Provide detail about “wheelchair accessibility”

Simply saying a venue is “wheelchair accessible” is rarely enough, because wheelchairs come in different shapes and sizes. More detail is better.

Those details might include:

• Is there step-free access within the venue? Is it ramps or lifts? How big are the lifts?

• How wide are the doorways? If the main area is some way inside a building, what’s the narrowest doorway you need to get there?

• Are there wheelchair spaces inside the auditorium? How wide are the aisles between the seats?

• How easy is it for a wheelchair user to get to the venue? It’s no good having an accessible venue that’s surrounded by raised kerbs and without any step-free public transport.

• Are there heavy doors inside the building that a wheelchair user might struggle to open? Is there a route with automatic doors?

• What’s the floor surface like? Heavy carpet, tiles, wood – if you’re walking they’re mostly the same, but they can be very different in a wheelchair.

This might make the difference between whether somebody can physically attend your event, or they can’t. If it’s the latter, it’s much better to find out before they turn up.