Access

In the years 2022 to 2025, we pursued a targeted focus on equity (opportunity equity) under the leadership of Elisa Ricci, in the form of internal training courses, public specialist events and concrete measures to reduce barriers and improve accessibility to our offerings.
The term “equity” indicates that not all people have the same level playing field and it is therefore not sufficient to provide equal support to all (=“equality”) in order to actually create justice for all. Instead, equal opportunities for all means ensuring individual support tailored to each individual (= “equity”).

By equity we mean a sustainable commitment in the reflection of our structures and actions from a discrimination-sensitive perspective. In the process, we are guided by a diversity-oriented organizational development at the level of personnel, audience, program and access (Aikins, Gyamerah - 2016).
Aware that our teams (both the Offensive Tanz project team – consisting of three people – and those of the partners) are mostly made up of multi-privileged, white and non-disabled people, we are working to further expand and ensure, within our resources, the accessibility of the structures and working methods of Offensive Tanz. We are aware that our existing team structures represent a special situation for additional BIPoC and people with disabilities. It is important to us to establish non-violent structures and work cultures.

How do we implement accessibility?

In accordance with our experience in the context of our equity work, we consciously aim for quality instead of quantity in terms of accessibility, through focused measures in specific formats and the integration of strategies and resources regarding accessibility in our work processes.

Program offers / Events

In the funding period 2026-2029, we will cooperate with the FELD Theater in order to take the first steps towards opening up the T*pigeon community on the one hand and to further research intergenerational approaches involving senior citizens on the other. In addition, we will realize part of our program in cooperation with blind/visually impaired artists, especially building on the increasing expertise of Theater o.N..

Relaxed performance and early boarding formats including accompanying staff are provided for our performances. The implementation of specialist events is based on the format of the relaxed performances, access information and contact persons are available in advance and during the events. In the preparation and support of events, we incorporate the expertise of Access consultants. Artistic work processes are accompanied dramaturgically and organizationally by people who share the perspectives of the artist team and the target audience. Budget planning takes into account the necessary resources for accompanying staff, communication and public relations.

The Offensive Tanz also makes a financial contribution to supporting access measures within the framework of the partner festivals FRATZ International and PURPLE Festival for Young Audiences.

Furthermore, we are strongly committed to ensuring that young people can participate in art and culture, regardless of their social background and place of residence in Berlin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It connects, among other things, day care centers and schools on the outskirts of the city with the cultural centers of the city. In addition, our offers can be found in various districts of Berlin, also beyond the usual theater venues such as the FRATZ Festival, which invites young spectators to theater and dance performances in youth leisure facilities, family centers and senior interior facilities in Lichtenberg or in Wedding.

Web accessibility

Accessibility is a high priority for us and we want to make our website as accessible as possible. We strive to meet the criteria of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for accessible websites – the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – at level AA. We are aware that this is a continuous process and that we have not yet exhausted all current possibilities. We are constantly working to remove the remaining barriers.

If you have any criticism, feedback or questions, please feel free to contact us:

Lena Lenz E-Mail: presse[at]offensive-tanz.de

What we have already implemented:

• We have rebuilt the main navigation so that it is easy to use with screen reader and keyboard operation. The navigation has received an additional label, the open and closed state of the menu is communicated. Language navigation has been given new accessible labels, so that the language of assistance technology is read in full (and not the visible abbreviations ‘EN’ and ‘DE’).
• Above the top of the page and above the large graphic on the homepage, so-called ‘jump links’ have been installed. This allows people who operate the website with the keyboard to shorten their click distances and jump directly to the content.
• The animated illustration on the home page no longer automatically expires when the page is accessed. It can be started by a start button. This makes it easier for people with balance and/or concentration problems to visit the site.
• The headings are designed in such a way that they can be read aloud by assistance technology and also reflect the correct structure of the content structure.
• The visibility of the focus state has been significantly increased and adapted to the different backgrounds.
• The color contrasts of font colors to the background are now always at least 4.5:1.
• The individual sections of the website and especially the lower section of the website (footer) now have an accessible designation. So - The links within texts have meaningful link texts, so that they can also specify their link destination outside their environment.

What we will gradually improve:

• The alternative texts to all content images are still being added.
• The trailer film on the homepage gets a transcript, so it is possible for blind and deafblind people to fully perceive the content of the film.

Anti-discrimination clause

In 2023, as part of the programmatic implementation of Equity, we organised two team-internal workshops with the lawyer Sonja Laaser of the law firm Laaser, in which employees from different areas participated (management, mediation, administration, finance, production, public relations, etc.).
The aim of the workshops was to develop an updated, extended and suitable anti-discrimination clause for our contracts according to the model proposal of the law firm Laaser. In the workshops, we looked at the anti-discrimination clause developed by her law firm (it is a model with different building blocks) with Sonja Laaser and discussed it from our perspective as a small institution/initiative. We discussed what it means to adopt an extended, updated clause and how it can best be integrated into the contracts.
Subsequently, in close cooperation with Offensive Tanz Partner:institution Theater o.N., we developed a final version that focuses on the perspective of those affected, offers the most feasible options for action and is suitable for us and our working context.
We have finally decided to make this version of the anti-discrimination clause, which can be particularly suitable for smaller institutions and initiatives of the free scene, available as an open source version on our website.

Material and links:

Text of the clause: PDF TO DOWNLOAD Notes
on how to handle the clause: PDF TO DOWNLOAD

Clause and clause-related topics on the website of the law firm Laaser, e.g. further drafting suggestions and best practice examples here.

We are aware that the diversity-oriented, power- and discrimination-critical transformation we strive for can only be realized within the framework of a long-term and sustainable commitment and that it is about processes that always want to be revitalized and nourished and need resources.