Disabled Access For Your Events

A guide to providing robust accessibility options for your venue and/or your event, from a disabled man.

If you manage a venue or if you run events, accessibility is a great thing to consider. Most venues just include a note about the level of wheelchair accessibility in a given venue, but wheelchair access is more nuanced than someone who’s never used one might expect, and wheelchair-users only make up a small portion of the disabled community.

Some people might think, hey, disabled people are a minority of the population, how many people who use chairs or frames really go out to venues anyway? Why put in the effort?

As a disabled man who uses a cane and can’t stand up for significant periods of time, and who has friends who use other mobility aids such as wheelchairs and rollators, I can count the number of venues that I would be able to invite all my friends to on one hand – there is a huge dearth of broadly accessible venues, let alone venues that pay attention to and consider the importance of accessibility.

When I find a venue that works, I not only regularly return to that venue with my friends and loved ones, but I widely recommend it to anybody who might need an event space. The more robust a venue’s access considerations, the more likely we are to be return customers.

The fact that you might not regularly see visibly disabled customers has more to do with lack of accessibility in the first place than the fact that we’re not interested in going to events like anybody else.

Moreover, accessibility isn’t just for disabled people.

The curb-cut effect describes the phenomenon of aspects put into place for disabled access also benefitting other people – when a curb is cut with to aid a wheelchair or another wheeled mobility aid, it also benefits a parent with their pushchair, somebody walking with wheeled luggage, a delivery person pushing their cart.

Many of the things in this guide are valuable for disabled people and those with chronic illnesses, but it doesn’t begin and end with us – single parents and those with small children, people with temporary injuries who are on crutches or in casts, people who are especially short or tall, larger and fatter people, people moving with a big rucksack or suitcase, et cetera and so on. These are all people who are completely normal and likely to be a potential visitor to a venue, but might benefit from a bit of extra access consideration.

Remember: the point of this guide isn’t that you check off absolutely every single item and include everything overnight, or even ever.

We understand that venues and events don’t have unlimited budget or resources to include accessibility measures – and moreover, some of the suggestions on this list will actively contradict one another, because some people’s access needs contradict one another.

A venue might have a urinal, toilet stall, and sink that are especially small or lower to the floor – this benefits children and people with dwarfism particularly in terms of their direct access. But by having in-built access for children especially, with a child not having to be lifted or having to climb to go to the toilet or wash their hands, suddenly, there’s less spillage and less mess for everybody.

A person with dwarfism might, however, particularly avoid using a disabled access bathroom because toilets intended for wheelchair users are actually a little bit higher than an average toilet, even though the sink is lower on the wall. The sink would be easier for a person with dwarfism to use, but the toilet harder to use than usual.

Information is the most important thing.

When your accessibility section includes information, that lets us plan our night accordingly – a venue that is less accessible, but includes the information and lets me plan in advance by checking its info on my phone, I am far more likely to go to than a venue that’s got every accessibility measure under the sun, but doesn’t think to advertise it.

I have never ever gone to a website’s venue info and been disappointed by too much information or detail. This is one area of your site where a lot of paragraphs are actually a great sign – most people looking for your accessibility details will be searching for specific details, and they’ll pick them out of the page as needed.

Where should I put my accessibility info?

It’s great to have access info on your social media or in your events information, especially in a pinned post, but the best place for an Accessibility section is on your own website.

A website is centralised, easier to find and access than any social media website that may require logging in, and is entirely under your own control. A dedicated Accessibility section is very helpful – you might include it in your FAQ page or your How To Find Us page, or have access info on its own dedicated page.

If you’re going to send out emails to event attendees with contact or location info, it’s great to include access information in the same page, and you might even like to make it available as a PDF or other document attachment.

It might also be beneficial to have a copy of this document printed out and available in your venue’s office or next to your phone – it will make it easier for staff to immediately answer access questions over the phone, or to hand the document over to someone in-person who’s querying access information for a future event.

Entrances & Exits

• How many entrances and exits are there into your venue?
• How heavy are your entrance doors? Do they require you to push or pull them open? Are any of them automatic or operated by a button?
• Can any of your doors be easily propped open or held open with one hand? Will a usual prop, such as a weight, be an impediment to a wheelchair user and get in the way of their wheels as they enter or exit through the propped-open door?
• How wide are your doorways and corridors, especially entrance doors and doors into bathrooms and venues? Can you make measurements available in your access section in inches and centimetres?
• Are there steps or stairs into the venue? How many steps per flight?
• How wide are your stair landings and corridors? Do you have any tight corners where it might be especially difficult to turn with a wheelchair, frame, or other mobility aid?
• Are there ramps into the venue? Are the ramps permanent, or do they need to be placed by an employee?
• Are any of your ramps or sloped floors particularly steep? Will some ramps be too steep for a self-powered wheelchair user to push themselves up, and require them to have someone push them from behind?
• Are any of your steps particularly high or widely distanced apart, so that a shorter person or someone who cannot bend their knees will struggle to ascend or descend them?
• Are all employees trained in how to deploy access ramps safely and efficiently?
• Are there lifts, elevators, or escalators into the venue?
• Does the venue have stairlifts or wheelchair lifts? Are all employees trained in the use of these latter, if applicable?
• Do your ramp accessible doors and/or lifts require a key or code to open or operate? Are all employees aware of this, and do they know where to access them when a visitor requires them?
• Are your fire exits clearly marked and visible? Are they accessible to those who use mobility aids? Have you considered disabled visitors in your risk assessments for evacuation and as part of your fire plan? Are there multiple points of egress in case of fire for disabled visitors?
• Is the venue close to a taxi rank and/or drop-off area? How far away is the nearest parking area? Is disabled parking available? Is parking free?

Wheelchairs, frames, and rollators are generally wider across than their user will be – mobility aids like these might range from twenty-five to thirty-six inches (63.5cm to 91.5cm) across, and particularly wide or heavy doors, or especially narrow doorways and corridors, might be impossible for someone using an aid like this to enter. Remember that some aids might be very heavy, especially motorised power chairs, and might put more pressure on ramps or floors.

Even if the doorways are wide enough, remember that we also need to be able to move through and around the venue, and that sometimes, we might need to turn around. Is there space for us to move around safely? Are we able to traverse between the entrances and the bathrooms, or the venue stage and the bar or counter?

How wide are the doors to your bathrooms or changing rooms? How wide are your bathroom stalls and their doors?

Does your primary venue space have a different entrance or exit to your event or stage spaces? Are some of your entrances and exits more accessible than others?

Your instinct might be to offer assistance to a wheelchair user or someone else using a mobility aid to enter your venue – perhaps you could carry them or physically support them inside!

But… when they need to use the bathroom? If there’s a fire or another need for evacuation?

And in any case, it’s very rare that I meet someone and immediately trust them to carry me, or any extensions of my person, up or down stairs or through a doorway. Disabled people don’t want to be touched or lifted by strangers any more than anybody else might.

Bathrooms & Changing Rooms

• How many bathrooms or changing rooms does the venue have?
• Are your bathrooms segregated by gender? How many urinals and stalls are present in each bathroom – for example, if you segregate your bathrooms by gender, do you have only one stall versus the number of urinals?
• Do all of your bathrooms have disposal bins for used sanitary towels or incontinence products? Do you have disposal bins available in your disabled access bathrooms and your men’s bathrooms, if your bathrooms are gender-segregated?
• Are any of your bathrooms particularly intended for disabled access, or are designated accessible bathrooms?
• Are your bathrooms, or your accessible bathrooms, locked or require a key for visitors to access, or require an access code? Do your accessible bathrooms require a RADAR key or a key from an employee to access?
• Do your bathrooms have grab rails and frames, particularly your accessible bathrooms? Does your bathroom have a call button for assistance?
• Are any of your toilets or sinks unusually high or low? Do you have lower toilets or urinals for children and shorter customers, or access to step ladders to make higher toilets more accessible?
• How high off the ground are your sinks? Are any of your sink counters broad enough that a shorter person might have difficulty reaching for your taps or soap dispensers, or reaching for paper towels and dryers?
• Do your sinks have bar soap or liquid soap? Are your dispensers punch operated or automatic?
• Does your bathroom have hand dryers, paper towels, or both for drying hands?
• Does the venue provide free sanitary products, such as tampons and pads? Are these available only in specific bathrooms?
• Does the venue have vending machines for hygiene products such as tampons and pads, incontinence products, condoms, and other ephemera? Are these available only in specific bathrooms?
• Does your venue have a changing table for children’s nappies? Does the venue provide free nappies and similar for parents? Does the venue have, or is there nearby, an adult changing table? Are changing tables only present in gender-segregated bathrooms – for example, will a single father have to enter a designated women’s bathroom in order to change his child’s nappy?

A lot of venues now have sanitary products or condoms or free nappies available, which is great – I’ve seen many venues have posters or encourage people to donate such items if they’re able, as well as to make items like toothpaste, hairbrushes, or other hygiene items available.

It might be worth considering the distance between stations in a bathroom stall – because I use a cane, in a particularly narrow bathroom stall I sometimes have to awkwardly shuffle around because I favour one side; I’m also often having to limp around between the sink, toilet, and dryer because they’re all quite widely spaced around a disabled bathroom, and a grab rail is very helpful in instances like these.

Some venues don’t bother to put niceties in their disabled bathrooms like mirrors, but just because we’re disabled doesn’t mean we’re not also checking our hair and our outfits! Just remember to consider your mirror placement – someone in a wheelchair will be lower down and might not be able to see their reflection higher up on the wall.

As someone who doesn’t use a wheelchair but ordinarily uses the accessible bathroom, I’m always very appreciative of venues that have both a lower wheelchair-accessible sink and another sink at average height. Stooping down to use the smaller sink often hurts my back and hips.

We do notice, by the way, when the accessible bathroom is also used as a cleaning closet or storage room. That’s not inherently a problem – some venues have storage in every bathroom – but make sure that anything stored in an accessible bathroom is not a potential impediment to coming in or exiting whilst using a larger mobility aid.

Tables & Seating

• If your venue has a waiting area, is there seating available for those who cannot stand for long periods of time whilst waiting for access or service?
• How high or low are your tables? Are your tables bolted to the ground, or can they be moved to allow easier access and bypass?
• What sort of seating does the venue have? Stools, wooden chairs, booth seating, armchairs, bar stools? Are your seats particularly narrow or with small seats, or do they have armrests or similar that will make them uncomfortable for those of us with larger behinds? Does your seating have back support?
• Are all your tables the same height with the same seating arrangements, or does this differ throughout the venue? Do some areas of the venue only have barstool and tall seating, for example, which may be less accessible for someone with mobility issues?
• What about your outdoor seating?
• Can your chairs and/or tables be moved out of the way in order to clear a walkway for someone in a larger chair or with larger mobility aids?
• Can you provide specific dimensions for the heights of tables and chairs, seat widths, and similar in inches and centimetres? Does any of your seating have specified weight limitations?
• Are your tables at an appropriate height that a wheelchair-user can sit at them alongside their friends?
• Do you have high chairs available?

Food & Drink

• Are your menus clearly printed in large text, with prices clearly visible? Do you have paper menus or menus available online? Are your menus available in multiple languages? Do you have any menus available in Braille?
• Does the venue allow outside food and drink?
• Do you operate on a BYOB or similar policy? Conversely, is alcohol or are there any specific foods or drinks that are explicitly banned from the venue?
• Does the venue have a children’s menu? Are adults allowed to order from the children’s menu?
• How in-depth is your allergen information? As well as the required lists of allergens for menu items, do you also have ingredients lists? Are your staff able to answer someone’s question about a specific ingredient in a sauce or other food item? Are these available on the website?
• Are staff trained in avoiding cross-contamination when preparing food and drink? Are they able to answer questions about potential cross-contaminants, such as gluten, when asked?

Hygiene & Ventilation

• Is your venue well-ventilated, with through-draughts? Do you run air purifiers or HEPA filters in the venue?
• Does the venue have a masking policy? Do employees wear face-masks, or are they encouraged to wear face-masks when experiencing acute illness?
• Does your venue encourage masking? Are free masks made available to visitors? Do you welcome visitors who need to mask?
• If employees wear masks, do they have any clear ones for speaking with visitors who need to lip-read, and/or are they able to communicate with text or a local sign language?
• Does the venue have heating and/or air conditioning?
• If the venue does not routinely allow dogs, are areas where service animals have been robustly cleaned after they have departed? Do your employees have guidance on how to advise someone with a severe animal allergy in the event there are dogs in the venue?
• Does the venue have outdoor or balcony seating?
• Does your venue have a smoking area? Do you allow vaping indoors, or require that vaping is done in the smoking area? Does your smoking area have heated seats or an outdoor heat lamp? Are there other areas to sit outdoors away from smokers and smoke?
• How often are the venue’s bathrooms cleaned?

Miscellany

• Is your venue cash or card-only? Do you have a pay-it-forward scheme, student discount, or similar in place?
• Can orders or must orders be made using a QR code or other digital or app-based menu?
• Do you have a floor plan of the venue available, with each exit and entrance marked, as well as bars and reception desks, bathrooms, and similar? Would it be possible for you to make this available on the website?
• How large are each of the venue’s spaces? What capacity are they? Do you have multiple bars and desks available to place orders?
• How large are your stages and performance areas? Are your stages and performance areas wheelchair-accessible or otherwise accessible to those that use mobility aids?
• Are people able to request table service for drinks and meals?
• How well-lit is the venue? Are your bulbs especially bright or dim?
• Does the venue use strobe or flashing lighting? Does the venue run fog, foam, or bubble machines?
• Is your signage clearly printed in large text, pointing toward entrances and exits, lifts and stairwells, bathrooms and changing rooms, the bar or reception, and similar? Is any of your signage printed in multiple languages, or printed in Braille?
• Does your venue have a hearing induction loop in place?
• Are any of your staff trained in local sign languages to take orders from D/deaf and HoH customers?
• Are your staff able to speak with visitors in multiple languages?
• Does the venue have a cloak room, lockers, or coat check available? Are they always available, or only on certain nights? How much is charged for these services?
• Does the venue offer Wi-fi? Is the password clearly posted on a poster, or should visitors request the password from staff? Does the venue offer places to charge electronic devices, such as phones?
• Does the venue have resources available for service dogs, such as water bowls and safe places to sit or lean out of the way of other visitors?
• Does the venue allow dogs and animals in general?
• Are there quiet areas of the venue that someone can go to if it is too bright or loud?
• Does the venue have a quiet designated area for people to breastfeed or express milk? (Not bathrooms.)
• Does the venue have bicycle racks or similar? Do you have a freephone for contacting a taxi service?
• Does the venue have an emergency defibrillator?
• Are any of your employees or volunteers trained in first aid? Are your employees or volunteers trained in the administration of CPR? Do they know how to recognise epileptic fits, strokes, and similar?
• Are your employees or volunteers trained in the administration of life-saving medications such as Epi-pens and Narcan?
• During winter, are the venue’s walkways salted and gritted? Are any of your walkways particularly slippery during wet or icy weather?

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Thanks so much for reading!

I hope this has been a helpful set of beginning guidelines – I have a tip jar here if you’d like to give me a tip, and I have books for sale here on my website, as well as subscription options if you’re interested in fiction featuring disabled characters.

Obviously this is a pretty exhaustive and in-depth set of questions, and there’s no need to address absolutely all of them one-by-one. Tailor your accessibility information to what is most appropriate to your venue, and what information is going to be most useful to potential visitors and customers.

Honesty is the best policy, as I said before, and more information is better than less.

Not every venue is accessible to everybody, and that’s fine – we’d rather know in advance, or know that we need to have extra assistance getting in and out, than not.

If you’re disabled or have a chronic illness yourself, and/or if you run events or a venue, is there anything I’m missing, and that you think I should add?

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This guide has been an expansion on the above 10-pack of informational images, originally on Instagram, Tumblr, and Bluesky.