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Setting Up Meeting Space

Recommendations for Meeting Space Set-Up

Once you have identified the number of attendees, speakers, staff, ASL interpreters, and personal care attendants, you are ready to set up your meeting space. You will need to consider the following:

• Plan for 20-30% more space to accommodate people with disabilities.
• Meeting room tables should have a 30-inch clearance between the floor and table apron.
• Aisles should be at least 36 inches, but preferably 62 inches.
• Provide ample space between chairs and tables to enable people with mobility devices to maneuver.
• Plan for the whole space to be accessible rather than having one area reserved for people with disabilities or Deaf participants. People should be able to sit where they want and with whom they want.
• Be sure to factor in the seating needs of your sign language interpreters. Your meeting set-up and the number of Deaf participants will determine the number of interpreters you will need. In breakout rooms, you will want to create space at the front of the room for interpreters. As a general rule, you should always have a minimum of two interpreters for each session.
• If using a speaker’s platform, be sure the facility provides a safe ramp with railings that connects to the platform.
• Be sure that microphones are used at all times, regardless of the size of the meeting rooms. Not only is it courteous to others to be able to hear the question, it also helps people using assistive listening devices hear the question and it helps the ASL interpreters provide quality interpreting for Deaf participants.

Basic Styles

Basice styles for room set-up include:

• Theater style – Theater style is characterized by rows of chairs set with no tables. When setting a room in theater style, be sure to include one row of classroom in the back for people who prefer or need a tabletop. Theater style is not recommended for large spaces as most people will have their backs to one another.
• Classroom style – Classroom style is characterized by rows of tables set with chairs. In a smaller space, it is very difficult to ensure that classroom style is accessible. However, classroom style is not recommended for large spaces because everyone will have their backs to one another.
• Round table style– Round table style is characterized by large round tables set with chairs. If you are going to set your rooms with round tables, you should do crescent rounds of 5-6 chairs so that nobody’s back is to the speaker.
• Conference style – Conference style is characterized by a large conference table set with chairs. This style works best in small meetings.

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