Expo & Live Events

EXPOAID2023 RIMINI

+2500

participants

+80

associations present

120

speakers' speeches

10817

remote users

+2000

media releases

+2500

participants

+80

associations present

120

speakers' speeches

10817

remote users

+2000

media releases

EXPOAID2023, the largest national event dedicated to people with disabilities, took place on September 22 and 23, 2023 at the Rimini Palacongressi. Realized in close collaboration with the Minister for Disability and the National Observatory, it involved Third Sector realities, entities and associations through meetings, seminars, workshops, demonstrations and a large exhibition area with more than 60 booths. The event, with 2,500 people in attendance and more than 10,000 connected remotely, was an opportunity to highlight numerous innovative projects, to make information and to share ideas and perspectives for a more accessible and inclusive future.

The event was conceived and realized with the intention of spreading information, creating awareness and sharing innovative projects on the world of disability. For the first time, all associations, third sector realities and institutional bodies were brought together with the main objective of giving space and voice to all the people who live daily in contact with disability and to define how we can all work together to create a more inclusive and accessible world at various levels.

During the two-day event, there were plenary room discussions, training seminars, a large exhibition area, demonstrations and workshops on the one hand, and on the other hand moments of leisure and entertainment with recreational, artistic and sports activities.

The event received full support and backing from national and international institutions, from RAI, which extraordinarily granted sponsorship for Sustainability, from Poste Italiane, which wanted to mark the occasion with a philatelic cancellation, and from the many voluntary associations present and active at the event.

EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI · EXPOAID2023 RIMINI

Alongside the main event, inside the Rimini Palacongressi, there was also an emphasis on the talents and passions of people with disabilities through the creation of artistic and entertainment moments, with a special focus on the evening event at the Port of Rimini. It was an evening of music and entertainment, with more than 150 artists and performers, 30 craft market booths of associations and 8 food trucks from all over Italy in which people with disabilities worked, demonstrating that it is possible to create opportunities for real job inclusion.

During the 5-month planning of the event, procedures for listening and inclusion of the various stakeholders were put in place with the aim of making everyone feel fully welcomed. The venue, one of the most accessible in Italy, was set up following the same logic by adopting accessible and inclusive signage, desks, room conformations, and intervention formats.

In each hall, stenotyping and LIS translation were used, reserved the first rows for people in wheelchairs, and prepared staff to provide various types of assistance. Equipped shuttles were provided to transport people with disabilities and a network of medical assistance and volunteers (more than 150) were created to support them.

Technologies capable of making information more easily accessible to the target audience by producing inclusive audio-video content with subtitles and alter text readable through screen reading software were incorporated into the production and communication of the event.

Among the most innovative technologies were the accessibility widget applied to the website, which allows total modification of website elements according to one’s needs, the use of Easy-Reading fonts, and the Aarasaac Alternative Augmentative Communication icon system for more understandable reading of text and signage. A filing and database system was used for registrations that would take into account and highlight the disabilities and needs indicated by the various participants so that the best assistance could be provided from the first moment of arrival at the event.

The event was conceived, from its inception, as an opportunity to focus on the Person, understood as a set of desires, resources, passions, and talents, and not on the condition of disability. Listening was the main key throughout the first phase of preparation of the event through the development of a social engagement operation that allowed people to express their ideas and opinions. The operation was incredibly successful, with more than 60 videos made and posted by users and the involvement of numerous associations, which helped to increase awareness of the event.

The website and social were the first communication channels activated and both were designed to be 100% usable by all users (with the presence of accessibility widgets, subtitles, audio versions of posts and alt text). A promo video with audio voiceover, subtitles and the presence of LIS translation was also produced, which was then broadcast digitally and on television, and a 30” and 15” radio spot. A poster campaign was also carried out for the city of Rimini, in collaboration with the Municipality, and an intensive press office activity that produced more than 2,000 press, web, radio and television releases (Reach +115,000,000).