LONDON, UK. October 13th, 2026 – The UK’s only dedicated event for accessibility and inclusion in the events industry has confirmed its full day of programming, bringing together speakers from ICC Wales, The Business of Events, Mash Media, Ringrose Law and more.
The Accessible Events Show, the UK’s only dedicated event bringing together professionals committed to making events accessible and inclusive for everyone, returns to The Drum, Wembley on 29 October 2026 with its full agenda now confirmed. Building on a landmark debut year that earned two major industry awards, the 2026 show pairs expert panels in the morning with hands-on workshops in the afternoon.
New research reveals scale of the accessibility gap
The day opens with the presentation of “Access All Areas: Closing the Accessibility Gap in Events,” commissioned by ICC Wales in partnership with The Business of Events and developed with accessibility consultant Dr Shani Dhanda, co-founder of the Accessible Events Show. Supported by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events, the research is based on a survey of 1,000 delegates aged 18 to 65 conducted by market research agency 3Gem in June 2025, alongside insights from more than 100 venues.
The findings show that 93% of disabled delegates face barriers when attending events, and that nearly 1 in 3 event attendees identify as having a visible or non-visible disability. The report sets out ten key recommendations for closing the gap between venue intent and delegate experience.
Amy Phillips, Director of Sales at ICC Wales, and Lesley Whyte, Associate Director at Davies Tanner and The Business of Events, will present the findings and lead a discussion on what is causing the gap between what the events industry provides and what people actually experience.
A full day of named speakers and sessions
The morning programme continues with a session examining how two of the UK’s leading exhibitions, Naidex and Confex, approach accessibility in practice, led by Josh Waddell and Ashlea Gilfoy of ROAR B2B alongside Gina Kay of media partner Mash Media. A further panel, “From Good Intentions to Accessible Action,” brings together event professionals putting accessibility into practice, and a legal briefing on medical cannabis in venues and events will be led by Carrie Clewes, Partner and Equality and Disability Rights Lawyer at Ringrose Law.
The afternoon workshop programme opens with “Stress-test Your Event,” led by Catherine Grinyer, Director of Attendable and co-founder of the show, before turning to access services with Orla Pearson, co-founder of the show and Director of MyClearText and AccessLOOP, alongside Karen Green of Interpreting Matters and Claire Saddleton, CEO of VocalEyes.
Jonathan Hassell, CEO and Lead Consultant at Hassell Inclusion, leads “Is Your Event Really Digitally Accessible?,” covering what event organisers need to know about accessible registration platforms, digital content and hybrid events. The day’s final workshop, “Creating More Neuroinclusive Events,” is led by Andy Williamson, Founder of Welcome Brain Consulting.
The show and its mission
With over 16 million disabled people in the UK and 1.3 billion worldwide, accessible events are not a niche concern. They are a professional responsibility, a commercial opportunity and, for many attendees, a matter of whether they can participate at all.
Dr Shani Dhanda, co-founder of the Accessible Events Show, said: “Winning two awards in our first year told us something important: the events industry is ready for this. This year’s agenda is our most practical yet, real research, real case studies and real people leading sessions on what actually works. We cannot wait to bring everyone together at Wembley in October.”
About the organisers and event partners
The Accessible Events Show is organised by Catherine Grinyer of Attendable, Orla Pearson, co-founder and Director of both MyClearText and AccessLOOP, and Dr Shani Dhanda, Accessibility Consultant and Broadcaster. The show is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, with all proceeds going back into advancing accessibility across the events industry.
Event partners for 2026 are HSBC, AccessLOOP, Accessible Surveys, Attendable, CrowdComms, EventWell®, Interpreting Matters Ltd, Mash Media, MyClearText, Performedia, Dr Shani Dhanda, Swagable, Silent Seminars and Apple Sound Ltd.
Registrations are now open at accessibleeventsshow.com/aes26.
ENDS