I’m disabled and a wheelchair user living in the UK.

There is almost no way to know, ahead of time, how accessible a venue will be. There are some resources available but they’re almost always created by other disabled people and might be outdated or they may not share your disability, so they might see things slightly differently than you do. It also takes a lot of work to figure it out - how will I get there? How will I get around once I’m there? Are there any stairs? Are there accessible bathrooms? Will there be enough space for me to move around, to turn, to get through a door?

She got there on the day and assumed that a ceremony for a disability campaigner would be accessible. Now that it turns out it wasn’t, she has taken the opportunity to spread awareness about it, making this event probably some of the most successful disability activism she has ever done, ironically.

The UK is absolutely awful for accessibility. It’s a massive, unbelievable heavy burden to be disabled, and as a wheelchair user it’s very hard to get around. There are so many things that businesses, employers, schools and public services do not consider which just makes our lives so much harder. It’s such a deep-running systemic issue.

If you’re in any position to impact decision making anywhere in your life, I’d encourage you to bring accessibility into those decisions. Whether that’s making sure that a website you’re designing is considering the needs of disabled people, or encouraging your employer to install ramps instead of stairs, or as simple as getting your office to consider using sans-serif fonts and light coloured backgrounds for black text instead of white. It’s something that all of us can help with.