5 minute read
THE POWER OF ACCESSIBILITY INFO
Power THE OF ACCESSIBILITY INFO
Carrie-Ann Lightley discusses the importance of accurate accessibility information, especially as we emerge out of lockdown
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The threat posed by COVID-19 leaves many people worried about leaving their homes. For disabled people however, feeling anxious about going out is not a new thing, in some ways that worry has always been there for us.
The fear of visiting a new place which may not actually be suitable for our individual accessibility needs – arrival anxiety – can be so consuming, that, in the days before coronavirus-induced isolation, many disabled people simply chose to stay at home, or to only visit places that they were already familiar with.
In 2018, over 800 people responded to a survey titled Accessibility and You, from national disability organisation AccessAble. 98% of those surveyed said that they check accessibility information in advance of going to a new place. Just 14% of respondents said that they could find the information they needed, 80% found this information to be inaccurate, and 76% have not visited a venue because of a lack of accessibility information.
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS This rings true with my own experiences. I have cerebral palsy, I use a wheelchair, and I’m passionate about accessible travel. I write reviews of accessible accommodation and experiences, and can often spend days or even weeks researching trips, with mixed results. Earlier this year I channelled the frustration I felt about this into a blog post about why I think terms like “fully accessible” don’t help disabled people.
My point in the blog post was that “fully accessible” is actually impossible, it doesn’t exist. Fully accessible to who? Just because two people have the same medical condition, or use the same type of mobility aid, doesn’t mean that their access needs are the same.
Other unhelpful terms include “wheelchairfriendly” - friendly to exactly what kind of wheelchair? Manual, powered, small or large? If we are focussing on the suitability of a venue based on a particular mobility aid, why aren’t we taking into account the abilities of the person using that aid?
Disabled people are just as individual as everyone else on the planet, and so are our wants and needs. In my opinion, the best accessibility takes the needs of as many different impairments as possible into account, and communicates that in a detailed, accurate way.
Give us the information we need to decide if a place is suitable for us. Information about level access, Blue Badge parking and accessible toilets. Tell us about quiet spaces for people who have autism or anyone who struggles with too much stimulus. Tell us if your staff are trained in assisting people with dementia. Give us the detail on facilities for assistance dogs, hearing loops, visual smoke alarms, stoma friendly toilets.
This information, and so much more, can be created and found using the right sources.
AccessAble’s website and app have detailed, accurate, factual information to around 70,000 venues across the UK - shops, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, railway stations, hotels, colleges, universities, hospitals and more. Thousands of pieces of information for each venue, all thoroughly checked in person by trained surveyors who record facts, figures and photographs.
A number of national and regional accessibility review websites and apps are available, for users to share their own experiences of accessing venues. These are especially useful for finding information on things like customer service, how welcoming places are to disabled customers, how easy it is to access Blue Badge parking, how much care has been taken to keep toilets free of clutter, and what to expect in terms of assistance available.
THE OTHER SIDE
Like millions of people who are currently isolating to protect themselves due to disability or health conditions, I’m already thinking about what life, travel and days out will look like on the other side. Will I be able to safely get on a bus or a train with assistance? Will social distancing rules mean that places are less crowded, and so more accessible to me? I don’t have the answers, but I am certain that the provision of accessibility information will be even more important.
After a lengthy period of isolation, when the time is right and safe for us to do so, many people with accessibility needs will be cautiously re-joining the outside world. What we absolutely don’t need at this point is inaccurate accessibility information, which will ruin much-anticipated trips. Imagine planning a dinner with family and friends for the first time in many months, only to arrive and find that the restaurant you were told was “fully accessible” actually has “just one step”; or anxiously preparing for your first commute back to
the workplace, to discover that the promised hearing loops in the train station ticket office aren’t actually working.
These are fears that disabled people, carers and those with accessibility needs battle with daily, and they can only be magnified after so much time spent at home.
Whatever our ‘new normal’ looks like, the importance of accessibility information cannot be forgotten. Businesses will need their share of the £249 billion that disabled people contribute to the UK economy every year more than ever – but we can only support them if this information is made available to us.
A B O U T C A R R I E - A N N
Carrie-Ann Lightley has worked in accessible tourism and marketing for 15 years. She has cerebral palsy and runs her own blog which mainly focuses on accessible travel, you can read this at carrieannlightley.com. You can follow Carrie-Ann on Twitter @CarrieALightley.
