[responsivevoice_button]One in five individuals in the UK is affected by a hidden or visible impairment. And this impairment can often affect their decision on where to visit or stay. This is why following the disabled accessibility standards plays an important role in your business & their customers. For your business to be more inclusive, the first thing to do is conduct a thorough review of your facilities disabled access.
Data shows people with impairments or underlying health conditions and their companions spends £12 billion annually on travel in England. Studies also shows, improved accessibility can generate an estimated additional £117 million which could benefit businesses.
So How do we start? Start with a thorough disability access audit….
But what is a disability access audit?
A disability access audit appraises the current status of a building, service, or environment to ensure that they meet the standards and apply the best practices to meet or benchmark accessibility for disabled people. Once this is applied, a periodical disabled access audit is needed just so we can keep up to date with the standards.
Individuals with disabilities are well known to be quite loyal to places, venues and services that meet their needs. In order to get a more optimal view of these needs, you can ask your customers to input their ideas by conducting a disabled access review. By hearing their feedback directly, you will be able to get more insightful information to meet their needs in ways such as follows;
- Conducting disability awareness training for your staff
- Laying out emergency evacuation assistance
- Ways of coping with or handling assistance dogs when needed
- Ensuring that all written communication options are available to customers and that they meet disabled accessibility standards
- Providing an acceptable number of accessible parking for both the impaired
- Emergency pull cord access is available and within reach of those who need them.
- Providing accessibility guides and signage that are accurate, visible, and detailed
A periodic disabled access audit should be included in your checklist to ensure that your business complies with or is at par with the government standards and can satisfy not only your clients with impairments but as well as the needs of their companions.