Accessibility
Overview
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival strives to provide an accessible environment and positive festival experience for all patrons. We are committed to developing and maintaining Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) standards per the provincial Path to 2025. We require all imagineNATIVE staff and volunteers to complete AODA online training to gain greater awareness and attention for our patrons’ needs.
As we move towards our 2025 festival, we are committed to removing barriers and encouraging a space where our whole community feels at home.
The imagineNATIVE team is excited to present the 23 edition of our annual Festival! The 2022 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will take place in a hybrid format. We will welcome artists and audiences back to Tkaronto (Toronto) for in-person screenings and events from October 18-23, 2022, after which we will then move online to our virtual screening platform from October 24-30, 2022 to ensure that we can continue to connect with those who aren’t yet able to attend our in-person offerings. During our online portion of the Festival, we invite you to visit (or revisit!) select films featured the previous week as well as panels, Q&As, and special events recorded live during the in-person portion of the Festival.
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival strives to provide an accessible environment and positive festival experience for all patrons. We are committed to developing and maintaining Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) standards per the provincial Path to 2025. We require all imagineNATIVE staff and volunteers to complete AODA online training to gain greater awareness and attention for our patrons’ needs.
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival strives to provide an accessible environment and positive festival experience for all patrons. We are committed to developing and maintaining Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) standards per the provincial Path to 2025. We require all imagineNATIVE staff and volunteers to complete AODA online training to gain greater awareness and attention for our patrons’ needs.
All of our venues are wheelchair accessible. All service animals, guide dogs, and support persons are welcome at the venues. All tickets to our 2022 Festival screenings have assigned seating, so guests are able to book the seat that is most comfortable to them without worrying about arriving early and waiting in line. Please reach out to our Accessibility Coordinator at accessibility@imagineNATIVE.org if you require assistance.
Open Captions + Subtitles
We strive to offer Open Captions on all films in cinema and Closed Captions on all films online, however there are a few films that may be presented with English Subtitles only. For the most up-to-date information on which screenings offer which type of readable text, please refer to our online listings as we continue to announce details for our Festival.
You can find information about captioning, ASL interpreters and geo-blocking here.
Sensory Friendly Screenings
These screenings allow guests with various accessibility needs to have a positive sensory friendly and inclusive environment. This means:
- Theatre lights are dimmed (not completely off)
- Theatre sound levels are slightly lower (though silence is not expected)
- No trailers or advertisements before the screening
- One can move in and out during the screening
Special Events Accessibility information
Captioning and ASL information can be reduced to just general information about Captioning, info about For the Grandbabies and Cafe Daughter should be removed.
Native Canadian Centre Toronto (NCCT) features a service elevator located on the south side of the building that allows wheelchair access to all levels of the building with a width of 36 inches and capacity of 1400 lbs or two persons and a wheelchair. The main entrance is stairs leading to a door that is 33 inches wide. The remaining doors are also 33 inches wide. The main double doors to the auditorium are 61.5 inches wide.
Steam Whistle Brewery is wheelchair accessible and the entrances and event space are located on a single floor. None of the doors are automatic but the doors to Pilsner Hall will be left open during the event. The entrance doors to the tap room are 6 ft wide.
Please note there will be no ASL interpreters at the Opening Night Party.
TD Music Hall is wheelchair accessible and has a limited number of courtesy wheelchairs available for guests. Service animals are welcome in the space. Certified First Aid,Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) service providers are on duty for every event.
Please note there will be no ASL interpreters at The Beat.
Screenings at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
All of our screening rooms and washrooms at the TIFF Bell Lightbox are fully accessible, and service dog-friendly. The main doors are sliding and automatic with a standard automatic door located just to the left of the main entrance. Elevators to every floor are located on the east side of the atrium. Access to each cinema also features ramp access. There are designated accessible seating areas available in each cinema. Ushers are stationed at the entrance to each cinema to open doors for guests.
For more information on our screening venue please visit the FAQs under “In Person Festival”.
Industry Days Events at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
Industry Days passes can be applied for online. All Industry Days panels will have ASL interpreters.
The imagineNATIVE + APTN lumi Web Series Pitch Forum and Micro Meetings will not offer ASL interpretation.
Industry Days Events at the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI)
Industry events taking place at CSI such as Micro Meetings on Thursday, October 19 and all panels on Saturday, October 21 have the following restrictions:
The space is service-dog friendly, however it is not fully accessible. It can be reached via an elevator with a door which is 30 inches wide.
The venue is committed to ensuring all members and their guests can use their services. If you have any accessibility concerns or questions please reach out to the CSI Community Manager: marcus@socialinnovation.ca.
Captioning + ASL
For festival screenings – all words spoken in any language (including English) in the screening will have words in English on screen so audiences can engage with content as they see fit.
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Subtitles are a translation or transcription in English of all the video’s spoken dialogue in any language.
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Captions are a translation or transcription in English of all of the video’s spoken dialogue and key sound cues to give context for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing viewers.
In 2023, nearly half of our festival events had ASL interpreters for introductions, Q&As, and panels or presentations.
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Subtitles are a translation or transcription in English of all the video’s spoken dialogue in any language
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Captions are a translation or transcription in English of all of the video’s spoken dialogue and key sound cues to give context for Hard-of-Hearing audience members
We provide ASL interpretation at some of the feature and shorts films! For the most up-to-date information on which screenings offer which type of readable text, please refer to our online listings as we continue to announce details for our Festival.
For Captioning and ASL options, please refer to our up-to-date accessibility document.
- Short Film Program 1: For the Grandbabies | 52 minutes
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October 18, 2023 3:00 PM
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- Café Daughter | 95 minutes
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October 21, 2023, 9:00 PM
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There are no ASL interpreters present for either of the Sensory Friendly Screenings. There will be an introduction about how Sensory Friendly Screenings work, however there is no live discussion.
ASL Interpretation
Selected introductions and post screening Q&As will be presented with ASL interpretation. Please look to our online listings for the most up to date offerings.
Assistive Listening Devices
Phonic Ear Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are available at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The devices, compatible with any Festival screening, will be made available to patrons requesting them through the TIFF Box Office.
In-Person + Online Elder Support
imagineNATIVE greatly values the importance of healing and cultural safety. We understand that some content presented by imagineNATIVE may be upsetting or triggering for both direct and intergenerational survivors of trauma. For this reason support workers will be available for council during both the in-person and online portions of our Festival. Support at our in-person Festival will take place at the TIFF Bell Lightbox from October 18-23, 2022. Support via phone will be available throughout our entire Festival from October 18-30, 2022.
These services are for anyone, including non-Indigenous people, requiring emotional support or access to traditional medicines.
We will strive to provide verbal disclaimers during introductions for in person programs containing scenes of graphic violence, sexual violence, or deal with issues of Indian Residential Schools. Please check our film listings online for up to date content warnings and ratings.
TD FREE FRIDAY
imagineNATIVE is pleased to announce the return of TD Free Friday at the 2022 Festival! Thanks to TD’s generous contribution, tickets to all screenings on Friday, October 21, 2022 will be free. TD Free Friday is intended to provide a greater opportunity for a larger number of individuals to experience the Indigenous-made programming featured at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of the questions we regularly receive about this topic. If you have another question that isn’t answered here, you can browse our comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions page.
Go to the bottom right corner of the screen and click the button that looks like a screen with closed captioning as highlighted below.
While we strive to have all films shown with Open Captions, this isn’t always possible, so some films will be shown with Full English subtitles. Please refer to our online film listings for the most up-to-date information about what films offer what kind of readable text.
It appears as a circular button with the figure of a person in it on the upper-left corner. You can also access it by pressing CTRL+U on the keyboard.
It offers options for screen contrast adjustment, link highlighting, bigger texts, bigger text spacing, pause animations, dyslexia-friendly font, cursor changes, tooltips, bigger line height, and uniform text alignment.
Press through each of the buttons that appear on the Accessibility Beacon menu to choose the option that works best for you.
Accessible seating is reserved for disabled guests and their companions only. If you or someone else require accessible seating at a venue, please email accessibility@imaginenative.org as early as possible to reserve your seating.
We are happy to announce that all of our venues are wheelchair accessible and barrier free. If you or someone else wants to inquire more about the Festival venues, we’re more than happy to provide you with further information upon the request, please email accessibility@imaginenative.org.
We understand that some content presented by imagineNATIVE may be upsetting or triggering. Because of this, we will have support workers available on-site at the TIFF Bell Lightbox from October 18-23, 2022. Phone support will be available throughout our online festival from October 24-30, 2022 by calling 1-888-631- 6964 between the hours of 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
These services are for everyone, including non-Indigenous people, who may require access to emotional support or traditional medicines.
Yes. Selected introductions and post-screening Q&As will be presented with ASL interpretation. Please check out our website for the most up-to-date offerings.
If accessible seating is required, please email accessibility@imaginenative.org as early as possible, and we will ensure to reserve seating for you to be near the ASL interpreters.
we’re creating a list with information about captioning and ASL