Think Outside the Vox

09/03/2025

ID: Christopher Robinson, an African-American man with black hair, medium locs, and a beard wears a purple shirt and black tie in front of a green bush. The infographic is decorated with fall foliage and the logo of this year's MassQ Ball which is a gradient circle of leaves and the word "COLOR." In white and multicolored text with various backgrounds reads from top to bottom: "Mass Q Ball 25. October 4th, 10am to 4pm. Christopher Robinson. ASL Spoken Word Artist Griot. MassQBall.com." with logos of Castle of our Skins, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and Create & Record next to it.

This event is FREE! Mark your calendars and experience and engage with Boston's best artists, cultural bearers, performers and poets of color in community at the Arnold Arboretum on Saturday, October 4th.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT 🔦
Who can you expect at the MassQ Ball on October 4th? Meet Christopher S. Robinson ( ) of Think Outside the Vox ( ).

Christopher Robinson is the Founder, Vice President, Clerk of Think Outside the Vox, Coordinator of Outreach & Training of Disability & Access Services for Boston University, an ASL/English Interpreter, and a Leader in the field of Disability Access and Equity. He has over 30 years of experience in access mentoring work as an ASL/English Interpreter nationally and as a national presenter in the content areas of inclusion-practices in the Performing Arts, and as an expert mentor for Interpreters, and Cross-Cultural Mediation within Deaf and hearing communities.

He is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer for Disability Justice, Deaf Equity and Anti-Ableism Practices. He has served as the Coordinator for the Conference Interpreter Mentorship Program (CIMP), a collaborative project with the then Northeastern University Interpreter Education Project and Boston University Center for Interpreter Education (BUCIE), Co-lead training series for Gallaudet University Regional Interpreter Education Center (GUREIC) Interpreter Mentoring Project and served as Advisor Lead facilitator for the Community of Practice for ASL/English Interpreters for the College of St. Catherine’s Graduation to Certification (GtC). He is also a nationally renowned performance ASL interpreter.

The MassQ Ball, a large scale-celebration of ritual, performance, and cross-cultural arts, featuring the diverse artistry of Boston's communities of color, returns to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University ( ) on October 4th, 2025. Learn more at massqball.com

09/03/2025

Video Description: A short reel of clips of Boston Landmarks Orchestra concerts outside at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade. A few of the clips feature Christopher Robinson, an African-American man with black hair, medium locs, and a beard, and Aimee Robinson, a woman with peach complexion and below shoulder length auburn hair–both ASL interpreters who provided Visual Vernacular poetry for two of the concerts this season. In those same clips, Voxers, Deaf audience and allies get set up in the accessible seating section and give applause with waving hands at the end of the performance. Other clips feature dancing children, a conductor sitting at ground level, audience applauding from their lawnchairs, organizations with booths on the path, and a dog with an orange frisbee in its mouth.

Think Outside The Vox was thrilled to partner with BLO for its ASL-interpreted performances. Subscribe to our newsletter at ThinkOutsideTheVox.org (homepage, then scroll to the bottom to enter your email) to keep up with more accessible concerts, theater and more this autumn!

09/03/2025

Purple Pause and Recharge. Vox is vibing in a summer breeze and stretching out before theater season kicks back up again. We had a lovely time chatting, feasting and swimming at the lake and being with each other in person.

: a diverse group of nine Deaf, Blind, disabled, hearing, sighted and nondisabled Voxers: staff, board, consultants and access providers wearing athleisure wear stand outside in a circle on yoga mats. They enjoy a stretching and sound healing session together presented by colleague Lis in spoken English, ASL-interpreted and Audio Described by other folks in the circle. Most stand in a variation of this pose: one foot flat on the ground, the other foot with toes pointed down and resting on the side of the opposite calf while massaging an earlobe with a few fingers.

08/30/2025

Congratulations and thank you to the Deaf and Blind community for showing up to Boston Landmarks Orchestra’s Mahler & Ravel concert on Wednesday! Think Outside the Vox, who provided visual vernacular interpretation, a poetic and gestural storytelling style of ASL, for Deaf and signing audiences. Vox also helped distribute haptic vests from Not Impossible Labs to Deaf and Blind patrons. Thank you to DASL Kristin Johnson, ASL team Christopher S. Robinson and Aimee Robinson, Vox staff, interpreters and volunteers, and the support from Boston Landmarks Orchestra to help make this outdoor concert a multisensory experience for all.

ID 1: a large group photo 13 Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind, disabled, nondisabled, hearing and sighted adults, including Voxers, volunteers, ASL/English interpreters, musicians, signers and artists smiling and standing or kneeling side by side at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade, an outdoor, 110-foot wide and 40-foot tall half dome amphitheater filled with chairs and musicians with classical instruments walking off the stage as it is the end of the concert. Production crew are striking for the night and there are white folding chairs scattered behind the group. On the apron of the Hatch Shell are composer’s names spelled out in golden letters, seen in the picture are Bizet, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mozart among many others.

in the caption of each content. Photo and video credits Brenda from The Esplanade and ASL interpreter/volunteer C Ledford.

08/25/2025

Free concert Wednesday! See you at 7pm, we'll be there in purple!

Wednesday’s concert, “Mahler & Ravel,” will be ASL interpreted by our partners at Seats will be clearly marked for our and audience members to maximize visibility. Haptic suits will also be available to provide further access to the concert.
Neither piece of music has been played, and thus never interpreted, at the before. Join us in our home one last time!


Alt description: Two people stand behind black music stands interpreting a concert into ASL. They stand on a brown speckled marble stage. The view is from slightly below. To their right you can see the back of the orchestra’s conductor in white shirt and black pants, conducting with the baton in his right hand. It is not quite possible to see any of the musicians.

08/21/2025

Free and outdoor concert with ASL interpretation and support by Vox and Haptic Suits by Not Impossible Labs! Join us on Wednesday, August 27th, 7pm at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade!

DESCRIPTIVE TRANSCRIPT: A 90-second video with no audio of Kristin Johnson, a Deaf white woman with light brown shoulder-length hair, who wears a navy turtleneck sweater and neon yellow sunglasses with asymmetrical circle and square shaped lenses. She stands in front of a gray paneled wall and signs in American Sign Language:
“Hello! I’m Kristin Johnson, DASL (Director of Artistic Sign Language). Boston Landmarks Orchestra announced that there is one more ASL-interpreted performance before the 2025 summer series wraps up. There will be haptic vests which are connected with the music - cool! The concert is Mahler & Revel, both are composers from the Romantic period. It’s on Wednesday, August 27th at 7pm at the Hatch Memorial Shell. The ASL interpreters are Christopher Robinson and Aimee Robinson. It is outside and free; you can watch the ASL interpreters and feel the music with the haptic vests. So cool! Come!” She smiles.

08/20/2025

Accessibility in non-traditional spaces and environments is often accomplished with a high-touch, high-tech approach. How can you leverage communication technology? : Auto-generated captions with culturally competent support.

In this example with Think Outside the Vox (Vox) and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), Auto-captions with large text and full screen view on an iPad capture what’s being said at the Tactile Tour for CSC’s most recent projection of As You Like It. Reshma, a Hard of Hearing patron, is reading along as Connor, the Production Manager assistant and tour guide, speaks.

What happens when AI captions are not always accurate, pick up other noises, or take too long to self-correct? Technology is not a catch-all, it’s a supplement; that’s why Olivia, who is also Hard of Hearing, a long-time user of captions, AND the Captioner for As You Like It, is able to manually fill in the gaps about inaccurate names, references and words by following along and typing in her notes app on her phone. Cultural competent support is knowing that technology and the content in and out. This is why Vox does not silo the access work and facilitates collaborative dynamics between artists, production and access teams.

Auto captioning is a cost-effective communication tool for Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks as well as non-native speakers of the language being presented, neurodivergent folks, and anyone who wants the visual reinforcement. Vox is maximizing technology by using and comparing different applications, devices, and microphones in different spaces environments to deliver high quality accessibility.

For more Purple Pointers, sign up for a subscription or book a consultation with us at ThinkOutsidetheVox.org. Incorporate Universal Design tips and Disability Culture standards by signing up for our monthly newsletter.

two photos of Reshma Iqbal, a hard-of-hearing woman of South Asian descent from India with brown skin, short black hair, and glasses wears a maroon shirt, large beige hat and tote bag on her arm. Olivia Reinebach, a Hard of Hearing mixed Latinx with olive skin and dark brown curly hair in a high ponytail wears a purple Vox shirt and lanyard with a green band. Both have backs to the camera and lean towards the iPad which Reshma is holding. The words read, “So they wanted to kind of look almost upcycled fashion, just really really cool. That is cool. Yeah, this is…” In front of them is Connor Hathaway, a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes the Production Manager Assistant and tactile tour guide who wears a white shirt and beige button up short sleeve and glasses. He is holding a pair of light wash overalls with embroidered flowers and chatting with a Blind patron. The second photo hones in on Reshma holding the iPad and Olivia typing corrections on her notes app on her phone and showing it to Reshma as needed.

08/18/2025

DESCRIPTIVE TRANSCRIPT: A two-minute video with no audio of Kristin Johnson, a Deaf white woman with light brown shoulder-length hair, who wears a navy turtleneck sweater and neon yellow sunglasses with asymmetrical circle and square shaped lenses. She stands in front of a gray paneled wall and signs in American Sign Language:
“Hello! I’m Kristin Johnson, DASL (Director of Artistic Sign Language). Boston Landmarks Orchestra announced ASL-interpreted concerts. The music is Beethoven and Eroica, which is a Catholic/Latin word that means hero. In 1803, Beethoven was a famous Deaf composer and pianist who took people’s political frustration and protest and turned it into song. In 2025, Boston composer Val Jeanty writes music related to her country Haiti and its political injustice and disruption. Wednesday, August 20th at 7pm at the Memorial Shell - which is in between the Charles River and Storrow Drive - will be a musical gathering that is outside, free, and ASL-interpreted by Christopher Robinson and Aimee Robinson. Come and watch the music related to this concept of Eroica. What makes a hero, and who is the hero? Something to ponder on! Come on down.”

Wednesday, August 20th, 7pm at the Hatch Memorial Shell! Free for everyone.

08/07/2025

How can you empower and elevate your access providers? : Comfort flooring, or Anti-fatigue mats.

These are cheap, durable, lightweight foamy flooring that can stack or trim according to your venue space and team size. These mats help ASL interpreters get more elevation which improve the sightlines for Deaf/signing audience to them and the performance/speakers. This tool also helps ASL interpreters preserve their energy and focus on their hands and selves while feet can stay feeling comfortable. Now that’s standing on business!

For more purple pointers, sign up for a subscription or book a consultation with us at ThinkOutsidetheVox.org. Incorporate Universal Design tips and Disability Culture standards by signing up for our monthly newsletter.

a 4-pack of black anti-fatigue mats with puzzle piece-style assembly and no additional tools required. Best Step Comfort Flooring, Instant Flooring Solution. Assembles to 4 by 8 feet.

08/05/2025

VOX often creates, collects and shares resources, tech and tips in our trainings, mentorships and consultations. We are calling them Purple Pointers: low-cost, high impact solutions that elevate accessibility tools and practices. Here are a few as set up for our ASL-interpreted performance of As You Like It with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company on the Boston Common:

Purple Pointer: Music Stand on Wheels. Great for hands-free communication for Deaf and signing professionals. Easy mobility across spaces and particularly for folks with grip or mobility disabilities.

Purple Pointer: Small and large lightweight, foldable and durable chairs. They keep ASL team members comfortable and angled at the side near the interpreter platform for swift entrances and exits.

Purple Pointer: QR coded materials folder. Any curated resources - websites, student guides, transcripts, videos - can be collected accessibly in a GoogleDrive folder with a public sharing link.

For more purple pointers and answers to quick questions about accessibility tools and practices, sign up for a subscription or book a consultation with us at ThinkOutsidetheVox.org. Be the first to know about our events and learn more ways to incorporate Universal Design and Disability Culture by signing up for our monthly newsletter.

in the caption of each photo.

08/01/2025

08/01/2025

Voxers attended the Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture at the Strand Theater where Mayor Michelle Wu, Domingos DaRosa and Josh Kraft presented their visions for the creative workforce and economy. For arts organizations everywhere, it’s more important now than ever to lean in locally and reinforce the importance of arts and culture. Vox is proud to call Massachusetts home.

ID 1: group selfie of Voxers and community inside The Strand Theater lobby, smiling. From left to right: Ingrid O'Dell, a tall white woman with blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles wears a black dress. Ellice Patterson, a Black woman with long brown hair in braids and founder of Abilities Dance Boston wears a black facemask and dark blouse. Samatha Gould, an Ashkenazi Jewish woman with salt and pepper hair wears a black shirt with a purple button down over it, a Vox pin, and f***y pack. Reshma Iqbal, a South Asian hard-of-hearing woman from India with brown skin, short black hair wears a purple kurta with gold block print, glasses and dangling earrings.

in the caption of each photo.