Welcome To Everyone.

The Lexington Blueberry Festival takes place in Lexington Community Park — an outdoor public park with paved walkways through the main areas and grass terrain across the rest of the grounds. We do our best to make every area welcoming and reachable, while being honest about the realities of an outdoor festival.

Quick reference list of accessibility features on the grounds:

• Accessible parking — off Plymouth Street, paved approach.
• Accessible portable restrooms — throughout the grounds, marked on the festival map.
• Adult changing stations — inside the Main Office during festival hours.
• Quiet sensory-friendly space — the Main Office serves as a quiet break room.
• First aid — on-site paramedics; ask at the Main Office.
• Service animals — welcome everywhere on festival grounds.

Every section that follows expands on these and explains how to ask for additional help.

Accessible parking is located on the grounds off Plymouth Street. The lot is signed and has paved access into the festival.

The main paths through the festival are paved or compacted. Side areas and vendor sections run on grass, which can be uneven in places (more on this below in the Limitations section).

If you arrive and need help locating accessible parking or finding an accessible route to a specific area, stop at the Main Office and a staff member will help.

Accessible portable restrooms are located at every major area on the festival grounds. They are marked on the festival map.

Adult changing stations are available inside the Main Office during festival hours. The Main Office provides privacy and is staffed; just stop in and ask.

If a particular restroom is out of order or you cannot find one, please tell any staff member or come to the Main Office and we will route you to the nearest available unit.

Festivals can be loud, bright, and crowded. We understand that some visitors benefit from a low-stimulation environment.

The Main Office doubles as our quiet sensory-friendly space. It is indoors, has reduced noise, dim or natural light, and seating. Visitors of any age are welcome to use it as a quiet break room during festival hours.

If you would like extra support during a sensory break, ask a staff member at the Main Office — we are happy to keep watch, dim things further, or escort you back to your group when you are ready.

Service animals are always permitted everywhere on festival grounds. This applies to dogs and any other species trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability under the ADA.

Friendly leashed pets are also welcome (this is broader than a typical festival policy). Please clean up after your pet and bring water for them on hot days. Pets and service animals are both expected to be under handler control at all times.

Wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walkers, canes, and other personal mobility devices are welcome anywhere on the festival grounds.

We do not offer wheelchair or scooter rentals at the festival. If you need a mobility device for the day, please arrange that ahead of time through a local medical-supply provider.

The main festival walkways are paved or hard-packed. Side areas and some vendor sections are on grass and can be uneven (see Limitations below). If you need help navigating a specific area, stop by the Main Office and a staff member will help find the best route.

This website is designed to work for as many people as possible, including those who:

• Use screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS)
• Navigate by keyboard only
• Need text larger than the default size
• Have low vision or use high-contrast modes
• Are sensitive to motion or animation

What we do:

• Semantic HTML with proper headings, landmarks, and ARIA where helpful
• Skip links so keyboard users can jump past navigation
• Visible focus indicators on every interactive element
• Alt text on meaningful images; decorative images marked as such
• Reduced-motion overrides that disable animation for visitors who prefer reduced motion
• Color combinations chosen for sufficient contrast

We are not perfect and we keep working at it. If you hit a barrier on this website, please report it (see the Report A Barrier section below) and we will respond within 2 business days.

Conformance target: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.

The four POUR principles — how WCAG thinks about accessibility:

• Perceivable — information must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive (text alternatives for images, captions for video, sufficient contrast).
• Operable — interface elements must be operable by everyone (keyboard navigation, no time limits, no flashing content that could trigger seizures).
• Understandable — content must be readable and predictable (clear language, consistent navigation, helpful error messages).
• Robust — content must work reliably with current and future assistive technologies (clean code, standard markup).

We use these as our checklist. We also follow general best practices from the U.S. Department of Justice ADA guidance.

Some things on the festival grounds are harder to make fully accessible because the festival is an outdoor event in a public park:

• Grass terrain. Many areas of Lexington Community Park are grass, and the surface is uneven in places. This can make wheelchair, scooter, and walker travel more difficult. Main walking routes are paved or hard-packed; side and vendor areas may not be.
• Car & Bike Show. The Friday-evening Car & Bike Show takes place on a grass area of the park. This means uneven surface conditions for visitors who use mobility devices. We do our best to leave wide, clear pathways between vehicles.
• Weather impact. Rain can make grass areas slippery and muddy. The festival runs rain or shine; if conditions are unsafe in a specific area we may close it.
• No ASL interpretation. We do not currently provide American Sign Language interpretation at festival events. If you are Deaf or hard of hearing and have a specific need, please contact us in advance and we will do our best to help.
• No mobility device rentals. We do not have wheelchairs or scooters to rent on-site. Please bring your own or arrange a rental ahead of time.

We keep this list updated. If you encounter a barrier we have not listed, please tell us so we can add it and look at solutions for future years.

We rely on visitor feedback to keep improving. If you encounter an accessibility barrier on this website, on the festival grounds, or in our communications:

• Email: info@lexblueberryfest.com — please include where you experienced the barrier, what you were trying to do, and any assistive technology you were using.
• In person, during the festival: stop by the Main Office and ask for an accessibility-related concern.

We will respond within 2 business days with what we plan to do. For urgent issues during the festival, the Main Office is the fastest route.

If you want to learn more about disability rights and accessibility:

• U.S. Department of Justice — ADA, ada.gov. The federal authority on Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) — w3.org/TR/WCAG21. The standard we target on this website.
• Ohio Disability Rights — disabilityrightsohio.org. Ohio's federally mandated protection and advocacy system.

Email: info@lexblueberryfest.com

Mail:
Lexington Blueberry Festival of Ohio
P.O. Box 3311
Lexington, OH 44904-0311

During the festival: stop by the Main Office for in-person assistance.

We aim to respond to all accessibility inquiries within 2 business days.