A primary goal of SoCraTes conference is to be inclusive and foster an environment where all of our attendees, with their varied and diverse backgrounds, can feel at ease. SoCraTes is committed to offering as much accessibility and comfort to disabled people, minorities and marginalised groups as possible. Our conference venue is Hotel Park Soltau. All conference rooms are on the same floor with step-free access. We have accessible toilets, gender neutral toilets, car parking and are only a short way from the train station. We are aware that people have a diverse range of needs due to neurodiversity, disability, chronic illness or impairment. We will work with the venue to try and meet your needs, so that you have the possibility to be a part of this great open conference.

If you have questions or specific needs, please contact our diversity spokesperson at accessibility@socrates-conference.de. They'll be available online and in person at the conference.

Venue
Conference rooms are on the same floor with step-free access and there are no long ways between them. The hotel has two wheelchair accessible rooms. The conference rooms and bedrooms are in the same location and can be reached quickly. We ask all participants to make sure there is enough time between the sessions to reach the other rooms.
Seating
We see that some people will need access to a seat, or a seat in a particular location. We will provide priority seating in the conference rooms. Those seats will be in multiple locations near the doors, on the aisles or in the front of the room. The seats will be marked and we will ask participants to make them available to you. If you need a priority seat and wish to have a sticker indicating that, we will give you one at registration. We will also leave space for wheelchairs.
Queuing
We understand queuing can be difficult, painful or impossible for some participants. We do not anticipate long queues during the conference, but will make participants aware to let people skip the line if necessary.
Toilets
There will be gender neutral and wheelchair accessible toilets near the conference rooms. These can be used by anyone.
Food and drinks
Water, tea, coffee and snacks are served throughout the day at the conference location. Three meals a day with vegan and vegetarian options are served in the cafeteria near the conference rooms. If you have dietary needs, you can tell us when we collect your booking information and we will work with the venue to accommodate them. The food buffet tables are not wheelchair accessible. We will help with getting food if necessary.
Quiet areas
We understand that the social interactions and noisiness of a conference can be taxing. There are multiple quiet corners in the conference area, both inside and outside. If you need to take a longer break, the bedrooms are very near to the conference rooms.
Wheelchair accessibility
The hotel has two wheelchair accessible single rooms, including wheelchair accessible baths. If you require one of these rooms, indicate so when we collect your personal data after you won a seat in the lottery. The doors both of the conference and bedrooms are 120 cm wide. There is a wheelchair accessible toilet near the conference rooms. The buffet tables are not wheelchair accessible, but we will help wheelchair users to access the food. The venue is accessible step-free from the nearby train station Soltau Nord and has plenty of parking space.
Assistance persons
If you need an assistance person, we will try to help with the attendance costs of the assistant. When you fill in your personal data, indicate the name of the assistance person and we will register them separately.
Assistance animals
Assistance animals are welcome at the venue. The hotel has three rooms that are suitable for dogs, one single, one double and one junior double. The assistance animal has to stay with the assisted person at all times.
Deaf attendants
If you need a sign language interpreter, please send an email to accessibility@socrates-conference.de with information on what sign language you need and also indicate so in the registration. We will do our best to find and hire one. If you already know a person that would work for you, let us know their contact information.
Blind and sight impaired attendants
Assistance animals are welcome at the venue (see above). The conference program will be made available in a screen-reader compatible format during the conference. Due to the spontaneous nature of an open space conference, we cannot make it available before the conference. We will try to update any changes as soon as possible.
People with photosensitive epilepsy/seizures
We will ask participants to indicate if their presentation contains strobe effects or flickering.