Mike Fletcher learns how organiser ROAR B2B is going the extra mile to ensure its exhibitions are accessible and inclusive for all by partnering with Shani Dhanda, recognised as the UK’s most influential disabled person.

British Vogue once described Shani Dhanda as a ‘multi-hyphenate’. I had to look up the word’s meaning but it’s certainly an accurate description of the disability crusader and entrepreneur.

Her career spans TV work (she’s a familiar face on daytime shows like This Morning, Rip off Britain and Loose Women), keynote speaking (she’s addressed over 300 conferences), ambassadorships for five disability organisations, and consultancy - collaborating with businesses, brands and the Government to help them authentically embrace inclusion and accessibility.

When we meet over Zoom, Dhanda is in Dublin to speak at Primark’s global staff conference. The retail brand had just launched its first adaptive clothing range for persons with disabilities (or PWDs) and she’s excited to be speaking on the main stage the next morning.

“I love speaking at events,” she says in her distinctive Brummie accent. “It’s such a privilege to be able to share your ideas and your messages with so many other people and to think that some of what you say may change perceptions or influence business decisions.”

Dhanda hasn’t always found it easy to juggle multiple occupations, however. And her connection to the events industry runs far deeper than filling speaker slots.

Standing at three feet 10 inches, she has a genetic disorder called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a disease that results in bones breaking easily. At 16 years old, when searching unsuccessfully for a part-time job, she realised that without qualifications, people just saw her as unemployable so she enrolled on an event management course.

“There was no grand plan,” she recalls. “I already organised the parties in my family so I thought it would just be an extension of that. It wasn’t until after I graduated and started to work in the events industry, that people started telling me I was good at it.

“I have a short stature and I live in a world that isn’t designed for me,” she continues. “If you think of the skills required to be a good events manager, I was doing all those things daily just to navigate and interact with the world around me.”

Last August, ROAR B2B, organiser of Naidex - the National Accessibility, Inclusion & Disability Expo held at the Birmingham NEC, asked Dhanda if she’d come on board as the company’s head of accessibility & inclusion. Her role is to be the subject matter expert, support the senior leadership team by creating on-demand training for both permanent and temporary show staff, and roll out an accessibility framework across its portfolio of exhibitions for the care, health, business technology and environment sectors.

“We’d gotten to know Shani as she’d been a visitor, supporter and then a speaker at Naidex,” ROAR B2B’s managing director for healthcare, Steve Clarke tells me. “I then saw a presentation she gave where she’d explained that disability inclusion wasn’t just about doing the right things, but if you do the right things, there’s a significant commercial upside. That resonated strongly with me.

“ROAR acquired Naidex in 2019 and as the new custodian of this 50-year-old show, we felt strongly that we should be taking a leadership position around accessibility in exhibitions and practising more of what we preach. That’s when I reached out to Shani for help.”

Shortly after, ROAR B2B launched a three-month PWD internship and appointed its first applicant, who joined the business at the end of January.

“For me, it was a full circle moment,” Dhanda responds. “I’ve worked in the industry, I’ve attended ROAR’s events and now I’m helping to make their business as accessible as possible. When we opened the internship, I couldn’t believe how many overqualified people applied, simply because it was that difficult for them to find a job, despite having PhDs and the like.

“More internships for disabled people help to solve a big societal problem,” she continues. “It’s really expensive for us to live so if the work opportunities aren’t there, we fall more easily into poverty.”

Clarke adds that ROAR B2B will give its first PWD intern a holistic experience working across different parts of the business. “At the end of the scheme, either we’ll have an opportunity for her or we’ll be able to introduce her to other organisers who might be looking for someone.”

According to the World Health Organisation, globally, one in six people have some form of disability. In the US, it’s 27% of adults and in the UK, it’s just under a quarter of the population (16 million people).

If exhibitions aren’t accessible, not only do they close the door to this significant section of society for exhibitors, but they also exclude the family and friends of PWDs as well.

“We mustn’t forget it’s also the law,” adds Dhanda. She’s correct of course.

Disability is one of nine ‘protected characteristics’ defined by the 2010 Equality Act — making it illegal for any business to discriminate against PWDs.

So why are so many exhibitions and events still not fully accessible? Why for example, do some venues not offer ramps onto stages as standard? Or why do some exhibition organisers still not widen the aisles to cater for visitors in wheelchairs?

Did you know for instance that removing carpet from the show floor for sustainability reasons could have a detrimental impact on neurodivergent visitors or those with impaired mobility?

“We need to recognise that when we talk about accessibility, what we often mean is an equivalent user experience to a non-disabled person. But it’s not a blanket approach and for many of us, we can’t have the same experience. To serve us well, we need to be better understood so that our physical lived experiences can be factored into event design,” Dhanda says.

Clarke agrees and says that ‘better understanding’ your show visitors often means asking the right questions at the point of registration and engaging year-round with sector-specific trade show communities.

“When we understand the different types of disabilities that exist within our audiences and we ask the right questions in the right way, we can start to understand what adaptations we need to make to our shows that will make them more accessible,” he says.

Asking the ‘right questions in the right way’ means ensuring online registration questions that unearth individual requirements.

“Just asking, ‘Are you disabled?’ won’t tell you what their access needs are,” Dhanda says. “So you need to ask more specific questions such as, ‘Do you require captions or British sign language interpreters?’ By asking more detailed questions at the registration stage and contacting anyone who has requested certain requirements, you’ll not only create a positive first impression of your event but also give yourself more time to incorporate additional accessible elements.

“Where possible, we also shouldn’t wait for people to tell us that they have a disability,” she continues. “A large percentage of disabled people have a non-visible condition or impairment so we may think that disabled people aren’t coming to our shows but believe me, they are.

“If you’re always having to retrofit your event design, it’ll cost more in the long run and the aesthetic may suffer. Instead, design for accessibility from the outset and communicate it prominently so that disabled people don’t have to double-check whether or not they can attend. Take action, not because you’ve been called out over it, but because it’s the right thing to do.”

Dhandu needs to go and rehearse her Primark conference keynote address for the morning but before she goes, I ask her about her lived experiences speaking at events. Surely, those organisers who booked her to speak would always ensure her accessibility needs were met.

“In over 300 speaking engagements, I’ve only ever been offered a height-adjustable lectern once,” she says. “I want the opportunity to hide behind the lectern like every other speaker. Think of how different that makes me feel when I’m denied the same experience.

“What’s worse is that only last year, I had to climb onto a stage because an organiser didn’t think to put a step there. I’d been asked what my dietary requirements were but nobody thought to ask what my access requirements were. I was even there to speak about inclusion and accessibility. If I’d turned up in a wheelchair, I would never have been able to get onto that stage. As it was, imagine how it felt to have to climb onto that stage in front of an audience and take my seat on a panel of experts who had all seen me do it.”

It’s an empathetic moment that should make organisers stop, reflect and see their exhibition and conference design through the eyes of every person with a disability.

Naidex takes place at the Birmingham NEC from 20-21 March 2024.