A good event can be attended and enjoyed by everyone. Our Conference Center staff and trusted local partners can provide accessibility accommodations for productions big and small. If you think you may need any of the below accommodations, please request them as early as possible to allow us enough time to prepare and secure vendor/equipment availability.
Our building and Conference Center venues comply with ADA requirements.
To request an accommodation for your event, please call 612-625-6598 or email [email protected].
Accommodations
Mobility
Accessible entrances: We have two main entrances into the Humphrey School. Both are equipped with an accessible entrance button to automatically open doors.
Six of our Conference Center rooms are on the main street level. The other two spaces, the Wilkins Room and the Freeman Commons, are located on the second floor and are accessible via elevator.
Seating: We have a reserved row for wheelchairs and scooters at the top of the auditorium, just inside its front entrance. To promote body inclusivity, this row also has a few chairs without armrests.
Ramps: A wheelchair ramp can be added to the mobile stage in the Mondale Commons. Please request this ramp at least one-week prior to the event date.
For any presenters with limited mobility who wish to access the Auditorium’s main stage, we have a fully accessible back entrance through the basement. Escorts to this area can be provided by a Conference Center staff member.
Hearing Assistance
Assisted listening devices: We currently have five assisted listening headsets available for events in the Cowles Auditorium at no added costs. We can move the assisted listening system to another room if we have enough time to do so; please ask as soon as possible.
Live captioning: We work with Minnesota-based company Veritext to provide live, on-demand captioning from accessibility professionals for meetings and gatherings of all sizes. We can display captions on the main display screens of any of our spaces, or we can add a separate monitor just for the text captions (an additional equipment rental fee of $50-250 per monitor will be applied for this add-on). To contact live captioners, please visit www.veritext.com.
On-stage monitor layout for live-captioning
Low-Vision
The University’s Disability Resource Center recommends the visual interpreting service AIRA. For more information on this service, visit www.aira.io.
Translation
Minnesota is a diverse place, and we wouldn’t be able to truly make everyone feel welcome at our Conference Center without the help of translators. We can get you in touch with translators that specialize in:
- Spanish
- Somali
- Hmong
- Mandarin
- Arabic
Check out the University of Minnesota’s list of preferred translators.
We can livestream events in different languages as well, provided that you can provide a translator.