Conferences and convention centres' accessibility to people with disabilities

The purposes of this manuscript are to create awareness of problems of accessibility at meetings and conferences for people with disabilities, and to provide a checklist for organizers of conferences to make the event more accessible to people with disabilities.

We conducted a search of the grey literature for conference centres and venues that had recommendations for making the event more accessible. The types of disability included in this manuscript are those as a consequence of visual, hearing and mobility impairments.

We provide a checklist to make meetings accessible to people with disabilities. The checklist is divided into sections related to event planning, venue accessibility, venue staff, invitations/registrations, greeting people with a disability, actions during the event, and suggestions for effective presenters.

The checklist can be used by prospective organizers of conferences to plan an event and to ensure inclusion and participation of people with disabilities.