The Access Grid
A seven-month access pilot for Nairobi nightlife, May to November 2027
The Access Grid: Nairobi nights, open to everyone
The Access Grid brings Kenyan Sign Language interpretation, disabled-led venue audits and paid performance slots to the regular live nights of three Nairobi venues, and leaves each venue able to keep going after the pilot ends.
Stock photo: Adedotun Adegborioye / Unsplash. Illustrative, not a project participant.
A welcome in Kenyan Sign Language
This is where a short KSL-interpreted welcome video will sit, with captions and a transcript, so Deaf visitors are welcomed in their own language first.
Filmed with a KSL interpreter once the partnership is in place.
Coming soon
The pilot in numbers
Small enough to deliver well, big enough to prove that access can be part of a normal night out.
9KSL-interpreted live nights
3Nairobi venues audited and improved
9paid performance slots for disabled artists
1public access guide any venue can use
How a venue joins the grid
Each venue goes through the same four steps, in order.
Audit
Disabled reviewers visit and map the physical, sensory and communication barriers, then give the owner a written list of priorities.
Fix
We pay for low-cost changes picked from that list: a portable ramp, a quiet zone, clear signage, braille menus.
Host
Three of the venue's regular nights get two KSL interpreters and a paid slot for a disabled artist.
Publish
The venue's access features go into a public guide, so guests know what to expect before they leave home.
Three venues, three nights each
That's the grid in our name. Nine nights between July and October 2027, spread so there are two or three a month.
Working inside venues' existing nights, rather than staging new events, is the point. Access shouldn't be a special occasion.
See the timeline
Why it matters
The dance floor should be a place where more people belong.
Stock photo: Julia Taubitz / Unsplash. Illustrative, not a project participant.
Who it's for
- Deaf and hard-of-hearing guests, with live KSL at nights they can already go to
- Wheelchair users, blind and low-vision guests, and people with sensory sensitivities
- Disabled artists, paid a normal fee for real stage time
- KSL interpreters, gaining paid live-music work
- Venue owners and staff, with training, an audit report and practical fixes