Ten ways to make your church more accessible

by Christian Vision and Hearing Services (CVHS). CVHS supports people who are blind, have low vision, are Deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind or living with other special needs in the South Pacific Division. While these are just recommendations, we hold a deeper calling to ensure our churches—and therefore the gospel—are accessible to everyone.

1. Some church members should know or be in the process of learning sign language, at least basics words like “hello”, “good morning” and “welcome”.
2. Upfront presentations should include on-screen visual support for clarity (eg. verses when reading from the Bible) and should use large print and contrasting colours, avoiding pastels, drop lettering or outlining.
3. The annual worship program cycle should include a special needs emphasis day, eg, on Possibility Ministries Sabbath.
4. Greeters should be aware of the specific needs of the blind and there should be people to guide those needing assistance to available seating.
5. Your church should offer an Assistive Listening System that is clearly signposted and preferably uses up-to-date tech—hearing loops are older technology and can be prone to failure and poor service.
6. The Assistive Listening System should avoid selective seating and allow a hard of hearing person to sit anywhere within the auditorium.
7. Churches should have adequate designated wheelchair placement locations within the general seating area.
8. Bathrooms should be able to accommodate scooters and wheelchairs, allowing a minimum 1.5m turning radius for wheelchair users.
9. The main entrance should be signposted and easily seen from the carpark, and the room numbers/names, and directional and exit sign text should also be in Braille.
10. Churches should advertise events and note accessibility on their website so that families planning on visiting can know ahead of time what is available for them.

For more information, resources and to learn more about how you can make your church accessible for everyone, visit cvhs.info.

Published by Adventist Record