Accessibility Statement

It’s nice to be invited to a party, and it’s equally awesome if everyone is able to access the party
and enjoy what’s happening inside. In recent years I started working with several expert
consultants, along with Sensory Friendly Solutions,
to make some of my in-person and online events and music videos more accessible,
inclusive and sensory-friendly. Below I outline my first experiences pushing my
comfort zone and trying new things to connect with more people.
I’m still screwing things up, but I’m learning so much and grateful for all the folks who have mentored me.
I appreciate constructive feedback, especially if it leads me to get to know more lovely humans.

My Podcast - A Chat with Heart

As part of my training with Sensory Friendly Solutions,
I picked a platform called Buzzsprout to host my podcast episodes.
Buzzsprout allows me to add transcripts and chapters for episodes.
I also launch all episodes here on my YouTube Channel,
and if you select the closed captioning button, subtitles will appear.
In the description box below each episode there are chapters.

Music Videos

I don’t currently have the funds to provide proper
closed captioning for all my videos on YouTube and Facebook.
However I decided to focus on creating captions for all my official music videos.
As of March 2023, all of my official music videos have
an audio described version and proper closed captioning. You can find them all in this YouTube playlist.
In 2021, AMI’s Grant Hardy did a lovely story about one of my
audio described music videos which you can find online by clicking here.

Digital Accessibility Standards

I continue to learn about digital accessibility standards for my website and digital media. 
In 2023 I was able to make updates to this website, and now it is accessible to screen readers.

In-person Performances with Accessibility Features

I’m learning how to make more of my in-person performances accessible,
inclusive and sensory-friendly. In 2021 I experimented with
including live sign language interpreters in a live performance,
live audio description, and participating in a conversation
about reducing barriers to accessing the Arts.
Part of my routine involves asking venues about their
accessibility features before booking a performance,
sometimes making suggestions on how to reduce barriers,
and provide an email contact (info@christinamartin.net)
for guests who have additional questions about accessibility prior to booking a ticket.
I try to mention accessibility features for my performances
in my event descriptions, and encourage the venues to do the same.
I’m still learning and I’m bound to make mistakes, so feel free to reach out with suggestions.

Expert Partners

I’ve started working with several experts to increase my capacity to make my music available for more people.
I’ll keep updating this list as my partnerships grow: 

• In 2023 I’m working with Village Sound to produce my latest audio described music videos, where I will experiment by narrating the description.

• Sensory Friendly Solutions help people, businesses, and organizations adopt sensory-friendly practices.
  I’m worked closely with Christel Seeberger and Nicole Kemp at SFS in 2021-2022 to reduce barriers to my online and in-person events.

• Brooke Woboditsch, President, owner of CCS. Brooke is an Indigenous-mixed settler entrepreneur with a vision to build better accessibility in media. 
  CCS provides high quality accessibility services, for live and or pre-recorded content with closed captioning,
  subtitling and described video with transcription and translation. I hired them to create
  closed captions and to make this website WACAG 2.1 compliant in 2023 (coming soon!).

• Between 2021-2022 blind community members Christine Malec and Milena Khazanavicius
  worked with Kat Germain to produce my first audio described music videos from my catalogue of music.

  Christine is a voice over artist, Milena is a Disability Advocate and Activist and Kat is an Inclusion,
  Access and Disability Justice service provider in the Arts & Culture sector.