We’re very pleased to have worked with Attitude is Everything , the UKs leading Charity for accessing live music and events, on producing a brief guide to evidencing disability.
As accessibility at live music events improves, policies and facilities specifically for Deaf and disabled music fans are becoming more commonplace.
In some cases music venues and festivals may feel that there is a necessity to ask for evidence of disability, where it is felt that not doing so encourages or enables fraudulent or unnecessary access to reasonable adjustments, such as free Personal Assistant tickets, a system of proving eligibility may become a necessity.
Anecdotal evidence from providers suggests that having a system of evidencing in place reduces fraudulent access and increases the actual capacity for disabled customers.
For many the issue of evidencing disability is a hard concept to work with. For disabled people it can be perceived as an unnecessary barrier to services, for providers it is an essential tool to make sure the right people get the right services. For many disabled people confidence in booking tickets is increased when a robust system is in place.
Both we at Nimbus and our friends at Attitude is Everything advocate an approach which is fair, proportionate and structured. One system we’re obviously behind is The Access Card as it is a simple and consistent way for providers across a range of industries to identify the needs of their customers: but it’s vital that no provider ever becomes over reliant on any single type of evidence; whether that be DLA letters, CEA Cards, Drs reports or Access Cards. Disabled People have many varied and unique needs and each case needs addressing on a case by case basis.
Read the guide itself here: http://www.attitudeiseverything.org.uk/resources/practical-guides/evidencing-disability/
