DJing and Disability: Part One – Introduction
Written by Maria Witek, Caro Cooke and Lisa Heywood.
What is it like to DJ as a Disabled person?
What makes it harder for Disabled people to DJ?
What can we learn from Disabled DJs about how to make DJing more accessible?
These questions were the focus of a research study held between 2022 and 2024 at the University of Birmingham. This is the first in a series of blog posts, where we will report on some of the themes that emerged from the project. First though, we’d like to tell you about how we did the research and the broad themes that emerged from our findings.
How we did the research
We took a ‘participatory’ approach which means that Disabled DJs, the people the research was about, were directly involved in the research process. The research team therefore included both academics, lead researcher Prof. Maria Witek, and Disabled DJs, co-researchers Caro Cooke and Gemma Nash.
The team also worked with two partner organisations: Drake Music and Native instruments. Lisa Heywood from Drake Music joined the team to help make the process as smooth and accessible as possible. Staff from Native Instruments, a world-leading developer and manufacturer of DJ technology, provided direct insight from an industry perspective.
We then recruited our participants, seven Disabled DJs experiencing a variety of barriers, including neurodivergence and mobility challenges. No B/blind or D/deaf DJs took part. To find out about our participants’ experiences, we first asked our them to document their experiences of being a Disabled DJ using media diaries. This meant they made video, audio and written recordings of situations and feelings in their everyday lives as DJs. We then used the diaries to make a set of questions, which we asked the participants during individual interviews.
What we found out
In this series of blog posts, we’ll tell you about some of the themes that emerged from the interviews, with a focus on hardware, software and learning to DJ. We also explored themes covering the social and emotional experiences of Disabled DJs in our research. These are reported in an open access academic paper in the academic journal Popular Music.
Across the three main themes, our research highlights how Disabled DJs creatively adapt hardware and software to improve accessibility for performing, individual expression and learning. For example:
- Customising and colour coding hardware and software can help to reduce cognitive barriers.
- Robust yet portable equipment can help to reduce physical barriers.
- DJ hardware which can be used without the need to look at a laptop screen can support neurodivergent DJs in connecting with audiences.
- Simplified software settings and customising track organisation can ease the mental load of DJing.
- Learning to DJ in context and hands-on, in-person support can make learning more accessible, as manuals and online videos can be overwhelming.
- For homebound DJs relying on online tuition, short-form videos or concise texts that contextualise key terms can help support learners.
Whilst these findings are helpful for understanding routes to greater accessibility, it’s also important to recognise that there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution to removing barriers. What works for one person may not work for another, and people with different intersecting identities (e.g. gender and disability) may face more complex barriers. That said, some adaptations such as colour coding may help to include more groups than just Disabled and neurodivergent people.
Follow the links below to read more about our findings around different themes.
