From BiOrgResources

This info was scraped out of the now defunct BiCon Special Needs Databank minus the footnotes which were longer than the info and dumped into HTML by me for my use about 6 months ago before some of the BiCon 2008 team did our site visit.

It is primarily aimed at BiCons which are residential although I have edited it to refer to an "event". I don't know at this point whether it should be made more generic or have comments which apply to sections as appropriate - if you have a better idea please do amend as appropriate. --Natalya

Contents 1 Venue site 2 Car parking 3 Public areas 4 Workshop rooms 5 Accommodation 6 Lifts 6.1 See also

Venue site

• Nearby public transport. Good rail connections. A bus stop outside is ideal.

• Walk the route(s) that people would follow from the street, noting levelness of approach.

• Walking slowly between important parts of the site and time how long it takes. (It can take two or three times as much time and energy for a disabled person to walk the same distance, or they may have to use a car).

• Ask the venue staff about any construction work before or during the event that may have an impact on accessibility.

• Level-ness of access between all buildings, and car park.

• Lighting, on paths which may be in use after dark.

• If ramps are provided, check the slope (find out the value) and check whether there are handrails on both sides.

Car parking

• How many parking spaces available for your event's attenders?
  • Find out number of parking spaces adjacent to the accommodation
  • Number of parking spaces adjacent to the workshops (if different)
  • Number of parking spaces adjacent to the ents (if different
  • Distance of "main" parking from accommodation, and note of any steps on the way
  • Distance of "main" parking from workshops (if different), and note of any steps on the way
  • Distance of "main" parking from ents (if different), and note of any steps on the way )

• How many 'disabled' parking spaces?
  • What's the eligibility criteria for those?
  • If there aren't very many, are there alternatives nearby?

Public areas

• Meeting and entertainment rooms are on the ground floor or lift available.
• At least one toilet in the main meeting room area with step-free access.
• Chill-out room or space near the workshops during the day.
• Chill out room or space in addition to the main entertainment and the quieter bar area - preferably genuinely quiet and out of the way.
• Rooms available for privacy for first aiders or counsellors .
• Interior doors wide enough for a wheelchair user to pass through easily (750-850mm), without ground level obstructions .
• Interior doors - how much strength required to open them? (if stiff the venue may be able to adjust mechanism)
• Floor finish either low pile carpeting, hardwood flooring or tile (anything else is harder for wheelchair users to traverse).

Workshop rooms

If all the workshop rooms are the same, you only need one copy of this list. If they vary, use a different copy for each different configuration.

• Name(s) or number(s) of room(s).
• Doorway wide enough for the passage of a person using a wheelchair or scooter.
• Steps, if any / lift, if any.
• Floor finish either low pile carpeting, hardwood flooring or tile?
• Number of doors.
• Strength required to open door(s), if sprung.
• Braille sign and/or raised numerals on door(s).
• Width of door - (give approx or exact measurement).
• Noise level. E.g. ventilation systems, noise from adjacent rooms, acoustics.
• Lighting. Drapes, blinds, etc. to provide reduction of light or glare from windows.

Accommodation

• How isolated/well lit are the entrances to accommodation blocks? (this is important for safety as well as people with visual impairments)
• How difficult are the external accommodation doors to use? (If they are heavy can anything be done about this?)
• Are there any electrically opening doors? (If a fob is required, can event attenders have access?)
• Can venue security be contacted by people if they have difficulty with access?
• How many wheelchair accessible rooms available?
• Can wheelchair users get into flats which do not have wheelchair accessible rooms?
• How are wheelchair accessible rooms arranged - separate flats, or dispersed throughout the 'block', on all floors?
• Can the venue provide your event with a detailed room plan for the accommodation?.
  • Is it accurate? Check as much for yourself as possible.
• How many ground floor rooms (not adapted for wheelchair users) are available? (wheelchair adapted rooms can be more disabling for some ambulant disabled people).
• Is there a lift to non-ground floor rooms?
• Are any accommodation rooms suitable for deaf attenders
  • What features are in these rooms
  • How are deaf attenders alerted in the event of a fire alarm?

Lifts

• Check for braille buttons; raised numerals; audio announcement of floors
• Large enough to hold electric wheelchair and scooter users. If in doubt, measure interior dimensions and width of door and make this information public.
  • If the lift is too small for a larger wheelchair or scooter
    • Does the venue have manual chairs available?
    • Is it viable to hire a manual wheelchair for the event?
• Get a sense of the speed of the lift, and find out how many floors/rooms/people it serves.
• Are there chairs where people can sit while waiting for the lift?
  • If not, would it be possible to provide some?
• If this lift were to break down during your event:
  • Is there an alternative lift, or an alternative route?
  • Would engineers attend immediately to fix it (What's the Service Level Agreement on that)?
  • Does the team's site liaison person have the necessary power to sort such things out?
  • If the lift remained out of order for a substantial time, what would be impact to the people attending the event who had been relying on it?

See also

• Term papers