How to Write an Access Statement for Your Venue (With a Checklist)

An access statement is the plain description of what a disabled visitor will find at your site: where to park, which door is level, where the lifts and toilets are, what help is available and who to ask. It is the document the Equality Act anticipatory duty expects you to have, the thing VisitEngland's quality schemes ask for, and in Scotland a legal requirement with every premises licence application. Most of them are written once and left to rot. Here is how to write one that stays true.

Who has to have one

Under section 20 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 as amended, every application for a premises licence to sell alcohol made since 30 March 2018 must include a Disabled Access and Facilities Statement covering access to and from the premises, access within them, facilities and other provisions. In England and Wales no statute names the document, but the Equality Act duty to anticipate disabled visitors' needs and to provide information in an accessible format is best evidenced by exactly this. Sports grounds are asked for an access audit and an Accessibility Plan by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority; tourism businesses in VisitEngland's schemes must publish their key accessibility features; schools fold it into their accessibility plan.

Write it in the order of the visit

1. Walk the visitor's route. Start in the car park, not at the front door. Note the Blue Badge bays, the surface, the distance, the setting-down point, the kerbs and the route to each entrance.
2. Name every entrance and what is beyond it. Which entrance is level, the door type and width, whether there is a bell or an intercom, where to sign in, and whether reception has a hearing loop.
3. List the facilities with their locations. Accessible toilets, the Changing Places toilet, lifts and the floors they serve, quiet rooms, accessible viewing areas, assistance-dog relief areas, loan wheelchairs.
4. Say what is not accessible, and the alternative. The honest line is the one visitors trust: "The tower has 42 steps and no lift; the film in the ground-floor gallery shows the view."
5. Add how to get help. A named contact, a phone number and an email, whether assistance can be booked, and what to do on the day.
6. Publish it where people look. On the website under Visit, in the booking and appointment emails, on a sign at the gate, and in a form that works with a screen reader. Date it and review it yearly.

The checklist

Work through each stage. If you can tick the line, write the fact; if you cannot, write the honest alternative.

Before leaving home

• Access contact: a name, a phone number and an email
• Whether assistance, a loan wheelchair or a quiet slot can be booked
• The visitor page or map link in the confirmation, ticket or appointment letter

Getting there

• Nearest step-free public transport and the walk from it
• Setting-down point and the distance to the door
• Blue Badge bays: how many, how far, what surface, whether they can be booked
• Whether the route from the car park is level, ramped or has steps

Arriving

• Which entrance is step-free and whether it is signed with the International Symbol of Access
• Door type and width; lobby, bell or intercom
• Where to sign in and whether reception has a hearing loop

Moving around

• Lifts: where, which floors, how big
• Ramps and their gradient; corridor widths; resting places
• Floor surfaces, lighting and any colour-coded routes

Facilities

• Accessible toilets by location and the Changing Places toilet if there is one
• Baby change, quiet or sensory room, assistance-dog relief area, water

Taking part

• Accessible viewing or seating and companion seats
• Counters at wheelchair height; large-print or audio guides; BSL, captioned, relaxed or quiet sessions

Help on the day and in an emergency

• Where staff are and who the access lead is
• Refuges, exits and the assembly point

Honesty and upkeep

• What is not accessible and the alternative offered
• The date it was last checked

From a statement to a map

Every line above is a place, a route or a note. On a Signposted page the Blue Badge bays, the step-free entrance, the lifts and the toilets are pins with a photo of the door and their opening hours; the route from the bays to the entrance is drawn, with its distance, and keeps to step-free walkways when the visitor asks; the "what is not accessible" line is a note on the place; and the whole thing is edited by your own team when something changes. The accessible wayfinding page shows it working, and the accessibility statement covers the page itself.

Questions people ask

Is an access statement a legal requirement?

In Scotland a Disabled Access and Facilities Statement must accompany every application for a premises licence to sell alcohol (since 30 March 2018). Elsewhere it is not named in law, but it is the usual evidence that the Equality Act anticipatory duty has been met, and tourism, sports and heritage bodies all ask for one.

How long should it be?

As long as the visit. A small café can say everything in ten lines. A hospital or a campus needs a line for every entrance, car park, lift and toilet, which is why a map with the facts attached to places works better than prose.

How often should it be reviewed?

Whenever the site changes, and at least once a year. Put the date on it. The regulations for public-sector website statements require regular review, and the same discipline applies here.