Toot-Toot! All Aboard the Accessible Meetings Train Stopping at a Venue Near You

Let no one say that greed is a good reason for stepping up to accommodate people with disabilities at their conferences and meetings. And yet, association meeting planners who aren’t going out of their way to make their events accessible to all prospective attendees may be leaving money on the table.

While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been the law of the land since 1990, true accessibility continues to challenge disabled people from all walks of life. This includes not just those using wheelchairs for mobility, but also less obvious physical impairments, such as arthritis, cognition, and sight and hearing disabilities. But disability experts say that, increasingly, some destinations are going above and beyond ADA requirements to become more welcoming — and they’re using it to attract meeting and convention business.

At the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis recently, an attendee with a severe peanut allergy reached out asking for help in finding seating at an event. The guest services staff identified a location that was as far as possible from food vendors utilizing peanut products. Another attendee had an allergy to latex, and the facility worked with vendors to ensure the guest would not be served by someone wearing latex gloves and reviewed the environment to ensure that they would not be sitting in an area that might have items containing latex. Read more.

Our Takeaway: Meeting planners are reluctantly embracing accessibility as major corporations have begun to include accessibility, sustainability and DEI services and sensitivity in the RFPs.  Any company that applies for government contracts or subcontracts are required to have at least 7 percent of their workforce self-identify as having a disability.  Since the pandemic, there has been a 50% increase in hiring people with disabilities.