Coordinate Community Event Accessibility Requests

To coordinate accessibility requests well, you need four things in place before registration opens. First, one published contact for requests. Second, an intake form with an open response field. Third, a restricted tracker that moves each request from received to closed. Fourth, a hand-off that tells the people delivering each arrangement exactly what they need to do. Each request follows the same path: received, clarified with the participant, arranged with the venue or provider, confirmed with the participant, delivered on the day, and closed.

This guide covers that organizer workflow for amateur tournaments and community events. It does not decide which arrangements your organization is legally obligated to provide. That depends on who you are, where the event is held and what your venue agreement says. Settle that question with whoever is responsible for compliance in your organization before you publish the request contact.

Assign the roles before you open registration

Small events can give several roles to one person. Even so, every request needs a named owner at each stage, so nothing stalls between volunteers.

• Registration owner: runs the sign-up form, checks that the request channel itself is accessible, and publishes a named alternative contact for people who cannot use the form.
• Accessibility coordinator: receives requests, talks with participants, proposes arrangements and records confirmations.
• Privacy contact: decides who can see the tracker and how long request records are kept.
• Delivery owner for each arrangement: the volunteer, facilitator, venue contact or service provider who carries the arrangement out.
• Day-of coordinator: the on-site person who knows every confirmed arrangement and handles issues during the event. The Massachusetts Office on Disability recommends having this role.

Step 1: Publish where requests go

The Ability Center recommends putting an accommodation contact in both registration and promotional materials, so people see it before they decide whether to attend. The Massachusetts Office on Disability likewise recommends accessible registration, space on the form for accommodation requests, and contact details for follow-up. Say plainly who receives requests and how someone can check on a request they have already sent. Offer at least one alternative to the online form, such as a named person reachable by phone or text.

Step 2: Use a short intake template

Collect only what you need to arrange participation. The Ability Center advises offering a free-text option alongside any listed requests, because no checklist covers every need. Do not include a diagnosis field. Ask what would help, not why. The template below is an editable starting point. For a tournament, "event or session" can mean the division, match block, court area or awards ceremony.

ACCESSIBILITY REQUEST

Name:
Event or session you plan to attend:
How should we contact you about this request?
  [ ] Email   [ ] Phone call   [ ] Text   [ ] Other: ________

What would help you participate fully?
  (Describe it in your own words. Examples: seating location,
  materials in another format, interpreting, captioning,
  a quiet space, step-free route, schedule considerations.)
  ______________________________________________

Is timing relevant? (e.g., needed before a specific session,
or materials needed in advance)
  ______________________________________________

Anything else that would help us plan with you?
  ______________________________________________

Your request goes to: [Coordinator name and role]
To follow up or if you cannot use this form: [Alternative contact name and method]

Step 3: Review on a schedule and clarify with the participant

The Massachusetts Office on Disability recommends reviewing requests regularly and treating each one as a dialogue with the requestor. The Ability Center stresses prompt follow-up. In practice, set a fixed review rhythm and put it on the coordinator's calendar. If a request is unclear, ask the participant what would work best before you start arranging anything. The person making the request is usually the best source of a workable solution.

Step 4: Check with the venue or provider early

Some arrangements depend on people outside your volunteer team. The Ability Center notes that communication services such as interpreting and transcription need advance arrangements. Start those checks as soon as a request arrives, not after registration closes. Other items may need confirmation from the venue, a facilitator or a referee coordinator, such as step-free routes, reserved seating, materials permissions or schedule adjustments. Record in the tracker who you asked and when you expect an answer.

Step 5: Propose, confirm and notify

Send the participant the specific arrangement you can provide, including when and where it will happen. Ask them to confirm that it works. The Massachusetts Office on Disability calls for notifying requestors of decisions. Do not treat silence as agreement. If the original request cannot be met, go back to the participant to discuss alternatives, and record the next agreed step rather than closing the request.

Step 6: Hand off to the people who deliver it

Once an arrangement is confirmed, send each delivery owner only the operational details they need. For example: "Reserve two seats with a clear sightline to the interpreter, front left, Court 2, 9:00 session." Do not forward the participant's original request. Give the day-of coordinator a single list of every confirmed arrangement, its delivery owner and a contact method for each.

Restricted tracker template

Keep the tracker in a spreadsheet or document that only the coordinator, the privacy contact and any named backup can open. Agree on access and retention with your privacy contact before the first request arrives.

Request ID	Received date	Assigned coordinator	Participant clarification	Provider/venue check	Proposed arrangement	Participant confirmation	Delivery owner	Next update date	Status
AR-001	(date)	(name)	(summary of agreed need)	(who was asked, answer)	(specific arrangement)	(yes/no, date)	(name/role)	(date)	arranging

Status definitions

• Received: logged, coordinator assigned, acknowledgment sent.
• Clarifying: talking with the participant about what would work.
• Arranging: checking availability with the venue, facilitator or provider.
• Awaiting confirmation: arrangement proposed, waiting for the participant's reply.
• Confirmed: participant agreed, and delivery owner and day-of coordinator briefed.
• Unresolved: the agreed arrangement cannot currently be provided, and a next step is scheduled with the participant.
• Closed: delivered or withdrawn, with the record handled under your retention rule.

The Next update date column keeps requests from stalling. Any request past its update date should be the first item at each review.

Handling late requests

Publish a target date for requests so you have time to book outside services. Do not use that date as a cutoff. The Massachusetts Office on Disability advises explaining timing constraints to people who request late while continuing to consider their requests. Tell the participant what may not be possible on short notice and what you can still do. Then log the request and work it like any other.

Example: advance workshop materials

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real case. A participant registering for a rules clinic before a youth tournament asks for the slides ahead of time. The coordinator logs the request as received. They then ask the participant which format they can use and move the status to clarifying. Next, they check with the clinic facilitator that the slides can be shared early and in that format, and move to arranging. The coordinator proposes a delivery date three days before the clinic and marks the request awaiting confirmation. When the participant agrees, the status becomes confirmed. The facilitator is named as delivery owner, and the day-of coordinator is told that a copy should also be on hand at the clinic. If the facilitator could not share the slides early, the coordinator would return to the participant, agree on an alternative, record it as the next step, and set a new update date.

Quick checklist

• Roles named: registration owner, coordinator, privacy contact, delivery owners, day-of coordinator.
• Request contact published in registration and promotional materials, with an alternative contact.
• Intake form includes an open response field and no diagnosis field.
• Review schedule set, and interpreting or transcription requests started immediately.
• Every arrangement confirmed by the participant, not assumed.
• Tracker access restricted, with retention agreed.
• Delivery owners receive operational instructions only.
• Late requests acknowledged, timing explained and still considered.