Raising Quality

Becoming Compliant

This information is part of the Accessibility topic.

In this topic:

• Your business and the DDA
• Becoming compliant

The Equality and Human Rights Commission publish excellent guides for businesses of all kinds including attractions, accommodation providers and cafes. The guides take you through reviewing, deciding on adjustments, training staff and managing the process. See Sources of Information and Useful Resources below.

Becoming compliant

Under the DDA you are required to make your business as accessible as possible to customers (and also staff and suppliers) by making reasonable adjustments and training staff. Don't forget this must also include your website and also any services you offer via phone and mail. As with all customers, how you treat them has a huge impact on their experience, so staff training is essential. There are lots of training courses and training materials that you can use in-house.
Achieving high levels of accessibility requires a methodical, thoughtful approach:

• Gather information
• Think about the needs of people with disabilities
• Plan reasonable adjustments and train staff
• Write an accessibility statement (so people with disabilities get an honest idea of how accessible your business is for their needs)

Gather information

The first step for any business is to gather information. How can you make reasonable adjustments if you don't have an idea of needs, or how to meet them? Fortunately there is lots of help: the Equality and Human Rights Commission, ACAS, the Work and Pension Directorate, Directgov, VisitBritain, DisabledGo, and Tourism for All all provide excellent information and downloads. Your local authority will also have information and guidance. Check www.businesslink.gov.uk and this Toolkit for disability awareness training and Welcome All events. Check www.disabledgo.info to see what kind of information and adjustments are most helpful to disabled people. See below for full details of where to get help and guidance.

Think about the needs of customers with a wide range of disabilities

You need to think widely about the kinds of impairment that customers (or staff, or suppliers) may have. The tendency for many of us is to think about wheelchairs when we consider the needs of disabled people. But what about loss of fine motor control, or lack of ability to distinguish between certain colours, or impaired vision or hearing, or severe dyslexia? And how many of us can truly say we understand the needs of people with mental illness or mental health issues? Click here to see types of disability and click here to see a list of major charities.

Once you've gathered your information, and looked at case studies, you will be in a much stronger position to consider needs.

Plan reasonable adjustments

The next step will be to review your business and look at what changes you could make to become more accessible. The National Accessible Scheme (see below) has some self-audit tools. Whilst investing in auxiliary aids like hearing induction loops, ramps, tactile signs etc has a cost attached, many other changes don't cost anything to implement, they just require you to be aware and respond accordingly. 'Adjusting for better business booklet' from the Department of Work and Pensions will give you ideas and help you plan, and there are a range of booklets from the Equality and Human Rights Commission tailored to your business type (see below).

Looking at what you currently do and comparing this to examples of good practice and case studies will help you produce a list of adjustments and a timetable for implementing them - an action plan. You aren't required by law to do everything straight away and there are many benefits to taking some time and getting feedback from disabled customers about how effective your adjustments are.

Staff training

As well as planning adjustments you will also need to schedule staff training. Disabled people are no different to any other kind of customer; the warmth, understanding and respect your staff show will have a huge impact on their experience. Use the Toolkit, your local authority, local colleges and training providers to find nearby disability awareness training and events. There are also lots of resources you can use in house - paper, CD ROM and DVD - available from the organisations listed below.

Accessibility audits

An accessibility audit is a review of your business in terms of accessibility. The review doesn't just look at what you are doing now, it provides detailed guidance on what you could be doing to become more accessible. You can do self-audits - tools are available from VisitBritain - or you can have an independent audit by a qualified access consultant - see the National Register of Access Consultants www.nrac.org to find one.

Access statements

Access statements are much more than 'policy' red-tape. An access statement is a really useful document for guests with disabilities, because it describes your premises, products and services in terms of accessibility (steps, ramps, grab rails, signs, lighting, toilets, help from staff etc). An access statement means customers with disabilities know what to expect in advance, and can plan for any difficulties. A good access statement can make the difference between enjoying a break away from home, or being miserable, frustrated and even humiliated. Visit www.disabilitygo.info and look at what they call their access guides for examples, or look at VisitBritain's example Access Statements.

Since October 2007 having an access statement is mandatory for the Quality Assessment (star rating) system run by VisitBritain. You cannot be graded for your star rating without one. Click here to go to VisitBritain's pages on this.

Websites and other communication

The DDA requires that your website and all your other communication methods are accessible. An accessible website is one that can be used by blind or sight impaired users (who may use site-reading tools, that read text aloud) so allow text to be made bigger, clearly space text out and label tables, images and video, with descriptions. It is also suitable for users with learning disabilities, so text must be plain English and clearly presented, by users with colour difficulties, so avoid lots of clashing colour, areas that are too similar in colour, and text on coloured backgrounds that cannot be easily distinguished, and allow users to change colours on your site if they wish.

Sites must also be suitable for users with impaired use of their hands or arms, with severe tremors or shaking and with loss of fine motor control, so ensure that links and menu options are a reasonable size (not too small) and are spaced well apart, to avoid the unbearable frustration of trying to get the mouse on just the right bit to click.

These are just a few of the issues, and some are technical. Check your web designer understands and complies with accessibility guidelines (see www.w3c.org, the RNIB Web Access Centre and Your Website in the IT, Websites and Selling Online section of this Toolkit for more information).

Your other communication options should also be suitable. Consider providing brochures, price lists and essential information in large print (you can keep the text from your existing literature and price lists etc, on your computer and print it in large fonts and appropriate colours, including pictures where necessary). And consider providing very simplified versions for users with learning disabilities.

The National Accessible Scheme

VisitBritain offers the National Accessible Scheme, a set of accessible standards against which businesses are assessed and then awarded a rating for each of three categories: physically disabled customers, customers with visual impairments, customers with hearing impairments. The scheme provides guidelines for businesses to make reasonable adjustments and includes a series of self-survey documents. An assessor will visit to survey and award the rating.

The scheme aims to allow customers with disabilities to make informed choices about where they can take holidays, and allows businesses with a strong approach to accessibility to advertise and promote their services through nationally recognised symbols.

It is open to serviced, self catering and camping, touring and holiday park accommodation providers. Click here to visit the National Accessible Scheme pages on the VisitBritain website.

Sources of information and useful resources

Good sources of information are:

www.tourismforall.org.uk
Tourism For All is a national charity with aims to improve accessibility in the tourism and hospitality industry. It aims to provide disabled customers with information about where to holiday in the UK, and tourism and hospitality businesses with information on how to meet their needs. They provide information, guidance, ideas, case studies, tools and training.

www.disabledgo.info
DisabledGo is an internet service for disabled people. It provides detailed access statements and photographs for civic venues, hotels, galleries, restaurants etc. It has been several years in the making, including a 2 year consultation with disabled people and the major charities, is steered by Steering Groups of disabled people around the country and is sponsored by Marks and Spencer. Every venue is personally visited and graded against detailed standards.

www.tourismtrade.org.uk
This is the trade website for VisitBritain.

www.dwp.gov.uk
This is the website for the Department of Work and Pensions (the government department responsible for overseeing the Disability Discrimination Act). It has some excellent information and guides.

www.equalityhumanrights.com
The website for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This non-departmental body (accountable for its public funds but independent of government) replaces the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality, and the Disability Rights Commission. The website is an excellent resource full of very readable information and clear guidance for businesses and individuals.

www.businesslink.gov.uk
As ever, Business Link provides a really good access point for all issues relating to business, including training on disability issues.

www.employers-forum.co.uk
The Employers Forum on Disability aims to make it easier for businesses to employ disabled staff and serve disabled customers.

www.direct.gov.uk
DirectGov has information on disability issues and you can use it to link to local councils, for information about what your council has to offer in terms of disability awareness advice and training.

www.access-auditing.com
Access All Areas - a long standing and respected DDA audit service.

www.cae.org.uk
The Centre for Accessible Environments - a charity and leading authority on creating accessible environments.

www.tdas.org.uk
The Disability Access Services - lots of information about auxiliary aids, such as induction loops, tactile signs etc, that make shops and services more accessible. They also provide services such as website audits and training.

www.nrac.org.uk
The National Register of Access Consultants - go here to find registered training providers and access auditors.

www.w3.org The World Wide Web Consortium - go here for information on accessible websites.