We are very keen to work towards making our conference as accessible as possible. We hope these notes below will help you to plan your participation. If you have any specific questions please email us and we will do everything we can to support your participation. Contact headstart@blackpool.gov.uk for further support.
Venue details for Wednesday 30 March 2022
The Winter Gardens in the heart of Blackpool is home to some of the best conference and event facilities in the UK. The venue is full of charm, heritage, and character, and boasts meeting spaces, the likes of which you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
The venue is fully accessible, with wheelchair accessibility to all spaces. Participants can attend all sessions either in person or watching on-line.
All accessibility information can be found on the Blackpool Winter Gardens and Opera House AccessAble webpages
The full postal address for the Winter Gardens is: 97 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HL
Accommodation
We have already booked a limited number of hotel rooms for people who will need an accessible room just in case some people will be able to get to Blackpool at that time still – Covid restrictions willing. These are few and far between in Blackpool so if you need one you might be best to book one through us. Please let me know if you need an accessible room and we can let you know prices and further details. Contact headstart@blackpool.gov.uk for further details.
Getting around
The conference centre is located in Blackpool town centre and is easily accessible from all areas of the resort using public transport. Blackpool has an excellent transport system with the tramway running the whole length of the promenade, and a clean modern and efficient bus service.
You can find out more about the accessibility of the town of Blackpool on the the Visit Blackpool website.
As an added bonus to our exciting conference, there’s so much to see and do across Blackpool and the Fylde Coast.
Access Fylde Coast’s biggest aspiration is to make it easier for visitors and locals with any disability to have access to enjoyable trips and make memorable experience, so they have teamed up with Blackpool Transport who are leading the way in accessible transport. You can download the Fylde Coast app to help you with your visit.
Accessibility information for presenters and delegates
Our conference will benefit from a widespread mix of presenters and delegates, and we promise to do our best to make everyone welcome with all sessions as accessible and inclusive as possible. The following guides are here to support our aim:
Presenters
- Include alternative text with all visuals.
- Make sure slide contents can be read in the intended order.
- Use meaningful link text.
- Ensure that colour is not the only means of conveying information (also add bold/underline to text).
- Use sufficient contrast for text and background colours.
- Give every slide a unique title.
- Use a simple table structure for data and specify column header information. (If a table is nested within another table or if a cell is merged or split, screen readers lose count and can’t provide helpful information about the table after that point)
- Use a larger font size (18pt or larger), sans serif fonts, and sufficient white space.
- Make videos accessible to visually impaired and hearing-impaired users.
Learn how to create presentations that are more accessible to people with disabilities, or who are using assistive technologies:
Make your Microsoft Powerpoint presentation accessible to people with disabilities
Accessibility Checklist (.docx)
Delegates
A ‘Jargon Busting Sheet’ is here to help make sure acronyms are explained, and the language used is clear and inclusive.
We aim to be as inclusive as possible and have involved those that have experience of diverse disabilities in conference planning. We recognise that barriers still exist, and we can always improve. Feedback and suggestions around conference accessibility will be welcomed.
