We previously posted a guide called “A Home Safety Checklist for Wheelchair Users” and recently became aware of another useful guide about the importance of accessibility and inclusivity in an event.
While it is UK focussed, we feel that many of the principles are relevant to New Zealand. The guide is called “Disability Awareness and Planning for Accessibility during Events” and offers plenty of valuable information such as:
- An introduction to disability awareness when organising any kind of event. This includes understanding common barriers to accessibility in events and venues, as well as the economic benefit of inclusivity.
- A guide to help event planners understand their responsibilities and legal obligations. For example, the UK Equality Act requires all events – including conferences and exhibitions – to be accessible and inclusive, and makes it illegal to discriminate against disabled attendees.
- Lots of practical and useful tips, advice, and information to help plan and organise a safe and disabled-friendly event – including guidelines, best practices, and checklists to help prepare and improve event accessibility.
This guide is part of a larger resource on event safety and planning – where other tools and resources that could be useful for anyone organising an event can be found.
See also: A Definite Guide to Health and Safety Requirements for Event Planning (also UK focussed but contains some relevant advice for event planning)