Access is the same for non-disabled people as disabled people. You wouldn’t hold a meeting on the 10th floor with no lifts, or where there was nowhere to sit, or in pitch blackness or even where all documents were given out in Braille.
Last year I consulted on a Social Care Institute for Excellence (Scie) web resource project. I predominately looked at the usability of the access-wiki website however my personal/research experience of accessibility was also put forward. As a result of this and other work [1] Scie have recently launched a Making events accessible web resource (it is no longer referred to as a wiki) . The aim of the web resource is to help people plan events and meetings within the social care field that are accessible to people who use services. However I feel the findings presented within the web resource should be considered by all event organisers. The Making events accessible resource can be found here: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/accessibleevents/index.asp
[1] This resource was written by Fran Branfield from the suggestions and comments made by people who use services on SCIE’s access-wiki website. The web access-wiki was usability and accessibility tested by consultants which in turn affected the delivery of the final resource.
Makayla Lewis 