What Makes a Community Event Genuinely Accessible? Designing the Wrecsam Photomarathon

It is easy to describe an event as accessible.

The harder part is looking at every small decision and asking who it might accidentally exclude.

When we started designing the Wrecsam Photomarathon, we wanted an activity that children, adults, families and individuals could all join without needing specialist skills, expensive equipment or a full day to spare.

That meant keeping the idea simple: four prompts, four photographs and three hours.

The simplicity was deliberate.

Start with what people already have

Photography can sound like an expensive hobby. People picture professional cameras, complicated settings and editing software.

We removed that barrier immediately.

Phone cameras are completely welcome. Participants can use any camera they already own, and judging will focus on the idea behind the image rather than the price of the equipment used to take it.

A technically perfect photograph is not always the most interesting one. Sometimes a child with a phone notices something an experienced photographer walks straight past.

That difference in perspective is exactly what the event is about.

Do not make everyone participate in the same way

Participants can collect their sealed envelope of prompts from Wrexham Library or Brynteg Library at 12.30pm.

They do not need to stay at the library. Once they have their prompts, they can head off and take photographs wherever they choose.

For people who cannot travel to either collection point, the prompts can be sent directly to their email inbox.

That online option was not added as an extra at the end. It was part of the design from the beginning.

Some people may have mobility difficulties, caring responsibilities, anxiety about busy venues or limited access to transport. Others may simply prefer to take part from their own neighbourhood.

Different routes into the same activity make participation more realistic.

Clear instructions, plenty of freedom

Community events often become less accessible when instructions are too long.

For the Photomarathon, people need to understand only a few things: open the four prompts at 12.30pm, take one photograph inspired by each and submit all four by 3.30pm.

The prompts themselves will be open-ended.

There is no single correct answer and no expectation that everybody photographs an obvious object. A word might inspire a building, a person, a reflection, a colour or a tiny detail on the pavement.

Open prompts create room for different ages, experiences and ways of thinking.

They also reduce the pressure to “get it right”.

More than one chance to succeed

There will be one £25 winning photograph for each of the four prompts in each age category.

We chose several prizes rather than one overall winner because the challenge asks people to respond to four different ideas. Somebody may create one brilliant image without having the strongest set overall.

Several prizes also mean more styles and perspectives can be recognised.

The aim is not to turn the afternoon into a highly competitive photography contest. It is to give people a reason to explore, notice their surroundings and look at Wrecsam differently.

Accessibility is part of the event, not an add-on

No single event will work perfectly for everybody.

What organisers can do is remove unnecessary barriers before people encounter them.

For the Wrecsam Photomarathon, that meant welcoming phone cameras, offering physical and digital prompt collection, keeping the instructions short and creating several ways to take part and be recognised.

Inclusive design is rarely about one dramatic adjustment.

Usually, it is a series of practical decisions that quietly make it easier for more people to say yes.

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