Prioritising Accessibility in Your Events

Events are designed to bring people together, creating unforgettable experiences to support your business’ goals. It’s vital to ensure that all participants can enjoy your event to its full potential, which is why accessibility should be at the forefront of your event planning. 

An estimated 30-40% of Australians are neurodivergent, with an additional 4.4 million Australians living with a disability, many of which are hidden. Not only is making your event accessible a legal requirement, but you create a long-lasting impact when your entire audience can enjoy the experience. 

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Accessible Venues 

Ensuring all your attendees can reach, navigate and participate in your event is one of the most vital elements in creating an accessible event. Venue choice has one of the largest impacts on this. The New South Wales Government provides an extensive ToolKit for Accessible and Inclusive Events, outlining considerations for assessing a venue’s accessibility. Some of these include: 

• Are there accessible public transport options close to the venue? 
• If the venue has a car-park, are accessible parking spaces available? 
• Are accessible unisex toilets available? 
• Can wheelchair or mobility aid users navigate the venue- are ramps and lifts available and accessible, and are doors wide enough (minimum 1000mm)? 
• Are there any breakout spaces to provide retreat for attendees?

A venue’s accessibility is not just limited to physical access, so make sure to ask venues about all of their accommodations to determine if it’s the right fit for your event. 

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Media For All 

Accessible media means all media materials, from pre-event marketing to post comms, can be accessed by all attendees. An easy way to implement this is providing alt-text for all images and videos across your socials and websites. Alt-text provides a text-based description for visual content, allowing those who use screen readers to access your marketing materials, no matter the format. Screen readers cannot pick up on italics, whilst italics in general are difficult to read for people with vision impairments. Think about if italics are needed, and if so use them sparingly. You can check your website complies with accessibility requirements at the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. 

During your event, ensure any media shown is as accessible as possible. Having available audio descriptions, video captions and hearing loops for hearing aid users, ensures attendees that are deaf or hard of hearing can fully experience your event programme. Companies like Sunflower AI provide live, AI powered captioning in a variety of languages. Similarly, confirm that all content during your event can be read by a screen-reader, or Auslan interpreters are suitably booked, for blind or visually impaired attendees. 

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Crafting An Inclusive Event Experience 

Your event should be an enjoyable and inclusive experience for all attendees, no matter their needs. Sunflower lanyards are a way for those with hidden disabilities to indicate they may need  additional support. Provide training to any on-site staff to understand and recognise the sunflower lanyard. Many venues like the ICC Sydney directly partner with the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower to ensure those with hidden disabilities feel supported and seen.

Another fantastic way to ensure a more accessible event experience is providing a Visual Story prior to your event. As outlined by the Australian Museum, these are ‘step-by step guide[s] designed to help those with autism or sensory sensitivities to plan their visit’. Vivid Sydney provides a similar Visual Story guide to their festivities. By outlining key information like public transport availability, crowd expectations and what visitors should bring, attendees can plan and prepare for being in a new environment. 

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Events should be a safe and inclusive place for all attendees. By embedding accessibility into the first steps of planning right through to the last post-event comms, you can ensure that your event not only engages all, but leaves a long-lasting impact. 

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