Making haunted houses more accessible to everyone.
Haunted houses are a fun (and scary!) way to bring communities together, letting people of all ages experience an adrenaline rush and allowing participants to pretend they’re in a Scooby-Doo episode.
However, more can be done if we want to make haunted houses more accessible for all, mainly for people with disabilities.
Most of us are aware of visible disabilities; a person in a wheelchair, a prosthetic arm, or a cane, to name a few. Despite there being 1 billion people worldwide with an invisible disability – disabilities that are not immediately apparent when looking at someone – they are rarely accounted for.
Considering I’m not an expert on the subject, I’ve asked my friend Val, who is involved in raising disability awareness, for some help to dream up an accessible haunted house.
First and foremost, obstacles on the ground and stairs are things to avoid when designing the floor plan. It becomes much easier for people with movement disabilities to move around if no obstacles are present.
Accommodations such as ramps next to stairs are more obvious, but objects like exposed cables should also be re-routed to allow for smooth sailing across the floor. Raised door frames and other obstacles, no matter how small, must be taken care of.
It is important not to generalize disabilities and to have options for general modifications.
For some, adrenaline rushes need to be received in small doses, so separating your haunted house into sections that take only a couple of minutes to complete would be a good solution to allow the person experiencing it some rest before the next room.
Make sure certain scare tactics don’t rely too much on sound. A person with hearing problems might simply miss it. If you do need to display some information via an audio narration, make sure to include a transcript that can be easily accessed. For example, instructions for what room to go into next, or a scary noise being accompanied by a visual jumpscare, such as a flash of light.
The exact opposite argument can be made for people with impaired vision. It’s hard to get spooked when you can’t see, so if you’re designing a haunted house with different customization options, make sure one of them has audio that can still deliver the adrenaline.
I have experienced many haunted houses where actors will jump out at the visitors for a surprise effect — it’s where most of the fun lies.
However, fun is required in moderation for some. It might be a good idea for haunted houses to offer participants some sort of a bracelet or other identification for the actors to know what participants are comfortable experiencing.
By offering the option to know beforehand how the haunted house will scare its participants, you ensure nothing will trigger specific fears and traumas.
But ultimately, make sure it doesn’t spoil anything for anyone uninterested in spoilers!
