alternative is to give the choice to everyone: open by saying "there are two tools on the table — take whichever suits you", rather than walking over to one participant alone.

One line for your proposal

If you need to address inclusion in a proposal, this usually covers it:

The workshop steps accommodate wheelchair users, one-handed work and participants of differing abilities. Everyone follows the same process and completes the same piece.

The important part is the last clause: the same process, the same piece. That is what inclusion means in practice.