Planning an accessible event requires problem-solving, creativity, and awareness of available resources. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the most common accessibility considerations.
Initial Event Planning Checklist: In-Person Components
- Ensure the scheduled date of the event does not coincide or clash with any religious holidays or festivals or common vacation times. The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion offers a guide of interfaith and inclusive holidays here.
- Include ample time between events or event sessions to use the bathroom or drink some water.
- Schedule a short break and take an opportunity to remind attendees of the location of the bathrooms, lactation spaces, and religious or sensory rooms for any event longer than an hour and a half.
- Ask participants about their accessibility requests with enough time to accommodate reasonable requests. If a request cannot be accommodated, notify participants and specify alternative suggestions as clearly and early as possible.
- Use a variety of dissemination methods to attract a diverse group of attendees, such as social media, printed leaflets, partnerships with relevant organizations or representative groups. Promote accessible and inclusive provisions.
- Consider how guests arrive. If they are likely to drive, consider the location of the nearest available parking area. If the path is not reasonably navigable by mobility aids including wheelchairs, walkers, and motorized scooters, set up an alternative transportation plan.
- Provide adequate lighting to illuminate the space sufficiently without flickers or strobes.
- Minimize ambient noise external to the event.
- Set aside a quiet, private room for lactating people. If available, add a refrigerator to store pumped breast milk.
- Set aside a quiet, private space for individuals to break from feeling over stimulated due to sensory issues or to be used for religious observances.
- Ensure bathrooms are available on every floor of the event and have at least one accessible stall per bathroom.
- Provide at least one gender neutral/family bathroom per floor of the event. A map of gender neutral restrooms on and near Duke campus is available here. If only gendered bathroom spaces are available, request permission from the hosting facility to cover the gendered signs with gender neutral/family bathroom signs temporarily.
- Consider provisions for assistance animals, such as guide or hearing dogs.
- Limit distractions such as catering setup and remove or limit the volume of any background music which may make clear hearing challenging for people who are hard of hearing or captioners.
- Ensure the area for speakers is accessible and plan for potential accommodations. For example, a height-adjustable lectern, level flooring, adjustable chairs, and a lapel microphone should be standard.
- Provide microphones to all speakers. Even with louder speaking voices, individuals with hearing impairments benefit from the added clarity microphones offer. Wireless lapel microphones are best to allow speaks to maintain their mobility throughout the presentation.
- Arrange for good internet connectivity to allow speakers and participants to access web-available materials.
- Ensure materials are available in languages appropriate for your audience. For example, the Duke community has a large number of Spanish-speaking members so making materials available in Spanish may be a priority.
- Request that speakers and presenters make their materials available to attendees or offer QR codes for digital slide access for magnification purposes and/or printed scripts/outlines in size 16 font or larger.
- Arrange for assistive listening devices including interpreters and captioners as needed.
- Record sessions for streaming or make recordings available after the event for individuals who may benefit from the event but were unable to attend. Make attendees and speakers aware of the presence of cameras and microphones including the areas where they can avoid any recording equipment if they do not want to be recorded. Consider additional precautions about taking, storing, and accessing recordings if the material may put individuals at personal risk.
- Protect attendees from allergens and illness.
- Avoid the use of latex, including balloons, gloves, medical equipment, and various foods. Small latex particles become airborne easily and can trigger severe allergic reactions. Consider the use of latex alternatives such as rubber.
- Offer medical masks at the front table of the event. If indoors, consider requesting masking for all attendees to minimize the spread of communication illnesses if the conditions warrant.
- Offer hand sanitizing stations throughout the event and encourage handwashing if food is a portion of the event. For example, when a speaker introduces the availability of a meal, they can remind guests where the restrooms are located for handwashing.
- Request that attendees avoid heavy perfume to avoid triggering allergies or asthma conditions.
- If participants are provided with name tags, include a space for pronouns. Allow individuals to write-in their pronouns as some individuals may use pronouns outside the pre-selected options. Refer to pronoun and name selections simply as “pronouns” and “name” rather than adding “preferred”.
- Prioritize a balanced representation of speakers, such as diverse political views, gender identities, and racial identities.
- Individuals with caregiver(s) should be able to register their caregiver(s) as attendees without additional cost.
- Utilize photos and images that reflect your target audience and are appropriate for welcoming a diverse group of participants. Duke's photo repository offers several collections of photos and images from past events, including community engagement activities.
Initial Event Planning Checklist: Virtual Components
- Select an accessible remote meeting platform that is user-friendly. Ideally, one which the intended audience is familiar. Consider a platform that provides FAQ or help videos as part of their services to prepare attendees who may not be familiar with the platform.
- Advise attendees to do a practice access attempt prior to the event and make technical support professionals available to attendees to troubleshoot potential issues 15 minutes prior to the start of the event.
- Offer closed captions for all events with audio. Some platforms offer acceptable automated closed captioning services but others may benefit from a designated event closed captioner. If using Zoom, instructions for enabling captions can be found here.
- Offer a five- to ten-minute break to allow individuals to use the restroom or attend to personal needs if the event is longer than 90 minutes in duration.
Providing Accessible Media
- For meetings with presentations, start with an overview and end with a review of the most important points.
- Use consistent slide design to limit cognitive load.
- Use formats that allow users to adapt the material to meet their needs, such as Microsoft applications, HTML, and EPUB. Avoid PDF and protected Word documents.
- Give participants access to digital materials in advance of the event or offer print materials in large print and braille.
- Check if event materials, including presentations and printed media, are:
- Readable for low-vision and colorblindness by using a color checker, such as https://accessibleweb.com/color-contrast-checker/.
- Written in an accessible font, such as Tahoma, Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, or Verdana.
- If using Adobe or Microsoft applications, such as Word or PowerPoint, use an accessibility checker to improve readability. Duke provides step-by-step instructions to create accessible documents.