Check the venue before you print the date

A group should walk the building before it prints a date. You check four things: the accessible entrance, the step-free route from the street, the room capacity, and the name and number of the person to telephone when the lift is out. Do this in person, in the hour the event will actually run, and write down what you find.

Walk the route from the street, not from the car park

Start where your attendees will start. If the invitation says the number 12 bus stops at the corner, get off at that stop and walk in. Note the kerbs, the crossing points, the pavement width, and whether a dropped kerb exists on both sides of the road. A route that works in dry daylight can fail in rain, in the dark, or after a market has set up stalls along the front.

At the building, find the entrance that is actually open. Many venues have a main door with steps and a side door with a ramp, and the side door is locked outside office hours. Ask which door will be unlocked on the day, and who holds the key. Photograph the door, the ramp and the sign that points to it. If the ramp is portable, ask where it is stored and who sets it up.

For the detail of what makes an entrance work, from thresholds and handrails to door widths and matting, the reference material at step-free entrance checks is written for the people who manage a building and for the people who have to get in. Read it before the site visit, so you know what to look at when you are standing there.

What do we verify about the accessible entrance?

Measure the clear opening of the door, not the frame. A door described as 800 mm may give you less once the leaf, the hinge and the closer are counted. Check the threshold: a lip of 20 mm is a trip for some people and a block for a wheel. Look for a bell or an intercom, and test it. If the bell rings in an office that closes at five, it is not an entrance for a seven o'clock meeting.

Check the surface between the pavement and the door. Loose gravel, cobbles, a steep camber and a metal drain cover all change how the route works. In winter, ask who clears the snow and grits the path, and at what hour. A venue that is accessible in June may be closed in January.

Ask about the toilet while you are at the door. A fully accessible toilet, including a Changing Places room where one exists, is part of the entrance in practice. If the nearest one is on another floor, the lift becomes part of the route.

What is the room capacity, and what does it mean for your group?

The number on the fire certificate is a maximum, not a target. Ask for the seated capacity and the standing capacity separately, because they differ. Then subtract what the room already contains: the stage, the mixing desk, the tables at the back, the Christmas tree in December.

Walk the room with the layout in your hand. Mark where the accessible seating goes, and check the sightlines from those places. A wheelchair space at the back of a pillar is not a place to watch a speaker. Leave a clear route to the exits that is wide enough for a wheelchair and a person walking side by side.

Ask how the room is booked and when the booking is confirmed in writing. A date is not a date until the venue has put it in an email. Ask what happens if another booking takes priority, and get the answer before you print anything.

Who do you telephone when the lift is out?

Get a name, a direct number and a mobile. A general switchboard number is not enough on the evening of an event. Ask who is on site, what hours they work, and what the procedure is if the lift fails during your meeting.

Ask for the maintenance contract number as well. If the lift company answers within an hour, a failure is an inconvenience. If the answer takes a day, you need a plan B: move the meeting to the ground floor, or move the meeting to another building.

Write the plan B on the same sheet as the booking. Give it to two people in the group, not one. On the day, put the name and number at the top of the sign-in sheet, so the person on the door knows who to call.

Put the details on the notice, not in a footnote

A notice that says "accessible venue" tells a reader nothing. Write the facts: the door you will use, the number of the bus stop, the distance from the stop to the door, whether the route is step-free, and the name of the person to call. Add a telephone number that a person answers.

If the route is not step-free, say so, and say what you will do about it. A group that offers to meet people at the bus stop and walk in with them has solved the problem for that evening. A group that hides the steps has not.

Print the date only after this walk. The date is the last thing you decide, not the first.

Keep the sheet for the next time

File the notes with the date and the name of the person who walked the building. Buildings change: a ramp is removed, a door is locked, a manager leaves. A note from eighteen months ago is a starting point, not a guarantee.

Before the next event, telephone the venue and read your own sheet back to them. Ask what has changed. Then walk it again if the answer is anything other than "nothing".

This is ordinary work, and it takes an afternoon. It is also the difference between a date that holds and a date you have to move.