At Understanding Society we want everyone who attends our events to feel welcome and included. This short guide will tell you how we plan and deliver events that are accessible for everyone.
We chose event venues that have good accessibility. You can find out more about how our most used venues support accessible events on their websites:
- The University of Essex
- Broadway House
- Coin Street Conference Centre
- Friends House
- British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace
Before the event
If you have specific accessibility requirements, please let us know before the event. When you book your place at an event, you’ll be asked whether you have any additional needs that we need to take into account.
Travel
Once you have registered for an event, you’ll receive clear guidance from our events co-ordinator about the location of the venue and options for travel. We’ll always include a link to the venue, so you can see what it already in place to make the venue accessible.
Bringing a carer
If you need to bring a carer or support person to an event, please let us know in advance.
Dietary requirements
We’ll ask you in the booking form whether you have any special dietary requirements. We can cater for all main dietary needs, please let us know in advance. We will aim to clearly label food items, especially for allergens. Please note that for severe food allergies we can’t guarantee that food is prepared in an allergen free environment.
Documents
We sometimes give printed handouts to our event guests. If you need information in a larger format or a particular font, please let us know. We can produce audio files of documents, if you prefer to listen to the information.
During the event
Room layout
Please let us know if you need to sit nearer to the front of the room, or if you need to have a wall behind you. Most of our venues have hearing loops available in the room. We’ll use microphones in most events to ensure that speakers can be clearly heard.
Breaks
We schedule regular break times during our events, but if you need to take additional breaks, please do so. We can provide a quiet space if you need it for any reason during the day.
Guide dogs and assistance dogs
Guide dogs are welcome at any of our events. If you need to bring a different type of assistance dog, please contact us in advance so we can clear this with the venue.
If you have any questions about our events, please contact our events co-ordinator, Jay James, jolanda.james@essex.ac.uk.
After the event
Presentations
Where speakers have given us permission to do so, we share presentations with delegates after the event. This will usually be slides in pdf format, or a video of the presentation if the event has been filmed. Our videos have captioning. If you need pdf slides in a different format, please let us know.
Feedback
We ask for feedback after all our events. We welcome feedback on any improvements we can make to our events accessible for all. After the event you will be sent a feedback form via email. If you would prefer to send us feedback in a different way, please contact us.