Last summer, our team planned a retreat. As a primarily disabled team, we know the importance of planning early. Our desires were simple: warm weather, an accessible pool and good vibes. We researched hotels, called, emailed and checked on the ADA rooms. After confirming and reconfirming our accommodations, we were assured our needs would be met.
Spoiler alert: they weren’t. The ADA rooms were cramped and outdated, there were no elevators, our group was split across buildings, and the most accessible pool was closed. In fact, the experience was so bad that a couple of us cut our trip short.
I share this because access work is literally what we do, and this still happened to us. Many planners have a version of this story. You ask whether the venue is ADA compliant, the venue says yes, and you find out what that actually means on the day of your event. Compliance is the starting point, not the finish line. Before you sign a contract, you have the strongest opportunity to clarify expectations, negotiate accessibility provisions and document commitments.
Here are the eight questions to ask.
What is the full path of travel through your event?
Start at the parking garage or the rideshare drop-off and follow it through registration, the session rooms, the restrooms, the reception and the stage. Notice whether the doors have an accessible entrance that doesn’t require assistance and whether the restrooms are on the same floor as your sessions. Pay attention to the things that are easy to miss, like a steep ramp, a raised threshold, thick carpet, or a narrow hallway.
And if the accessible route, such as the one a wheelchair user will take, runs far from the general path, or through a loading dock, kitchen, or freight elevator, then disabled attendees are taking a different route from the rest of your attendees. That can mean longer travel times, dependence on staff and separation from colleagues.
In our audits, we call that “separate but equal.”
Read More: Access All Areas: New Study Highlights Accessibility Gap
How will the rooms and the stage work for every attendee?
Ask where accessible seating will go, and expect it to be throughout the room, not just in the front or the back by the door. Confirm that aisles and seating arrangements will remain accessible once the room is fully set, including space for mobility devices and seating beside colleagues or companions.
Then ask whether the stage has a permanent ramp or lift available for your event and confirm that it will be installed and tested before the program begins.
Your speakers with disabilities deserve to take the stage with the same ease as everyone else. And ask whether a quiet, low-stimulation room can be included in your meeting-space agreement at no additional charge.
Some of your attendees will need a break from the noise and the crowd. Confirm its location, hours and how attendees will find it.
What does communication access look like at this venue?
Plan for communication access early, including a clear way for attendees to request accommodations. Ask how the venue supports ASL interpretation, live captioning and assistive listening systems, and determine which services your attendees need.
You need to know where interpreters will stand so they are lit and visible from every seat, how captions will show up on the screens and whether the AV those services need is in your contract or billed separately. Ask for specific examples of how the venue has supported these services at previous events, including who coordinated the setup and testing.
Also consider information beyond the stage. Can attendees access menus, schedules, signage and other essential materials in formats they can use? Confirm which materials the venue provides and which your planning team must prepare.
How accessible is the food and beverage experience?
Food and beverage is often where access gets lost, whether it is a plated lunch, a coffee break, or the closing reception. Tables tend to be all one height, and buffets and bars are usually set at standing height. For wheelchair users, little people and anyone who needs to sit, that means nowhere to set a plate and no easy way to reach the food and drink.
Ask for a mix of high and low tables, seating with and without arms, and a few places to sit near the food for people who cannot stand in a line or carry a plate around during a cocktail hour. And ask whether staff will offer to serve rather than waiting to be asked.
What happens in an emergency?
Ask for the evacuation plan for people who cannot use stairs and ask how emergency announcements will reach attendees who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Also find out how blind and low vision attendees will be supported to find exits. If the venue cannot answer quickly, that is your cue to ask for the plan in writing before you sign.
Ask who is responsible for providing assistance and how staff are trained to carry out the plan. Request the relevant procedures in writing before you sign and confirm how your planning team will coordinate with the venue.
A general statement that staff will “take care of it” does not explain what will happen when someone needs help.
Who is your accessibility point of contact, and has the staff been trained?
Ask who you call when an accessibility issue comes up and make sure that person will be on site and reachable during your event, not just during the sales process. Then ask about the staff. Have they had disability etiquette or access training? At that hotel in Florida, staff kept referring to our needs as “handicapped,” even after we corrected them more than once. When staff continued using that language after we explained our preference, it undermined our confidence that they were listening to our access needs.
We say this all the time: language builds trust. Hearing that word from the people responsible for your stay tells you nobody has trained them, and it is one of the things we remember most about that trip.
Who with disability expertise has been at the decision-making table?
Ask whether the venue has ever had disabled people or an access professional assess the space and what they changed because of it. Ask when that assessment took place and whether any identified barriers remain unresolved.
Then ask the same question of your own planning team. If no one planning your event has lived experience with disability, bring in someone who does before you sign, not after.
What will the contract actually guarantee?
Ask whether the accessible entrance, the elevators and chair lifts, and the accessible restrooms will be open and working the entire time you are in the building. We have shown up to find the accessible entrance locked, and we have seen elevators and lifts that worked on the site visit go down on event day.
Then ask about the things you will need that the venue may not have, like a stage ramp or the AV for captioning. Does the venue have it, do you rent it from them, or are you finding your own vendor? For overnight events, confirm the number and specific features of accessible guest rooms, how they will be reserved for attendees who need them and their proximity to meeting spaces. Ask to see the actual room types rather than relying on the label “ADA room.” If pools or other amenities are part of your program, verify their accessible features and scheduled availability, too.
Everything the venue said yes to during the sales process should be in writing before you sign.
Document who is responsible for each agreed provision, any associated costs and the backup plan if a critical feature becomes unavailable. Confirm how the venue will notify you of changes before arrival and resolve issues during the event.
Reconfirm these commitments during your pre-event meeting and verify the final setup before attendees arrive. A signed agreement should guide delivery, not disappear into a folder.
Access starts with a mindset. A checklist helps turn that commitment into specific questions, decisions and documented expectations.
At LaVant Consulting we ask two questions of everything we touch: who does this work for, and who does this leave out? When you are choosing a venue, ask them before you sign. The answers can help you identify barriers early, establish responsibilities and choose a venue prepared to support your attendees.
We created The LaVant Accessible Venue Decision Guide: 25 Questions to Ask Before You Sign to help you do exactly that, and you can download it here: lavantconsultinginc.com/accessible-venue-guide.
—
Andraéa LaVant is the founder and president of LaVant Consulting Inc., an access-centered consulting firm based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Her team helps organizations design events, workplaces and experiences that work for everyone through the Five Pillars of Access. She was the Impact Producer for the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp and brings lived experience and disability expertise to her work advancing access and inclusion.
