Council run events are usually better at being DDA compliant, because they have to be by law (Disability and Discrimination Act). Obviously, it is impossible to make every single event accessible by every single person, but they do their best. If they cannot be accessed by certain needs groups, then it must be clearly displayed on the publicity, the tickets, the site or in the programme.

Public buildings - including pubs, restaurants, health centres, theatres*, local and national government offices all have to be DDA compliant. This means there must be adequate facilities provided for wheelchair users, deaf, blind and special needs customers. At the moment, these facilities just have to be provided. I know of at least 2 government buildings where a ramped fire escape on the ground floor for wheelchair exits is reached by going up a large step, and where the disabled car park spaces have no wheelchair access to the building other than the goods lift on the opposite side of the car park. However, the facilities are there so the building is considered DDA compliant!

When an organisiation is used to thinking inclusively, it is easier for them to do it. Until someone points out the deficits in their arrangements to the organisation, they often do not realise there are deficits.

I'm sure that if you approached the AFO in a polite and informative way, they would be only too happy to amend their websites and provide 'speaking programmes' for partially sighted users or loops for hearing aid users (although that's not usually a problem when you can hear Bellowhead playing on site 2, down in the pub garden at Towersey).

LTS

*Listed buildings (which so many of our theatres are) are only required to modify as much as will not destroy the fabric or character of the building. Oddly enough, churches/places of worship are the one public building that are not required to be DDA compliant.... go figure!