At the beginning of 2026, the City of Philadelphia is announced its new Accessibility Plan requirement to better accommodate residents and visitors with disabilities during special events. When applying for a special event permit from the City, event organizers now must submit an Accessibility Plan detailing how they plan to address accessibility accommodations at their events.
We’ve just added a new online training to make it easier for event organizers to meet these requirements!
Event organizers should:
- Review our Office for People with Disabilities best practices list (OPD-Special-Events-Considerations.pdf)
- Take the new ADA Accessibility for Public Events Training online!
- Complete the accessibility checklist indicating how you’re addressing each category of needs
- Consider this additional resource: A Planning Guide for Making Temporary Events Accessible to People With Disabilities | ADA National Network.
Event organizers may also submit other documentation showing accessibility accommodations.
Remember! The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to both temporary and permanent construction as well as programming. Additionally, accessibility should include but must also go beyond wheelchair access — people might have mobility needs, visual or hearing impairments, neurodiversity, severe food allergies, or more. Philadelphia has the highest disability rate among major U.S. cities, making accessibility improvements not only legally required and ethically sound, but also strategically beneficial for reaching a wider audience.
To the disability community, we know this is a long time coming and appreciate the patience and trust of our community. We are excited to work with staff, event organizers, and the public on continued accessibility improvements.
If you have accessibility issues with a special event in the City, please fill out the accommodation request form here (Submit a reasonable modification request | Services | City of Philadelphia).
