UK event accessibility has improved meaningfully in the last few years, but the landscape is still uneven. Some venues and festivals are excellent. Others have a single accessible toilet behind a locked gate and a Companion Card policy that nobody at the box office knows how to apply. This guide pulls together everything we have published on accessible events in the UK, organised by who you are: an attendee, a parent, a venue, an organiser, or a policy-maker.
Each section links to the more detailed guide on tickts. The intent is for this page to be the starting point if you do not yet know what you need, and a navigational hub if you do.
If you are attending an event
Buying tickets and physically getting to a UK event is harder than it should be if you have access needs. There is no single national standard for ticket purchase, companion tickets, or seat allocation, so each event tends to handle access tickets differently. The guides below cover the most common situations.
- Buying accessible tickets: how access tickets work, what proof is usually required, and how to handle box offices that say no.
- Accessibility at UK arenas: how the major UK arenas compare, including step-free routes, viewing platforms, and the Companion Card schemes each one uses.
- Accessible theatre in the UK: signed performances, audio-described shows, captioned performances, relaxed performances.
- Accessible travel to events: getting to and from venues by train, taxi, and accessible transport.
- Planning a day out with a wheelchair user: practical advice for the day rather than the booking.
- Finding BSL-interpreted events in the UK: how to search for signed performances and how the BSL provision usually works.
- Sensory-friendly events in the UK: relaxed performances, sensory rooms, and adjusted productions.
- Attending events with hearing aids or cochlear implants: hearing loops, T-coils, and what to ask the venue before you go.
- Looking after your hearing at loud events: ear plugs, sound levels, and reducing risk at gigs and clubs.
If you are running or hosting an event
Accessibility is a legal obligation in the UK, but compliance is the floor, not the goal. The bigger commercial point is that accessible events expand the audience: roughly 1 in 5 people in the UK has a disability, and most of them attend events with at least one companion. Inaccessible events shrink the addressable audience meaningfully.
- Event accessibility guide: the high-level overview of what makes an event genuinely inclusive.
- Planning accessible community events: practical advice for community-scale events run by smaller organisations.
- Complying with disability access regulations: the UK regulatory baseline.
- Venue accessibility improvements: what venue operators can do, in priority order.
- How events are adapting for neurodivergent attendees: relaxed environments, advance information packs, sensory provision.
- How events are becoming more culturally inclusive: the broader inclusion picture beyond physical accessibility.
- How volunteer programmes make events more accessible: the role of trained access stewards on the day.
Accessibility on the digital side
The most underrated accessibility issue in events is the booking process itself. A wheelchair-accessible venue with an inaccessible booking flow keeps the same people out as a venue with steps. Specific guides:
- Making your events accessible to everyone: end-to-end review covering the ticket purchase journey.
- Accessible digital ticketing options: what accessible digital tickets look like in practice.
- Digital accessibility for event websites: the standards (WCAG) and what they mean for event landing pages.
Specific event types
- Disability sport event ticketing: ticketing considerations specific to disability sport events and the audiences who attend them.
The wider context
If you want to understand where event accessibility is heading rather than just where it is today:
- The accessibility revolution in UK events: how the conversation has shifted in the last 5-10 years.
- The economics of accessible event provision: who pays, who benefits, and where the commercial case is.
- The future of event accessibility in the UK: regulatory direction and audience expectations.
- The future of accessible events: a longer-form view of where the sector is going.
Booking accessible tickets on tickts
tickts itself is a UK ticketing platform. We do not run the venues, but we make it as easy as possible for organisers to set up companion tickets, mark accessible seating, and provide access information at the point of purchase. Browse events on tickts to see what is on, or use the dedicated event filters to narrow by accessibility provision where the organiser has indicated it.
If you run an event and want to set up free companion tickets, accessible seating areas, or pre-event access information for ticket buyers, create an organiser account and the relevant fields are built into the standard event setup.
Where to start
The two most useful starting points by situation:
- Attending an event for the first time and need access provision: start with how access tickets work, then read the venue-specific guide that applies (arenas or theatre).
- Running an event and want to do this properly: start with the event accessibility guide, then read the regulations for the legal floor.
Each linked guide goes much deeper than this hub. The aim here is to make sure you can find what you need rather than have to read every article.