Plan access before the invitation

The invitation is the last step

Level 1 introduced the four lines of an accessible invitation. This course is about everything those four lines depend on. Captions are on only if the platform was chosen and configured. A step-free route is offered only if someone walked it. Interpreters are available only if they were requested with enough lead time. Materials arrive three working days ahead only if the deadline was set backward from the date. By the time you write the invitation, those decisions have already been made or missed.

Planning access first also changes what you ask people to disclose. When the room, the route, the captions and the accessible materials are already in place, the registration question can be brief and welcoming: “Tell us what you need to take part fully, and we will arrange it.” People are more willing to answer when the answer will clearly be acted on, and many common needs are met before anyone has to ask.

Lead time is the part people underestimate. Sign language interpreters and real-time captioners are skilled professionals with schedules. A week is a short notice; two is ordinary; for a large or specialized event, longer. Your organization has a process for requesting them, usually through the accessibility or language access team. Find it before you need it.

Planning in order

Decide purpose, format (in-person, hybrid or virtual) and length, including breaks.
Choose and check the room or platform against the access criteria in lessons two and three.
Request interpreters and captioning through the responsible office, with the date, length, format and subject.
Set the materials deadline backward from the date so accessible versions can be prepared and sent ahead.
Write registration with an access question, a named contact, and the date by which requests are needed.
Write the invitation with route, platform, captions, interpretation, materials and contact lines.
Assign roles for the day: host, chat and captions monitor, room and route contact, note taker.
Plan follow-up: accessible notes, recording with captions and transcript, decisions and next steps.

Accessible meeting planning checklist

Work through every line before the invitation goes out, whatever the format. Each line has an owner.

Before invitations go out Format decided; room or platform checked; interpreters and captioning requested with lead time; materials deadline set; roles for the day assigned; access question, named contact and request date written into registration.

Registration and materials Registration works with a keyboard and a screen reader; the access question is open and welcoming; agenda, slides and pre-reading go out at least three working days ahead as accessible documents; alternative formats and languages are ready on request.

Room, route and platform In person: step-free route from transit and accessible parking to the seat, accessible restrooms on the same floor, seating that people can choose, microphones for every speaker, a quiet room, lighting and noise checked, emergency procedures that work for everyone. Virtual and hybrid: captions on by default, interpreter view that can be pinned, chat and polls with an accessible alternative, shared documents accessible, camera optional.

During and after Breaks built into the agenda; more than one way to contribute; facilitators name themselves and describe visuals; someone monitors chat and captions; follow-up includes accessible notes, a captioned recording with transcript, and decisions in plain language.

Copy this into your team’s planning template and assign an owner to each line for your next meeting, event or training.

Browse and download only. Staff notes are not typed or saved on this page.

Which planning stage does each item belong to?

Request sign language interpreters through the language access process.

Send the slides as an accessible document three working days ahead.

Assign a colleague to read chat questions aloud and watch the captions.

Post the captioned recording with a transcript and the decisions made.

Walk the route from the accessible parking to the room.

Include an open access question and a named contact in the sign-up form.

Hold the invitation until the checklist is done

What you can change

You control whether the invitation goes out as a placeholder that fixes every later decision, or as the last step of a plan that already works.

What to watch for

Do not send a save-the-date with a room and a platform you have not checked. Do not treat “accommodations available on request” as planning.

Your next step

For your next gathering, complete the checklist before you write a word of the invitation, and note how long it actually took.

Planning terms

Lead time

The notice interpreters, captioners and accessible-format producers need. One to two weeks is ordinary; more for large or specialized events. Request early through the responsible office.

The access question

An open, welcoming line in registration: “Tell us what you need to take part fully.” Paired with a named contact and a date, and asked after the basics are already planned.

Three working days

A practical minimum for sending materials ahead. Screen-reader users, people who use interpreters, and people who process written information slowly all need time with the content before the room.

Roles for the day

Host, chat and captions monitor, room and route contact, note taker. A facilitator cannot do all four and facilitate.

Default, not exception

Captions on, accessible documents, a quiet room and a step-free route are planned every time, whether or not anyone has asked. Requests then cover what is individual.

Try a situation

A program supervisor is asked to convene a half-day, in-person and virtual session with the people and organizations affected on a waiver service change in three weeks. She has a room held, a platform link, and a draft invitation ready to send today.

What should she do first?

Send the invitation now so people can hold the date, and sort out access once registrations come in.

Run the checklist first: confirm the room’s route and restrooms, turn on the platform’s captions, request interpreters and captioning now, add an access question and a named contact to registration, and set the materials deadline. Then send the invitation.

Add “accommodations available on request” to the invitation and send it.

Carry this forward

The invitation is the last step of planning, not the first; the room, the platform, the materials and the interpreter timeline are decided before it.
Ask about access needs in registration, with a named contact and a real date, and plan for common needs whether or not anyone asks.
Interpreters and captioners are booked people, not settings; lead times of one to two weeks are ordinary.

A completed sort of checklist items into planning stages and a knowledge check.

Run your next gathering through the checklist and record which items were already habits and which were new.

What you’ll be able to do

The invitation is the last step

Planning in order

Accessible meeting planning checklist

Hold the invitation until the checklist is done

What you can change

What to watch for

Your next step

Planning terms

Try a situation

Carry this forward

Your next step

Plan access before the invitation

What you’ll be able to do

The invitation is the last step

Planning in order

Accessible meeting planning checklist

Hold the invitation until the checklist is done

What you can change

What to watch for

Your next step

Planning terms

Try a situation

Carry this forward

Your next step