Stark A11y

07/26/2026

Who’s ready for an exciting new accessibility feature at the Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park?

Just over a year ago, several local organizations were tagged in a social media post, asking for accessible solutions for restrooms in the form of a tactile map with a braille legend. From this post, Stark Parks, the Stark County Library, and Stark A11y came together to answer this request, and do so in a way that could easily be adopted and implemented across all of Stark County.

Together, we spent about a year designing, experimenting, and collecting feedback from the community to ensure that these tactile maps of the restrooms were practical, useful, and easy to interpret.

We are so thrilled to unveil this tactile map of the restrooms on the main floor at the Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park, as it illustrates how a little bit of collaboration, community engagement, and creativity can go a long way for improving the accessible user experience. What better time to be announcing this than during Disability Pride Month!

A few key highlights about the tactile maps.
1. They feature a full legend in braille that helps to match the tactile icons to what they represent
2. When the different elements have interaction points, those interaction points are indicated on the tactile icon (for example, indicating if the handle is on the left or right side)
3. They are 3D printed, in two high contrasting colors, making it easy to visually tell the icons apart from the floorplan for those with low vision
4. Because they are 3D printed, they can easily be replaced at a very low cost if they get damaged or worn down over time
5. The models are based on pictures and videos to best match the layout of the space
6. The cost to create them is a one-time cost, with the full file being delivered with the first print, meaning the building owns the design for the future.

Thank you to Stark Parks, especially Parker Spencer, Stark Library, especially Jennifer Stencel, and Even Ground, especially Tom Babinszki, for helping to make this possible!

Also, a special thank you to the Philomatheon Society of the Blind for helping with the review and feedback process to ensure these signs were practical, effective, and useful, not just another good idea that didn’t translate properly.

If you’d like to get these added to your space, or know a space that needs this, please email us directly at [email protected].


Effort

06/11/2026

This is right around the corner (This coming Monday evening)!

Who plans on coming for accessible short movies, popcorn, and snacks?

For our June Monthly Community Meetup, we are trying something new!

In June, our meetup will be on Monday, June 15th, from 5-7 PM at the Goodwill Ken Weber Community Campus. We hope the new date will allow for more of our community to attend!

But that's not all! We are also trying something new in the meetup to make it a bit more casual and fun.

For our June meeting, we are going to show a few short films with different accessibility features, including sign language interpretation and audio description. After the shorts, we will have a general discussion about the experience, including what was done well and what could be improved.

And don't worry, it wouldn't be a movie night without popcorn, snacks, and drinks!

This should be a fun and engaging meetup where we can all experience and discuss accessibility related to movies and entertainment.

We hope to see you there!

This meetup is free and open to everyone!

Please help us grow our meetups by inviting a friend or sharing this post. All the help and support is greatly appreciated!

06/02/2026

For our June Monthly Community Meetup, we are trying something new!

In June, our meetup will be on Monday, June 15th, from 5-7 PM at the Goodwill Ken Weber Community Campus. We hope the new date will allow for more of our community to attend!

But that's not all! We are also trying something new in the meetup to make it a bit more casual and fun.

For our June meeting, we are going to show a few short films with different accessibility features, including sign language interpretation and audio description. After the shorts, we will have a general discussion about the experience, including what was done well and what could be improved.

And don't worry, it wouldn't be a movie night without popcorn, snacks, and drinks!

This should be a fun and engaging meetup where we can all experience and discuss accessibility related to movies and entertainment.

We hope to see you there!

This meetup is free and open to everyone!

Please help us grow our meetups by inviting a friend or sharing this post. All the help and support is greatly appreciated!

05/30/2026

What’s your favorite short film featuring audio descriptions, sign language interpretation, or another accessibility option?

Asking in preparation for our June community meeting! Stay tuned to find out what we’re planning!

05/25/2026

Last Thursday, we hosted our first Global Accessibility Awareness Day at the Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park!

So many of our local community leaders came together to engage in conversation and participate in our “learning in the Dark” experience, all centered around accessibility and how we can work together to make Stark County the most accessible and inclusive!

A huge thank you to our sponsors for helping make this event possible, but also for helping illustrate what accessibility looks, sounds, and feels like when it is baked into the planning process!

Our sponsors included: Innis Maggiore, Philomatheon Society of the Blind, Triad Deaf Services, All Circles Media, Mix It Up, and Syrios Solutions!

We also want to thank Lisa Parramore from Stark DD and Danette from Triad for your contributions throughout the event that reinforced the importance of collaboration and community to make this all possible.

A special thank you to our panelists, Erin, Mark, and James, for being so open and sharing their experiences and insights so that we can learn directly from those who are impacted by inaccessible design.

And last, but certainly not least, thank you to everyone who attended the event and showed your commitment to our mission of making Stark County the most accessible place to live, work, and play!

We look forward to our next event and continuing to build bridges that connect our community and unlock accessible experiences for everyone!

05/12/2026

🌍 Join Us for Global Accessibility Awareness Day in Stark County!

Stark A11y is hosting a FREE, interactive community event to celebrate GAAD, and you’re invited!

🗓 When: May 21, 2026
⏰ What Time: 12:00–2:00 PM
📍 Where: Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park

👉 Save your FREE spot: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSey2YhqNNSfc3If461XI1jv3cAd79W3gnri7rdlBIUvcOFzDA/viewform

✨ What to expect:
Experience our “Learning in the Dark” activity, where we’ll navigate both accessible and inaccessible web content using a screen reader, and get a glimpse into what digital accessibility really feels like.
Then, hear directly from local disability community members during a powerful panel discussion focused on real experiences and practical ways to make Stark County more inclusive.

🙌 Want to get involved?
We’re currently looking for:
- Volunteers
- Sponsors
- Community partners

Reach out to [email protected] if you’d like to support or collaborate.

Let’s come together to build a more accessible Stark County 💙

05/11/2026

Join us for our May Stark A11y meeting on May 20th from 5–7 PM! This month we’re trying something new with a sensory-friendly, interactive experience led by Cara from Sensational Sewing Studio.

Attend in person at the Goodwill Ken Weber Community Campus in Canton or join virtually via Google Meet, whatever works best for you.

We’re excited to make our meetings more engaging and community-driven, and this is just the start!

Sign up to get the invite and details:
https://forms.gle/KMQqvGea1cNs1nJC7

Feel free to bring a friend, we’d love to have you there!

04/12/2026

What a great event connecting with so many members of our community and other providers!

Yesterday was the Uniquely You Community Resource Fair and we had the opportunity to set up a table for the second year in a row!

We love connecting with the community, sharing resources, and meeting other providers.

Thank you to Jenna, Erin, Lauren, Raechel, and RJ for representing Stark A11y - being a friend and resource to everyone we meet!

04/12/2026

We are looking to gather some feedback regarding our monthly community meetings in an effort to ensure the meetings provide value and are planned in a way that matches your schedule and availability.

For context, our monthly community meetings are intended to be an open meeting, held on the third Wednesday of each month from 5-7 PM, in person and virtually, to share resources, have open discussions, and learn about accessibility as a community. We have had the honor and the pleasure of featuring a wide range of local programs and services within these meetings, to help share additional resources and information as well.

If you have a few minutes to complete the quick survey linked below, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Stark A11y Questionnaire – https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=eq9gHK7OOUy1dEXShMAl06XPYwRbH2lGtWMzToFl1nVUN1pBTTJGSjlQMzhNTjVQQ1dCTjUwVzJXRC4u&route=shorturl

Based on the feedback from this survey, we will be making some adjustments to our monthly community meetings, including new/different topics, changing the date and time of the meeting, and sharing information in different ways!

We are on a mission to make Stark County the most accessible place to live, work, and play! The only way we can make that happen is by actively engaging with the community and aligning our efforts with what the community wants and needs.

Please feel free to share this with anyone you think may benefit from joining these meetings. All feedback is welcome and encouraged.

If you have any questions or need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

04/09/2026

We are so excited for the April Monthly Community Meetup!

For this month's meetup, we will be joined by Darcy McBride, Assistant Director of Student Accessibility Services for Regional Campuses at Kent State University, to talk about accessibility services in higher education. This is such an important conversation, and we are so excited to have Darcy join and lead the way.

The meetup is happening on April 15, 2026, from 5-7 PM. The meeting is being held in person, with a virtual option available if needed.

Please use the sign-up link below to get the invite - https://forms.gle/HnWuPYAN1iQ9ZUsV6

As a reminder, this meeting is open to everyone who might benefit from meeting Darcy and learning more about how accessibility works within the higher education space.

Please share this post so we can reach as many people in Stark County as possible as we continue working to make Stark County the most accessible place to live, work, and play!

We hope to see you there!