KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The football world is about to focus on Union Station.

The NFL Draft is only six days away, and a throng of fans will crowd around Union Station and Washington Square Park for Thursday Night’s First Round party.

The National Football League estimates 300,000 fans attended last year’s draft in Las Vegas. This year’s gathering is expected to be even larger.

Advocates for people with disabilities said they appreciate what the NFL is doing to make this event accessible.

“(People with disabilities) know what they’re doing. They’ve done their homework,” Kim Krueger, who works with The Whole Person, said.

Krueger, who uses a rollator to get around, works with accessibility concerns every day. Krueger is pleased that the NFL plans to stage wheelchair shuttle vans at W. 19th and Main Street, and a limited number of accessible parking spaces will be available nearby. Requests for those areas must be made in advance.

“An event like this has to have guidelines and restrictions to make sure everyone has a great experience,” Krueger said.

Krueger said people with accessibility concerns are accustomed to planning ahead, especially when they attend events at unfamiliar locations.

“Knowing the whole environment of the draft is going to welcome them and have resources available if they need them — they most likely won’t — because they’ve done their homework,” Krueger said.

The walk from some available parking areas for the general public to the draft stage at Union Station is more Ethan a mile. The NFL’s website has a section dedicated to next week’s draft, including a long list of accessible provisions.

The website indicated seating areas for the visually impaired will be made available at the World War One Museum, and all video monitors will include closed captioning. 

Kirby Hough, who works with visually impaired people at The Whole Person, lives without full use of her eyes. Hough attended the Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February, an event many are using to gauge the size of the draft.

“All those orange barriers were set up. It would be hard for me to see the opening where to get out. Obviously, you can follow other people and figure it out, but people are going every which way,” Hough said.