Top 8 Ways to Make Your Event More Disability Inclusive

Tips for Planning Disability-Inclusive Corporate Events

With end-of-year events quickly approaching and planning well underway, it’s important to ensure your holiday events are enjoyable for the entire team. Everyone should have fond memories of your year-end get-together, which is why considering disability awareness in the workplace is a must.

Today, many companies are finding ways to make work events disability inclusive so that nobody is left out. In addition to designing accessible corporate events, inclusivity also spans different dietary needs, gender identities, and religions.

8 Tips for Making Your Event Disability Inclusive

One of the best ways to support your employees is to make sure your events are inclusive of people with disabilities, as well as those who have different dietary and social needs. Here are eight ways to create disability-inclusive events.

Expect to Have Guests with Disabilities in Attendance

Never assume that you won’t have guests with disabilities in attendance. You can never be 100% certain of everyone who will be in attendance (for example, attendees may invite guests) or if anyone has a disability that needs to be considered. It’s much better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

Remove Physical Barriers

Everyone should be able to access your venue and move around with ease. Think about the entrance, seating, and walkways that lead to necessary amenities, like restrooms. Also, make sure that emergency exits are accessible to everyone. Portable ramps can be a great solution for people who have trouble walking or need wheelchair-accessible pathways.

Inform Attendees About Accessibility Beforehand

Without putting attention on any one person, inform all attendees about accessibility beforehand. You can mention the details in a work meeting or in an email that’s sent prior to the event.

Let attendees know different ways to access the building, that seating will be spread out for easy navigation in the event room, where elevators are located, etc. This way, everyone will feel comfortable attending and can prepare ahead of time for whatever accommodations are needed.

Provide Closed Captioning

Anyone with hearing impairments will need a way to know what's being shared during presentations or announcements. If you have a monitor set up with a feed of the person speaking, you can turn on closed captions. Also, consider hiring a sign language interpreter.

Allow Areas for Breaks

One of the tips to make your work events disability inclusive is to anticipate that not everyone will be able to stand up for long periods of time. If you’re hosting something like a cocktail party where seating is limited, make sure to plan for this.

If possible, set up a separate room that’s easy access. Make comfortable seating available here, and make sure everyone knows that this is more of a rest area than a place for socialization.

This will also be helpful for anyone who has difficulty dealing with crowds for an extended period of time or who needs to take a break from loud conversation now and then.

Consider Mental Health

No matter how well you know the people you work with, you can’t know everyone’s exact mental health situation. Assume that some people are going to have conditions or triggers that will impact them, and plan accordingly.

When it comes to mental health considerations like anxiety, depression, and PTSD, it helps to give people options for the activities they can participate in. Don’t make anything mandatory, and have a selection of disability-inclusive events planned.

Train Your Staff 

Prepare your staff with basic knowledge about the types of disabilities that you’re preparing for and the challenges associated with them. Also, teach your staff how to effectively communicate with people who have hearing or speech difficulties. 

On top of that, all of your staff members should know the strategies you’ve used for how to make your work events disability inclusive. That way, if someone asks where an elevator is, if there’s a quiet room, or if a certain area is wheelchair-accessible, your employees will be able to answer confidently.

Ask for Advice 

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice! The people living with disabilities are the ones who know what they need best. You can ask them questions about accommodations they need, if what you’ve planned will work for them, and how to practice better disability awareness in the workplace overall. 

Merchology is DOBE Certified!

Did you know Merchology is a disability-owned business? Two of our founders and owners, Dick Ward and Ally Ward Delgado (who are also a father-daughter team!) have more than 50% hearing loss that’s classified as hereditary and severe. Advanced hearing aid technology has greatly improved their ability to communicate with others.

DOBE certification has also helped all of us at Merchology consider exactly what’s needed for disability awareness in the workplace and for corporate events. We’re always learning more and aim to continually improve the disability-inclusive events we plan.

Contact Us

If you’re looking for branded gifts that are accessible and promote the goal of inclusivity for clients or employees, get in touch with us at Merchology today! Send us a message here, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.