Accessibility
What to expect: A guide for guests with additional needs
You can click here for a PDF version of this guide
At Royal Holloway, we welcome visitors and students of all abilities. Whether you have a Specific Learning Difficulty, Physical Disability, Visual or Hearing Impairment, or any other additional need and require support during the day, please let us know.
Planning your day
We understand that for some individuals, visiting a new place can be a stressful experience. To help you prepare, here is a short introduction to some of the places and people you may encounter during the day. The HE Teaching Development Conference 2024 will take part in the Moore Building (number 1 on the campus map, circled below)
From the main gate
Walk down towards Founders and turn left. Follow the road around and Moore building can be found on the left-hand side of the road. See picture guide below.
From the side gate (Piggery gate)
Walk past the carpark and up to the zebra-crossing near a red brick wall. Take the steps or the ramp up to the student’s union pub. Cross the courtyard, and turn left, following the road. The Moore building is just over the hill and will be on the right-hand side of the road. It is recognisable as a large, round grey building from this side. See the picture guide below.
From the back entrance (the Sports Centre on Prune Hill)
Follow the path through the woods. You can either go up the stairs, or through the back of the halls for step-free access. At the top of the stairs, turn right and follow the road. Turn right at the top of this road and walk down the path until you get to the red brick wall with the ramp up to the SU building from this side. As above, go up the ramp, across the courtyard and follow the road to the left. Moore building will be recognisable as a large, round grey building from this side. See picture guide below.
The Moore Building Entrance
The conference takes place on the ground floor of the Moore building and so is wheelchair accessible.
The building has a ramp at the entrance (to the left of the stairs in the below picture). There are buttons to open the automatic doors for easier access.
The Moore building is recognisable as it has large green and yellow panelling on one side of the building. On the other side, it appears as a large, rounded grey dome. See picture guide below.
The Moore Building- Getting Around
All rooms that will be used on the day are accessible via the Moore foyer pictured below. This is where the lunch/refreshments will be served, and where most of the socialising/networking will take place. Note that the floor surface is shiny and so may appear slippery to some guests.
The seminar rooms and quiet rooms are around to the left as you enter from the main door. The hallway is located by the blue sofas, underneath the white overhanging ledge.
On the right-hand picture, Seminar Room 2 is the first door on the left, and Seminar Room 3 is the second. The quiet room (Seminar Room 6) is the door in the far-left corner of the hallway.
The Moore Lecture Theatre
The welcome, keynotes and panel sessions will take place within the Moore Lecture Theatre. This room is lit by adjustable, synthetic overhead lighting. It has one lectern for the speaker in the centre of the room, with a large projector board behind this.
There are 5 rows of seats with desks, all positioned in a semi-circle around the front lectern. There are sockets situated on the end seats of some rows for guests with chargeable devices. Please note that the front row will be reserved for guests with access needs.
The main entrance/exit is the white door to the left of the bottom right-hand picture. The fire door is the white door on the right.
The Moore building, photographed from the speaker’s point of view (left) and from the audience’s point of view (right) for all our guests.
The Moore Seminar Rooms
The interactive workshop activity will take place within Seminar Room 2 or Seminar Room 3. You may choose which session to attend based on your interests on the day. A team of event Ambassadors will be on hand to help you find these rooms.
Both rooms have glass panel walls for natural lighting, and a TV in the centre of the far-left walls for presentations.
The Quiet Room
A Quiet Room for guests who may require a space with reduced sensory input is available in Moore Seminar Room 6.
This room is located in the back left corner of the corridor where Moore Seminar Rooms 2 and 3 are located. It is clearly labelled with a large, white number 6 on the door. The room is smaller and has good natural lighting.
If you need help finding this room, please approach an event Ambassador who will be happy to help you.
Wheelchair Access and Disabled Parking
Wheelchair Access
The conference takes place on the ground floor of the Moore building only. This building is accessible via a ramp and has buttons to open the automatic doors. The disabled toilets are also located on the ground floor to the rear, right-hand side of the building. Please note that some of our campus has 19th century architecture which may make accessibility more challenging. You can check the accessibility of all our buildings ahead of your visit via the AccessAble site.
Disabled Parking
Blue badge holders can find designated parking spaces in all of our main carparks. There are also a number of stepfree access routes from the car parks to the Moore building. If you will require any assistance on arrival, please send an email to: premisesadmin@royalholloway.ac.uk in advance of your visit and they will be happy to help.
Gender Neutral Toilets
The nearest gender neutral toilets are located in Emily Wilding Davison building (the library). You can get here by crossing the road when you exit Moore, and turning right. The library is the building behind the orange-appearing building just across from Moore’s entrance.
There are also gender neutral toilets in Boilerhouse Café. These can be found if you turn left when you exit Moore building, and follow the road down. Note that Boilerhouse is located down a steep ramp off to the left-hand side of the road, and this may pose an access issue to some guests.
If you need help locating our nearest gender-neutral toilet, our event Ambassadors will be happy to give directions on the day.
Map of Gender Neutral Toilets
The location of all gender neutral toilets are marked with a blue WC symbol on the map overleaf. We have also circled the Emily Wilding Davison and Boilerhouse buildings for ease.
Other Information
Hearing and Visual Impairments
The lecture theatre in the Moore Building is fitted with hearing-loop systems for individuals with hearing impairments. If you require forms or documents in enlarged print, please inform us before the day so that we can arrange these for you.
Neurodivergent guests and guests with sensory processing difficulties
We appreciate that some guests may have sensory processing differences. We encourage any guests to use the designated quiet room (Seminar Room 6) if they feel the need to during the conference. If you have any specific issues (e.g. with fluorescent lights, certain noises) due to neurodiversity or other conditions, then please feel free to get in touch with us in advance (HETDconference2024@rhul.ac.uk) so we can see what we can do to make our environment as accessible as possible for you.
Other needs?
Please get in touch with us and we will see what we can do! You can email Dr Aysha Bellamy at HETDconference2024@rhul.ac.uk.
Event Organisers
There will be someone from our wonderful team at THESIS to welcome you as soon as you arrive in the Moore foyer on the day.
We also include a picture of the main organisers of the conference, so you know who to look out for on the day.
Event Ambassadors
If you require any assistance on the day, then you may wish to speak to one of our event ambassadors (pictured below). You can also reach out with any general enquiries before the day to Dr. Aysha Bellamy at: HETDconference2024@rhul.ac.uk.
