Accessing all areas
MAY | FEATURE
For Deaf and disabled fans, accessibility is improving thanks to
forward thinking organisations, some of whom were credited at
Attitude Is Everything’s Oustanding Attitude Awards
AEG Presents team:
BST Hyde Park
Our accessibility
facilities and
improvements
have included:
creating an Easy-
Read, providing a
dedicated phone
line for all access
queries, reviewing
applications without
the recommended
evidence on a
case-by-case basis
and making BSL
available at every
show.
In our inaugural
year in Hyde
Park our viewing
platforms and
ground level
viewing areas
had a dedicated
food/bar server
for accessibility
customers - we
have also developed
new areas in our
site, such as our
second respite area
introduced in 2018.
Every year we
see an increased
interest.
Lisa McAnally, event
manager, The SSE
Arena, Belfast
Working with a
local organisation,
The NOW group, the
JAM (Just a Minute)
card and app has
been introduced.
This initiative
helps people
with a learning
difficulty, autism
or communication
barrier to tell others
they need ‘Just
A Minute’. JAM
training has been
provided to staff to
ensure that staff
allow customers
additional time to
explain what they
need.
A Changing Places
toilet has been
installed to offer
customers who need
additional facilities
to change with
specialist equipment
and in comfort.
This has been in
direct response
to customer
suggestions, and
we have received
excellent feedback.
Chris McCarron,
general manager,
SoundSense Events
We produce
bespoke audiovisual
designs and
wearable event
technologies that
use sound and
vibration to deliver
a more personal
connection with
the performance,
changing the
way musicians
and audiences
interact and share
experience and
emotions at live
events.
Working with
artists’ committed
to improving
accessibility,
we’re pushing
the boundaries of
augmented reality
live performance,
to bring people
together. We’ve
covered every kind
of show.
Kathryn Sturman,
Made with Music
Mini-Gigs
Made with Music
is a charity based
in Leeds taking live
music to hospitals,
schools, nurseries
and festivals as
well as producing
mini-gigs, delivering
training and
running early years
classes. Through our
work and personal
experiences, we
know there are more
barriers to accessing
live music than
just having small
children in tow. We
aim to remove these
barriers and make
quality live music
accessible for all.
Our disabled
service-user focus
group guides the
format, and the
information we
should provide,
before and during
the gigs.
Laura Burgess,
administration &
operations manager,
Band on the Wall
Band on the
Wall is a renowned
centre for live music,
situated in the heart
of Manchester’s
vibrant Northern
Quarter. With
renovation work
completed in 2009
to link its two
Victorian buildings,
the venue itself is
designed to be fully
accessible.
Band on the
Wall strives to
be inclusive and
accessible for all.
We are keen to
take all reasonable
steps to meet the
requirements of our
Deaf and disabled
customers, and
pledge to exceed
expectations where
we can.
Martin Austin, MD,
Nimbus Disability
We developed
a single portal
for registering a
persons access
requirements to
try and simplify the
process for disabled
customers and the
businesses they use
and a by-product
of that became The
Access Card.
The work we’ve
done with the
Ticket Factory is
to digitally link
their system with
our database to cut
out a whole layer
of unnecessary
conversation,
evidence sharing
and intrusion that
sadly still happens
across all sectors.
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