The core idea
Design the full participation journey before booking the programme: invitation, arrival, activity, feedback and departure. Ask people what works, assign each adjustment to someone and test the plan in the real venue.
1. Plan with people who will attend
Co-design means involving intended participants in decisions before the design is fixed. Ask a small, varied group of older residents about timing, language, transport, seating, sound and the event’s purpose. Include people who rarely attend, if they wish to contribute. Hearing only from the most confident regular attendees can hide the barriers experienced by others.
The 2021 Harmonised Guidelines, developed with MoHUA, IIT Roorkee and NIUA, frame accessibility around participation with dignity across differences in age and ability. Use that principle to ask practical questions. Do not assume that every older person has a disability, or that two people with the same disability need identical support. Ask what assistance is wanted rather than collecting diagnoses.
Sources: IIT Roorkee Laboratory of Inclusive Design: Harmonised Guidelines 2021 ↗
2. Make the invitation usable
State the purpose, date, start and finish time, exact venue, cost if any, response method and a named contact. Describe confirmed access arrangements in plain language. 'Ground-floor meeting room reached without steps' gives more useful information than 'fully friendly'. If a feature is unverified, check it before making the claim. Offer a phone or paper response alongside a digital form when needed.
Use readable text and good contrast; do not place essential instructions only inside a decorative image. Provide the relevant language version and explain unfamiliar abbreviations. Ask privately about access requirements and obtain consent before sharing them with the person arranging support. Public registration lists should not display someone’s impairment, health condition or private contact details.
Sources: IIT Roorkee Laboratory of Inclusive Design: Harmonised Guidelines 2021 ↗ · DEPwD: culture-sector accessibility standards notification, 2023 ↗
3. Test participation inside the venue
Walk the intended route with the venue manager and willing participants while conditions are safe. Check entry, circulation, seating choices, usable toilets, lighting, sound, refreshments and departure arrangements. A ramp at the door does not solve a blocked internal route or an inaccessible discussion platform. Keep companions and wheelchair users able to sit with others rather than automatically separating them.
Confirm the venue’s approved capacity and emergency arrangements with its responsible staff. Structural work, temporary ramps and electrical changes need competent assessment; volunteers should not improvise them. Plan a quieter place to pause and a clear route back to the activity. Ask before helping someone move or touching a mobility aid. The person controls whether help is welcome.
Sources: IIT Roorkee Laboratory of Inclusive Design: Harmonised Guidelines 2021 ↗ · DEPwD: culture-sector accessibility standards notification, 2023 ↗
4. Worked situation: spend on participation
An illustrative residents’ meeting has a ₹6,000 budget. The accessible venue costs ₹2,000, verified sound support ₹1,200, readable materials ₹600, agreed transport support ₹1,400 and a contingency ₹800. The total is ₹6,000. These are teaching figures, not local prices. The organisers initially wanted ₹1,500 of decorations, but adding them would require cutting a confirmed participation need or finding extra funds.
They keep the access arrangements and simplify the decoration. They also confirm what transport support actually covers and who can use it, rather than promising a vehicle to everyone. The contingency remains available for a genuine unexpected cost. The reasoning is to fund the conditions that let the meeting achieve its purpose, while keeping commitments within the available budget.
Fund participation before decoration
| Item | Illustrative cost |
|---|---|
| Venue | ₹2,000 |
| Sound support | ₹1,200 |
| Readable materials | ₹600 |
| Agreed transport support | ₹1,400 |
| Contingency | ₹800 |
| Total | ₹6,000 |
Sources: IIT Roorkee Laboratory of Inclusive Design: Harmonised Guidelines 2021 ↗
5. Worked situation: attendance without a voice
A fictional community forum invites older residents to discuss a park. The original format gives officials forty minutes of speeches and residents five minutes at a single standing microphone. Some people cannot stand in the queue, and others need more time to formulate a question. The room may be physically reachable, yet the decision process gives them little opportunity to participate.
Organisers shorten the presentation, circulate the main choices beforehand and offer seated discussion, written questions and a microphone brought by an assigned helper where appropriate. A facilitator records different views and reads back the proposed decisions. Nobody has to disclose a disability to submit a written comment. The meeting ends with named follow-up actions, so contributions can influence what happens next.
Sources: IIT Roorkee Laboratory of Inclusive Design: Harmonised Guidelines 2021 ↗ · NITI Aayog: Senior Care Reforms in India, February 2024 position paper ↗
6. Assign tasks and communicate changes
Create a short role sheet: welcome contact, access coordinator, discussion facilitator, venue liaison and departure contact. One person may hold more than one role only if the timing allows it. Brief volunteers on respectful language, the agreed assistance boundaries and where to refer a concern. Support should feel available without turning each participant into a supervised case.
If the room, timing or route changes, tell participants using the channels they chose. Recheck the consequences rather than assuming the replacement is equivalent. A last-minute upstairs room may invalidate earlier access information. Be prepared to postpone or relocate when a critical requirement cannot be met safely. A clear change notice is better than expecting people to discover the problem on arrival.
Sources: DEPwD: culture-sector accessibility standards notification, 2023 ↗
7. Review the whole participation journey
After the event, ask what worked and where participation stopped. Count a missed transport connection or an unusable question format as useful information, not a participant’s failure. Offer private feedback and accept that some people will not respond. Compare the event’s actual decisions with its stated purpose: did residents’ contributions shape an action or simply fill a ceremonial slot?
Record each priority barrier, its owner and a realistic completion date. Thank people for their contribution without publishing photographs or personal details by default. A reusable access checklist becomes valuable when participants can correct it and organisers act on those corrections.
Sources: IIT Roorkee Laboratory of Inclusive Design: Harmonised Guidelines 2021 ↗
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Design a sixty-minute residents’ meeting
- Define one decision the meeting should help make. List three participant preferences without assuming them from age.
- Map invitation, arrival, activity and departure. For each, identify one barrier and the person responsible for checking it.
- Create a budget and timetable that preserve access and different ways to contribute. Label all invented prices illustrative.
- Write a change notice and two feedback questions. Decide which unresolved barrier would require revising the event.
Check your understanding
Why is inviting older residents not enough?
They also need workable access, communication, participation and departure arrangements. An invitation does not remove those barriers.
What is wrong with promising 'fully accessible' before checking?
It hides uncertainty and may mislead participants. Describe verified features and resolve unknowns.
The ₹6,000 example adds ₹500 without reducing anything. What happens?
The total becomes ₹6,500, exceeding the budget by ₹500. Revise the plan or confirm additional funds.
A ramp reaches the room, but questions require standing. What remains inaccessible?
The participation process. Provide usable ways to contribute, such as seated speaking or written questions.
Should every older participant automatically receive a helper?
No. Ask what support is wanted and respect independence. Age does not determine a single assistance need.
Who should install an improvised ramp on event morning?
Do not improvise one. Seek competent venue assessment and a safe approved arrangement, or change the venue or plan.