Stage One: The Future is Accessible by lydiawarren

The retail shopping experience is not inclusive of those with physical disabilities. To what extent is this true?

LYDIA WARREN | N0728408 I confirm that this work has gained ethical approval and that we have faithfully observed the terms of approval in the conduct of this project. Signed: ..................... Date: ..../..../........ Word Count: 7649

1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................6 1.2 RATIONALE...............................................................................9 1.3 AIMS......................................................................................10 1.4 OBJECTIVES...........................................................................10 2. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................13 2.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................14 2.2 DISABLED BY THE WORLD.......................................................14 2.3 CHALLENGING ATTITUDES......................................................16 2.4 A PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL NEED?......................................18 2.5 RESEARCH GAP......................................................................20 3. METHODOLOGY..................................................................................24 3.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................26 3.2 OBJECTIVES MATRIX..............................................................26 3.3 SAMPLE..................................................................................26 3.4 SECONDARY RESEARCH.........................................................27 3.5 PRIMARY RESEARCH...............................................................28 3.6 WHAT WOULD BE DONE DIFFERENTLY......................................30 3.7 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS............................................30 3.8 TRIANGULATION IMPLEMENTATION........................................33 4. RESEARCH FINDINGS.........................................................................35 5. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS..............................................................39 5.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................40 5.2 TIME FOR AN ATTITUDE CHECK?.............................................42 5.3 DISABILITY: BRANDS RESPONSIBILITY?...................................43 5.4 WIDEN THE DOOR..................................................................48 5.5 AN EXPERT OPINION..............................................................52 5.6 CONCLUSION.........................................................................52 6. KEY INSIGHTS.....................................................................................54 7.CONCLUSION.....................................................................................59 7.1 CRITICAL REFLECTION............................................................60 7.2 PESTLE ANALYSIS....................................................................62 7.3 RANKING EXTERNAL FACTORS...............................................64 7.4 SCENARIO PLANNING MODEL................................................65 7.5 RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................66 7.6 FINAL WORDS.........................................................................67 8. REFERENCES.......................................................................................68 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................70 10. IMAGE REFERENCES..........................................................................74 11.APPENDIX.........................................................................................76

C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION 6

1.1 INTRODUCTION

With shopping and retail environments designed to be a leisurely pastime, brands are forgetting about this minority group, when designing and executing their plans for their stores. With almost 20% of people in the UK having a disability, it is time for businesses and brands to take responsibility for the exclusion they cause by not having accessible stores. (Department for Work and Pensions, 2016) This report is focused on the research question, “The retail shopping experience is not inclusive of those with physical disabilities. To what extent is this true?” Firstly, the report will consider the existing literature surrounding this area, and consequently examine this for gaps in the existing literature. Following this, primary research endeavours to bridge the highlighted gaps. Results of the primary research will be critically evaluated and utilized to develop insights which can act as springboards for opportunities for Stage 2.

“Three quarters of disabled people have left a shop or business because of accessibility issues.” (The Ramp People, 2018).

1.2 RATIONALE Accessibility and the rights of disabled individuals is a topic which has grown in significance over recent years, with those affected becoming more vocal about challenges they face. Inspired by blind influencer, Molly Burke, this area has been thoroughly researched and understood by the researcher. Equal rights and accessibility for all is something which has spurred the investigation into this area and informed the research which has been carried out. Touched by the accounts which have been read and emotions shared by individuals affected by accessibility issues, extensive understanding and knowledge has been sourced. This aims to develop suggestions and recommendations to improve the accessibility for those with a physical disability and regain the selfconfidence which may have been altered by the levels of discrimination which have been faced.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The worst thing about a disability is that people see it before you they see youâ&#x20AC;? 10

Monica Sucha Vickers

1.3 AIM To explore and understand the impact of the fashion retail experience on those with physical disability who are not able to access this.

1.4 OBJECTIVES 1. To investigate and understand the potential legislation on retailers to make stores and shopping spaces accessible for those with a physical disability and gain knowledge of the training and preparation stores teach staff, in regard to serving a disabled customer. 2. To examine the effect that limitations of a noninclusive retail experience has on someone with a physical disability, and how this impacts their daily lives. 3. To understand the emotional impacts of being excluded has on those with a physical disability, and the way in which this affects the future of their shopping habits. 4. To consider the way that Instagram culture is excluding those who have a physical disability, with relatability to influencers and online personalities being limited. 5. To gain knowledge of the impact the restricted retail environment has on the self-esteem and confidence of persons with a physical disability. 6. To challenge the responsibility that brands have to make a consumer with a physical disability feel welcome shopping at their store, or online, and to consider the changes which they could make to aid this.

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION In order to conduct primary research, it is necessary to scope the existing research and establish the current landscape of findings, knowledge and literature. Thus, a literature review has been written to assess the key findings and concepts, sorting the information sourced into themes and groups, enabling the identification of areas for development, which will be taken forward into primary research. While highlighting the challenges and limitations of the existing research, gaps and opportunities will surface to be developed for the conducting of primary research.

2.2 DISABLED BY THE WORLD 2.2.1 MODELS OF DISABILITY When considering the very essence of disability, and how the world, and retail is not set up for this, it is important to identify the very understanding of disability. According to the Equality Act, disability is defined as, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-today activities.â&#x20AC;? (Equality Act, 2010). Upon scrutiny of this definition, it articulates that disability begins with the individual having an impairment. However, it can be questioned that having an impairment is not ample in order to be classified as a disability. Hence, the impairment must determine considerable limitations upon the individual, in comparison with a nondisabled individual. While this therefore includes a diversity of disabilities, for the nature of analysing the current accessibility for disabled individuals, a focus will be angled towards those with a physical or mobility disability. Models of disability enable one to assess the perception of disability, and how this is embodied to affect those who deal with

a physical disability. A key theory here is the Social Model of Disability. “The Social Model of Disability emerged from the intellectual and political arguments of the Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS)” (Oliver, 2013). In 1975, the UK organization Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) claimed: "In our view it is society which disables physically impaired people. Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society.” (Shakespeare, 2002). The key basis of the Social Model of Disability considers the way in which the world in fact makes an individual more disabled, as their needs are not considered in the design of the world, causing more implications. Graham Pullin talks about the tensions between the design of the world and how this impacts those with disability, in his book ‘Design meets disability’. He states, “disability can lead to problems in people’s lives, either directly or indirectly. These problems are either viewed as being inherent in an impairment itself or as being created by the designed environment and other people’s behaviours.” (Pullin, 2009). This reinforces the concept of disability being heightened by the lack of inclusive design which can be seen in various aspects of daily life. Pullin goes on to discuss the tension between design being universal, and being simple, considering the way in which there is often pressure for design to be universal, how designing with special features will affect the universality of a product or service. (Pullin, 2009) Similar to this, Carol Kaufman–Scarborough considers the physical implications of designing for disability, in her article entitled “Reasonable Access for Mobility-Disabled Persons is More Than Widening the Door.” KaufmanScarborough investigates the access needed for those with a disability, and how that this is not met in day to day life. Considering store layouts, escalators and lifts are all elements which are often designed for a universal outcome, which then have to be developed to be accessible for those with a disability. (Kaufman-Scarborough, 1999) 15

2.2.2 RESISTING MODELS OF DISABILITY Susan Gabel and Susan Peters investigate the notion of rejecting models of disability and pursuing a paradigm shift. The article entitled, ‘Bogner, A., Littig, B. and Menz, W. (2016). INTERVIEWING EXPERTS. [Place of publication not identified]: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, p.2. Businessinsider.com. (n.d.). Generation Z: Latest Gen Z News, Research, Facts & Strategies | Business Insider. [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider. com/generation-z?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 11 Jan. 2020]. Denzin, N. (2017). The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill, p.300. Department for Work and Pensions (2016). Family Resources Survey 2016/17. United Kingdom: GOV.UK, pp.1-12. Equalityadvisoryservice.com. (2011). Equality Act 2010. [online] Available at: http://www. equalityadvisoryservice.com/ci/ fattach/get/586/1354033333/ redirect/1/session/

2.3 CHALLENGING ATTITUDES Now the models of disability are established, and alternative perspective towards accessibility and disability is that of the societal views towards this area, and the perception of those with physical disabilities, and their disregard as human beings. Katherine Quarmby states, ““understanding the negative attitudes of many in society towards disabled people is critical”, (Quarmby, 2011) indicating the importance of acknowledging the attitudes of society, and highlighting them as negative, which indicates the affect that this may have on the individuals. Quarmby goes on to discuss the affect that this has on the individual, as constantly being told portrayed a negative opinion upon an individual is something that will be detrimental to the person. 16

2.3.2 “I AM NOT YOUR INSPIRATION” In a Ted Talk entitled, “I am not your inspiration, thank you”, Stella Young considers the attitudes towards individuals with a disability, and touches on the topic of being someone’s inspiration, due to the circumstances that she is in, in comparison to an able-bodied individual. She talks of a time when she was nominated for an award in school, to which her parents questioned why the award was being given to her, as she wasn’t doing anything particularly amazing. She says, “I wasn't doing anything that was out of the ordinary at all. I wasn't doing anything that could be considered an achievement if you took disability out of the equation.” (Young, 2014). Young goes on to say, “I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you dramatically. I am not here to inspire you. I am here to tell you that we have been lied to about disability. Yeah, we've been sold the lie that disability is a Bad Thing, capital B, capital T. It's a bad thing, and to live with a disability makes you exceptional. It's not a bad thing, and it doesn't make you exceptional.” (Young, 2019). Here, Young is challenging the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding those who have a disability and rebuking the notion that it is something exceptional. This considers the way in which the attitudes of those outside of the situation have the ability, whether subconsciously or consciously, to impact the feeling and attitudes of an individual with a disability. It should be no one else’s place to make an opinion or share an attitude on another individual’s disability.

2.4 A PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL NEED? Carol Kaufman-Scarborough, an author and lecture in the field of accessibility and disability studies, wrote a paper entitled, “Reasonable Access for Mobility-Disabled Persons is More Than Widening the Door”, in which she considered what “reasonable access” manifests itself in when paired up with guidelines and laws regarding the accessibility of stores. The article includes a research project carried out by Kauffman-Scarborough, in which a sample group were interviewed about the experiences they face. (Kaufman-Scarborough, 1999).

“Retailers generally attempt to utilize their floor space profitably, with an optimal blend of selling area, aisles, and customer space. Selling floors and stairs were used in widely different ways in providing access to all merchandise. Many stores placed items in the aisles themselves, or conducted inventory during shopping hours, with unattended ladders and carts left blocking the pathways through the stores. Because of such conditions, moving through aisles and “turning around” were be impossible because of the narrowness of the aisle and store clutter” (Kaufman-Scarborough, 1999)

In this particular article, they key elements that were highlighted form the research were predominantly physical barriers that prevented the consumer from having a fully immersive experience in store. Similar to this, Klerk and Ampousah wrote an article entitled, “The physically disabled South African female consumer’s problems in purchasing clothing” (Klerk, Ampousah, 2002) which followed a similar line of contents to that of KaufmanScarborough’s aforementioned work. This work considers the challenges of a physically disabled woman, and offers an alternative perspective by considering the pressure and challenges of shopping for herself, but also of shopping for her family. This ponders the concept of the woman’s role in family life, and assumes that the

woman, whether disabled or not, is still maintaining the family routine by doing the shopping. the research conducted and included in the article is a sample of women who have shared in the challenges faced in their experience; elements such as problems when dressing, reaching things and navigating the store. Shop observations showed that, “From the results of this study, it is clear that it is very difficult, if not impossible, for the physically disabled woman to find fashionable, comfortable ready-towear clothes that fit her disability.”(Klerk, Ampousah, 2002). All of the physical challenges that have been mentioned are things that can, and should, be prevented from happening in stores if brands and staff were aware of these implications for customers with disabilities.

2.5 RESEARCH GAPS Upon analysis of the current literature, and the stance from which it approaches accessibility of retail stores, a key research gap which has been identified is the consideration of the emotional impact in this area. While the physical aspects of a store are the tangible elements which a consumer interacts with, it would be interesting to consider how this makes the consumer feel. Do they feel frustrated? Confused? Embarrassed? Self-confidence is a characteristic which humans pride themselves on, and the potential for ones selfconfidence to be lessened by the embarrassment of shopping is somewhat of a humbling and saddening thought. Having highlighted this area of interest from the gap in the existing literature, the methodology and primary research will allow space for this to be questioned and considered amongst the participants.

METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 INTRODUCTION In order to successfully achieve a broad range of research, a review of existing literature was conducted to develop understanding of current advances in research in the accessibility industry. Sources such as academic journals, books, articles, reports and conference talks have helped to form a rounded understanding of the appropriate knowledge, aiding the formulation of a framework upon which to base primary research.

3.2 OBJECTIVES MATRIX Research Methods

Objective 1

Objective 2

Objective 3

Objective 4

Objective 5

Objective 6

Secondary Online Survey Individual Interviews Carer Interviews Store Staff Interviews Experts Interviews

3.3 RESEARCH SAMPLE The research sample is individuals aged 18-30, who fall under the demographic categories of Generation Z, and late millennials, are those according to Business Insider, who have “been raised on the internet and social media” (Business Insider, n.d.). This research sample has been selected due to the rise of the internet and the way in which consumers interact with fashion through in store experiences, and online experiences. For those with a physical disability, the ability to shop online is vital. With the rise of social media and online influencers becoming “one of the most effective ways to attract customers and opens up a new channel for brands to connect with consumers directly”, this sample group is directly affected by this. Gen Z are “confident, self-possessed, and frighteningly mature” (Shear, n.d) This is an important characteristic trait for the research sample, as issues of accessibility and disability discrimination are more vocalised than before, with a generation who are keen to speak out. In order to successfully achieve a broad range of research, a review of existing literature was conducted to develop understanding of current advances in research in the accessibility industry. Sources such as academic journals, books, articles, reports and conference talks have helped to form a rounded understanding of the appropriate knowledge, aiding the formulation of a framework to base primary research upon. 26

3.4 SECONDARY RESEARCH QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE

In order to successfully achieve a broad range of research, a review of existing literature was conducted to develop understanding of current advances in research in the accessibility industry. Sources such as academic journals, books, articles, reports and conference talks have helped to form a rounded understanding of the appropriate knowledge, aiding the formulation of a framework to base primary research upon. Secondary research allows the researcher to access information from similar industries, contexts and fields, which may be more difficult in primary research, due to time constraints.

3.5 PRIMARY RESEARCH 3.5.1 ONLINE SURVEY QUANTITATIVE An online survey was created on Typeform, aimed at the target audience, approaching those with a physical disability. This survey was distributed via social media, disability forums, survey swap websites such as Survey Circle, and directly to potential respondents.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Surveys are regarded as highly reliable because they are easily replicated, and the quantifiable data can be verified by others. Moreover, the survey produces large amounts of statistical information, relatively quickly and cheaply, which enables comparisons to be made between different groups and populations.â&#x20AC;? (Chapman, 2005) The age limitations for this survey were 18-30, and it was created for individuals with a physical disability. With this in mind, the outcome of the survey was not as hoped, as it failed to reach 100 respondents, gaining only 21 responses. This invalidates the data which was collected as it is not a wide enough range of responses. It is arguable that the failure of this survey is due to the niche audience to which it was aimed. Disability is a sensitive topic and has the potential to make individuals feel vulnerable. Asking individuals to talk about their disability may be something which they do not wish to do. As the sample group for this survey was so niche, the channels in which to distribute the survey were limited, unlike a survey for anyone to answer which can be distributed wherever. As this data is invalid, no findings can be drawn based solely on this data. As such, this data will only be used to inform and suggest potential findings.

3.5.2 INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS QUALITATIVE Interviews were conducted with physically disabled individuals who are directly impacted by the accessibility of retail stores. Initially, a focus group was intended to gather rich qualitative research. Unfortunately, this proved to be difficult due to the abilities of the individuals intended to be involved. With disabled individuals having difficulty with mobility, it became a challenge to organise a focus group for all to attend at the same time. With this in mind, face to face and email interviews were conducted, allowing those who were able to meet in person the opportunity to do so, and those who were not able, to fill out their responses via email. The nature of the questions asked in these individuals interviews allowed participants to elaborate more on their own experiences of accessibility in a retail store, which thus generated in depth qualitative data, from which to conclude findings. 28

3.5.3 CARER INTERVIEWS QUALITATIVE Similar to the individual interviews, an extensive interview was completed with a carer, whose 23-year-old daughter suffers from Rett Syndrome. This alternative interview perspective allowed for insight into both the physically disabled individual themselves, and the carer, offering two differing viewpoints on the problems caused by accessibility. The perspective of the carer is one that hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really been considered and created some interesting insights into how accessibility affects more than just the disabled individual themselves.

3.5.4 STORE STAFF INTERVIEWS QUALITATIVE Various types of primary research conducted highlighted how disabled individuals felt towards store staff, and the way in which interactions with them either improved their experience or hindered it. Because of this, 12 interviews were conducted with retail store staff. This allowed a great deal of insight into the training, or lack of it, that retail staff are given in relation to accessibility and disability, and how these individuals would interact with those with a physical impairment. This highlighted areas such as the minimal training which was given to staff, and some areas of worry in regard to potentially offending a physically disabled customer. This primary research was highly valuable as it offered angles from which to approach this topic and prompted consideration as to how this can be solved.

3.5.5 EXPERT INTERVIEWS QUALITATIVE Skype interviews were conducted with key industry experts, offering the gain of professional insights into information gained through years of experience in accessibility. While interviewing an inclusion specialist, and CEO of Hassell Inclusion, discussion touched upon the accessibility of retail stores, both bricks and mortar, and the online accessibility of apps and websites. Great experience of the interviewee aided the quality of the interview, leading to key insights being drawn and developed. In discussion with a leading author in the field, Carol KaufmanScarborough, she shared a vast amount of information from her years of experience, as a researcher, teacher and author. Expert interviews were devised to explore the attitudes and opinions of those who know the industry the best.

3.6 WHAT WOULD BE DONE DIFFERENTLY? Upon reflection of the primary research conducted, the limitations faced would alter the way in which research would be carried out again. The main area which would be rethought is the gathering of quantitative data, through an online survey. When selecting such a niche sample, it was a high expectation that the necessary number of responses would be gained. This then became difficult when responses were minimal and made sharing the survey equally challenging. While opportunities such as sharing on social media were attempted, the audience which was receiving the survey, was not the correct audience for which this particular survey was aimed at. Online forums and groups were used to share the survey, but this was only modestly successful. For future changes, the gathering of quantitative data would be considered, and the way in which this was tailored, hopefully meaning that more responses would be gathered, and this data would thus be valid.

3.7 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS RESEARCH TYPE Secondary Research

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Through using secondary research, the researcher has the ability to gain understanding from existing work which has already been created.

A significant limitation of secondary research is the risk of bias from the author. As a secondary researcher, there is a blindness to the research when approaching work written by One of the key advantages another researcher. One does includes the access to an extensive not have the understanding of number of sources which already the motive for the research, the exist. This saves significant time authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal viewpoint or the and money for the researcher and intended outcome of the research can be used to add validity to the factors; all of which could limit results of self-conducted primary the levels of bias in the research research. findings. Similarly, another limiting aspect is that of outdated sources. Research that may no longer be relevant can act as a threat to the validity of findings based on secondary research.

RESEARCH TYPE Online Survey

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

An online survey allows participants to remain anonymous, not disclosing any part of their personal information, and remaining unidentifiable. This acts as an advantage, as respondents are able to answer freely and truthfully, without the risk of any judgement on their answers, which leads to a higher chance of more accurate results.

Research through online surveys often manifests in multiple choice answers, and restricted comment boxes, due to the nature of survey creation websites. This means that the restriction of how a participant is able to answer can potentially skew the results, impeding on their accuracy. While ratings, checkboxes and restricted answers create succinct data and responses, there is a limit on the depth of answers from participants.

Another key advantage to an online survey is the ability to collect data from a wide range of people. An online survey means there are no geographical barriers when participating and welcomes all types of people from different backgrounds. This allows for a broad range of results.

Individual interviews

The nature of individual interviews allows for an in-depth understanding of the participant’s viewpoints and feelings, which can be deduced through more than just the words which they are speaking. Author of Advantages and Disadvantages of Four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research, Raymond Opdenakker says, “Social cues, such as voice, intonation, body language etc. of the interviewee can give the interviewer a lot of extra information that can be added to the verbal answer of the interviewee on a question.” (Opdenakker, 2006) Moreover, one to one interviews encourage the participant to feel comfortable with the interviewer, enabling them to open up about their opinions, experiences and feelings.

An online survey gives the participant the ability to answer the questions in whatever way they desire, which can be limiting to the results. If a participant is not taking time on the answers, or has no desire to contribute, this can be damaging to the quality of the survey results. A disadvantage of individual interviews is the possibility that the interviewee could feel under pressure when being watched, or even audio-recorded. This may evoke a timid approach to the questions. In terms of email interviews, Opdenakker says “technique can cost a lot of time. Due to the asynchronous communication of time, the interviewee might have to wait sometimes for days or weeks before he/she answers the questions. This does not only lead to the risk that the interviewee will lose interest in the research, but also to the risk that the interviewee may forget to reply to questions.” (Opdenakker, 2006)

RESEARCH TYPE Carer Interviews

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

An advantage of an interview with a carer, is that it allows for a different perspective on the issue of accessibility. Some disabled people may not be able to articulate for themselves what their life is like, and interviewing a carer can eliminate this problem. It also sheds light on the area of accessibility for someone who has to deal with these problems, for someone else.

An interview on behalf of someone is limiting as it creates a level of uncertainty in the answers being given, as this may not be the answer given by the individual who is being spoken for. This means that the research gathered here cannot be fully relied on and should be only used to back up other evidence.

Store staff Interviews

An advantage of interviewing store members is that of offering insights into the business. While it may be limited, an alternative viewpoint or ‘insider information’ allows the researcher to develop a broader understanding of the research topic.

Expert Interviews

When interviewing a store member, one of the key limitations is that they are a representative of the brand, meaning that there may be information which they do not wish to disclose. This means that key insights may be retained with the intention of protecting the business. This means that the full extent of the information may not be shared. Interviewing those who are experts While the depth of understanding in their field allows for a deeper is vast, this knowledge gained understanding of areas which from industry experts has the the researcher may not have the potential to be biased. For capacity to carry out. A wide example, someone who works in range of knowledge can be gained implementing a particular solution, from experts due to the level of will be biased towards the work experience in the industry. they carry out. This means that the way in which they discuss their “Talking to experts in the subject area may be biased. This exploratory phase of a project is can then make questionable the a more efficient and concentrated validity of the experience they are method of gathering data than, for sharing. instance, participatory observation or systematic quantitative surveys.” (Bogner, Littig and Menz, 2016)

3.8 TRIANGULATION IMPLEMENTATION The combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the form of an online survey and interviews were completed to form the ' triangulation analysis ' theory, which was conducted by Norman Denzin in order to achieve credibility of research. Denzin said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;triangulation, or the use of multiple methods, is a plan of action that will raise sociologists above the personalistic biases that stem from single methodologies. By combining methods and investigators in the same study, observers can partially overcome the deficiencies that flow from one investigator or method.â&#x20AC;? (Denzin, 2017)

Participant Observations

TRIANGULATION ANALYSIS

Online Survey Responses

In-Depth Interviews

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Which of these feelings do you associate with the retail shopping experience?

On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate how the shopping experience makes you feel about your self confidence? 1: low, 10: high

DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

5.1 INTRODUCTION The following chapter endeavours to focus on discussing the findings gathered from primary research, alongside the established gaps in knowledge highlighted by the Literature Review. This will allow for a developed understanding of the desires of affected consumers, and the direct impacts they face as a side effect of limited accessibility in retail stores. Upon evolution of these findings and discussion points, areas of development will be established, which will gateway the creation of future business concepts, as a solution to the identified insights. 40

5.2 TIME FOR AN ATTITUDE CHECK? A key area which was highlighted throughout the research conducted with those who have a physical disability, is that of the need for a change in attitudes towards the said individuals. Across a variety of interviewees, this desire for the attitudinal change in members of the public, and of staff is something which carries a significant importance to those affected by these attitudes, which are often negative. Participant 3, a wheelchair user, commented, “I don’t like the feeling of embarrassment that can be involved with the trials of shopping in person as mentioned above, and this does put me off going shopping.” (Participant 3, 2019) (See Appendix 3.3) This statement alludes to the development of feelings such as humiliation and shame. The more that a consumer is made to feel embarrassed, the less likely they are to return to a store. This area is something which can come attached with a particular stigma, or a concern from the store staff, not wanting to offend or upset a consumer with a disability. When asked “how would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer?”, Participant 13 responded, “I have always felt initially a bit nervous on how to go about serving them due to my lack of training, as I would never want to upset or offend a customer.” (Participant 13, 2019) (See Appendix 4.6) It is clear from this statement that the potential nervousness or unease around serving a customer with a disability does not come from a malicious place, more from wanting to aid the experience for someone, and feeling concerned around potentially offending them. when considering the necessary change in attitudes, it can be argued that it does not solely rely on the persons individual opinions or attitudes, as they are representing the brand. The difficulty here us the lack of training given by the store, which creates a nervous feeling, which consequently goes on to affect the attitude of the store member.

5.3 DISABILITY: BRANDS RESPONSIBILITY? Another key area which has been highlighted through the primary research, is the level of responsibility that the brands are prepared to shoulder, and the ways in which brands are failing consumers by not making the experience accessible for them. When a consumer chooses to enter a store, they are electing to spend their time and money with the selected brand, meaning that the responsibility of the brand is to ensure that the consumer leaves satisfied and happy. When asked if the participant felt that brands have a responsibility to make this experience for you as easy as possible, Participant 6 responded; “I wanted to say no, because I thought why it should be their problem that I’ve got a problem. But then I thought they are all about inclusiveness now and they want everyone to feel like they are wanted. So maybe it should be a bit more of a push in that direction cause they're trying to make plus size and petite, so why not try and make it a bit more inclusive for everyone.” (Participant 6, 2019) (See Appendix 3.6). A phrase that needs emphasising here is “why should it be their problem that I've got a problem” (Participant 6, 2019)(See Appendix 3.6). While it can be argued that this is related to the participant’s views of their own disability, it creates space for the debate around whether a consumer’s disability is the brands responsibility. As soon as the consumer is targeted by the brand, or if the consumer were to choose to shop in a brands store, it is then the responsibility of the brand to cater for the needs of the consumer. The age-old notion of treating others as one would want to be treated, is something which is highly relevant when it comes to the responsibility of the brand.

“One way to rob a person with a disability of their humanity and selfworth is to marginalise them as customers or disregard them wholly.” (Participant 5, 2019) (See Appendix 3.5) The above statement is particularly insightful into the profound effect which the disregarding of disabled individuals has on their view of themselves. If brands are not including and targeting disabled consumers amongst their chosen audience, this creates exclusion of their worth as a consumer. Whatever disability the consumer may be facing, this does not affect their desire, as all other consumers, to look and feel a certain way in clothes, which will be achieved through having an accessible experience in the store of their choice. Participant 5 emphasises this, by continuing to say, “The market should not assume that people with physical and learning disabilities do not have the same expectations of looking their best or keeping up with trends.” (Participant 5, 2019) (See Appendix 3.5)

5.3.2 “BECUASE WHO IS PERFECT?” This remark is something that can be related to all areas of the purchasing journey for the consumer, including the representation of disabled individuals as mannequins in stores. To provide context for this, an investigation into a relevant case study has been carried out. When considering the nature of accessibility for disabled persons, it is interesting to look at a worldly example, aimed at breaking this stigma and changing the perceptions of disability amongst the general public. Pro Infirmis, a Swedish charity campaigning for equality for disabled, launched a campaign in which they created new mannequins for shop windows, creating body shapes that resemble those of the participants involved. Disabilities included ranged from the spine malformations of Jasmine Rechsteiner, to actor Erwin Aljukic who suffers with brittle bone disease. The mannequins were created as an exact likeness to the measurements and proportions of the participants' bodies. With the campaign entitled, “Because, who is perfect?”, the public were forced to consider this concept when the mannequins were placed in the window of Zurich’s famous Bahnhofstrasse, at Christmas time. (Newly Swissed, 2014) When reflecting upon this campaign, a participant said, "Seeing it there for real is quite a shock”. (Huffington Post, 2013). This quote is the essence of the campaign, highlighting the lack representation of disabled individuals in mannequins, meaning that exposing the public to an uncommon body type may in fact seem shocking at first. Raising awareness of disability in the world of fashion is something that has begun to take place. However, the shock created by such campaigns suggest the perceptions of the public have not sufficiently changed.

5.4 WIDEN THE DOOR When planning the research of this subject area, the expected outcome steered towards the physical elements of a store as being the most important for the consumer when shopping. As research went on, it became apparent that this was not the most important element. The emotional interaction with staff, and the way in which the consumer is treated carries more weight than the physical features. Despite this, there is still a significant scope for improvement when it comes to the tangible features of a store, which then goes on to impact the experience of the consumer. In the online survey, respondents were asked to rate, out of 10, the importance of certain features such as, width of aisles, accessibility of the changing rooms and the height of the rails. According to the respondents, the most important factor was the width of the aisles, as this was rated the most as a 10 for importance. When a consumer has a mobility disability, whether it be they are in a wheelchair, use a stick, or need to have carer with them, this impinges on the enjoyability of the store experience, if even navigating the store is difficult. Participant 2 said, “Shelves/ clothing rails are packed closely together, changing rooms are too small and card readers are too high. Sometimes counters are so high that the cashier doesn’t even see me.” (Participant 2, 2019) (See Appendix 3.2). Reiterating this difficulty, Participant 3 echoed this by saying, “In almost all shops, the till is really high so it’s hard to get the things I want to buy on top of it. I sometimes can’t reach the card reader to pay. I am looking up at the shop assistant serving me which is embarrassing.” (Participant 3, 2019) (See Appendix 3.3) While the physical features and challenges that are faced alter the experience in store, they also have a detrimental effect on the consumers' feelings. No one should feel embarrassed when entering a shop, or, like the aforementioned participants, when trying to pay for products. This idea of a lessening of selfconfidence is something that also showed up in the results of the survey. The survey question was, “On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the lowest self-confidence, and 10 being the maximum selfconfidence), please rate how the shopping experience makes you feel about your self-confidence?” This question was designed to prompt respondents to consider the effect that a challenging shopping experience has on their confidence in themselves and as a shopper. Sadly, the responses showed that 46% of people rated their self-confidence, in relation to shopping, as a 5 or below. This statistic is extremely disheartening and highlights the vast improvements that need to be made in order to improve this.

“52% OF PARTICIPANTS RATED THE WIDTH OF AISLES AS A 10/10 FOR IMPORTANCE.” (SEE APPENDIX 6)

“

I’M I’M USED USED TO TO NOT NOT BEING BEING REPRESENTED. REPRESENTED. EVEN EVEN WHEN WHEN THEY THEY USE USE A A MODEL MODEL IN IN A A WHEELCHAIR WHEELCHAIR IT’S IT’S NEVER NEVER SOMEONE SOMEONE WITH WITH AN AN OBVIOUS OBVIOUS PHYSICAL PHYSICAL DISABILITY, DISABILITY, IT’S IT’S JUST JUST “HERE’S “HERE’S AN AN ATTRACTIVE ATTRACTIVE PERSON PERSON IN IN A A WHEELCHAIR”. WHEELCHAIR”. (PARTICIPANT 2, 2019) (SEE APPENDIX 3.2)

”

5.5 AN EXPERT OPINION As a key part of primary research, the consultation of opinions from industry experts was carried out. This allowed for a professional insight into the opinions and beliefs of individuals who are renowned in their field and have years of experience in disability and accessibility. The first industry expert who was interviewed was Jonathan Hassell. Hassell is the CEO and founder of Hassell Inclusion, a business who aid businesses with an online presence in becoming fully inclusive online experiences. While the main body of the research was focused around the in-store experience, Hassell Inclusion have also done some work in store. Hassell offered a wealth of knowledge in the interview, discussing topics as sensory overload, the physicality’s of getting into a store, and what the future of accessibility looks like. When asked about the future of accessibility in retail stores, Hassell said, “This is extreme diversity. I would hope that the people in the fashion industry wake up to the fact that there is loads of money that they are throwing away all day. Because, you know, there are so many people out there who have a disability and who have money to spend.” (Participant 17, 2019) (See Appendix 5.2) This is a poignant quote from a very in-depth interview which pin points a key difficulty: diversity. The inclusion of those with physical disabilities falls under the overarching theme of diversity. It is important for brands to recognise this, and act on this opportunity they are being offered. The next industry expert who was interviewed as part of the research was Carol Kaufman-Scarborough. Kaufman-Scarborough is an author, lecturer and researcher in accessibility. She has written many journals and papers and was featured previously in the Literature Review. An opportunity arose which allowed for an in-depth Skype interview to be carried out with Kaufman-Scarborough which gave fascinating understanding into the work that she has done, and is continuing to do. In conversation with Kaufman-Scarborough, it was evident that she is extremely passionate about the work that she is doing, “In some of your interests, you talk a little bit about the fashion world, and I was thinking, my daughter has a child who is in a wheelchair, and finding clothing, it’s starting to emerge, adaptive clothing lines for children. But why has it taken so long, and have they gotten the input of the parent or the person of what they would actually want. I saw online, there was costumes for people with disabilities, and they were clever. But it struck me as sad, why Halloween but not everyday life?” (Kaufman-Scarborough, 2019) (See Appendix 5.1)

5.6 CONCLUSION When considering the breadth of findings and discussion which has stemmed from the primary research, it is clear that there are multiple opportunity gaps which have become evident. This provides a strong springboard to developing insights and ideas, and aids the potential solutions for the future of accessibility in retail stores, and how that will manifest itself.

KEY INSIGHTS

WWW

6.1 KEY INSIGHTS

The shopping and instore experience is not enjoyable for those with a physical disability. This is due to the restrictions and challenges which they face, and the limitations that a retail store exhibits for someone with extra accessibility needs. The physical store is not designed for someone with extra needs, and this therefore impacts on the experience which is available to these specific types of customer.

A key problem with the current situation of retail stores is that staff have a lack of knowledge and understanding of the correct and appropriate ways to approach a customer with accessibility needs, and the best way to help them in order to elevate their in-store experience. The lack of understanding from the member of staff makes customers feel belittled, embarrassed and uncomfortable when asking for their specific need to be met by someone who is not trained in this way. A bad in store experience will deter the customer from returning to this store to make any future purchases. Customers may have to face challenges in many stores to find the service or the product that they need. Customers would benefit from knowing how accessible the store is before the male their choice to go there, however, it can be embarrassing to have to phone a store before going there. Finding the correct accessible store can be just as much of a challenge as finding the correct products.

CONCLUSION

7.1 CRITICAL REFLECTION This body of research has successfully explored the area of accessibility of the retail are, and the impacts this has on the consumer. The literature review allowed for the understanding of existed research in this field and aided the development of primary research. The primary research findings gave insight into the specific areas which affect those with a physical disability. Upon reflection of the research project as a whole, elements have been successful, while simultaneously there are recognisable areas which call for improvement, in order to best aid the development of a business solution in Stage 2. The main area which needs some development for Stage 2 is the primary research. Collecting primary research for this topic area was difficult, as mentioned in the Methodology. The collection of data from a niche sample group proved challenging and affected the validity of the results. When considering how this can be improved upon for Stage 2, the approaches in gathering research will be rethought, utilising various different opinions on the business idea. Primary research does not solely have to be the intended user of the product or service, meaning that opinions from business professionals will also help to add to the bank of primary research. With the development of a business concept, a way to improve moving forward will be to consider expert interviews from various angles of business. While the qualitative data that was produced from the conducted expert interviews, a wider range of viewpoints would have helped to shape the arguments into something that is more well-rounded.

7.2 PESTLE ANALYSIS A PESTLE analysis has been conducted to identify the connection between external factors and key drivers, and how this affects those with a physical disability. This analysis will then help to develop the future recommendations, providing a rounded outlook, considering a variation of external influences.

With the recent results of the 2019 General Election, the political landscape affects those with a disability in more ways than those who don’t. Benefits, carers and services available are all aspects which affect those with physical disabilities, and can drastically affect the standard of living if any of these are not sustained. While politics is always changing, those who represent individuals with disabilities in politics are able to stand for a group of people who are sometimes forgotten or disregarded.

According to Lieber, there is a $350 billion opportunity in the adaptive fashion market. There is a common misconception that those with a disability don’t have a large disposable income but Lieber proves otherwise in her article for Business of Fashion. (Lieber, 2019). This opportunity provides a gap in the market for new brands to develop, or existing brands to make significant income if they chose to target this audience. By making adaptive clothing, or by making stores more accessible stores, brands will be able to reach a new audience. As mentioned in primary research, by Participant 2, “It’s not necessarily their [brands] ‘responsibility’ to make the experience ‘easy’, it’s more about whether they want my money! If they want my money, they should make it easier for me to spend it. I work hard so I can have a disposable income. If they put barriers in the way, I’ll spend my money elsewhere.” (Participant 2, 2019) (See Appendix 3.2).

The social impact on the accessibility of stores is something that is advancing through the newfound sense of community for those who struggle in this area. Social media influencers such as Jordan Bone, Emily Morison and Kaytee Jones are active in creating conversation around the area of accessibility, either for themselves, or the individuals they care for. Social community is also a factor in the development of accessibility for those with physical disabilities, as a collective group of people, with a large voice, have a significant opportunity to campaign and fight for development in this field.

Technological advances may be joined with accessibility in the future. Services such as delivery of clothing for those who are not able to access the store themselves may be something that is developed, through the use of the progression of future ideas. As technology moves forward, there may also be potential improvement in the technology of accessibility equipment, such as wheelchairs and walkers. When considering the actual items, the constant upgrades in advanced fashion design and garment making is something which may aid all aspects of accessibility, with more opportunity for accessible clothing.

Accessibility and disability acts and laws are continually being changed and updated, to incorporate any necessary amendments. Stores and public places have to adhere to these laws in order to be legally providing a service which is deemed accessible. However, research has shown that some of the requirements are in fact not as accessible for those with additional needs as it may seem, as recounted by many in primary research. Over time, it can be hoped that as the conversation around accessibility progresses, this will aid the development of laws and regulations, hoping that they will improve the accessibility of retail for those with a physical disability.

An alternative viewpoint on the environmental aspect is to consider the environment as the landscape around those with a physically disability, and the way this impacts on their lives. Someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment can encompass many different variables, such as their living conditions, way of life, and access to amenities.

7.3 RANKING EXTERNAL FACTORS

HIGH RELEVANCE

LOW IMMEDIACY

HIGH IMMEDIACY

P En LOW RELEVANCE

7.4 SCENARIO PLANNING MODEL

SCENARIO 1

SELF-CONFIDENT

SCENARIO 2

The world is a place where peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s confidence has grown but society still places oppression and barriers on individuals.

The world is a place where individuals have never been more alive. Stereotypes, dictation of attitudes, and stigmas do not exist.

Fashion is growing in experimentalism as individuals are more confident to try to express themselves more.

Fashion is accessible for everyone, empowering all to express themselves in whatever way they desire. All aspects of fashion are accessible to all individuals.

In scenario 1, the individuals feel confident in their abilities and individuals, and have disregarded their physical disability as a way of defining themselves, or letting it hold them back. However, society still holds a significant grasp on these individuals and continues to dictate the way in which they should act or behave, and the level of access they are provided.

Scenario 2 is the most positive of all scenarios, where fashion and individuality collide, allowing consumers to buy, shop and express themselves as they wish. Embarrassment of ones disabilities, or the need to ask for help are forgotten memories of a past self.

OPPRESION

FREEDOM

The world is a place where self-confidence is an unrealistic dream. Individuals have no motivation, freedom or and sense of expression or self-worth.

The world is a place where individuals are free from any societal pressures but doubt themselves in their ability to express themselves.

Fashion is for practicality, clothes are worn out of necessity, and no one cares for fashion or clothing.

Fashion is accessible for all, with the opportunity to use fashion as desired, but individuals do not have the confidence, and instead doubt themselves.

Scenario 3 is the darkest scenario of all, where oppression is a normal state of life. Self-confidence is something that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist. Accessibility for disabled individuals is a myth, and these individuals are disregarded as part of society, not expected to have any voice or ability to fight for themselves but expected to conform to the lifestyles that society wants them to live.

Scenario 4 considers individuals who are free to access life to the full but doubt themselves when doing so. Accessibility for disabled individuals is available to take full advantage of, but individuals feel that they are not confident enough to shop in this way, as they have been used to oppression and not being able to shop like able-bodied individuals.

SCENARIO 4

SCENARIO 3

SELF-DOUBTFUL

7.5 RECOMMENDATIONS

EDUCATE To educate the individuals who interact with physically disabled consumers, be it, store staff, service personnel, or any customer service member of staff. By creating an educational programme, this will aim to eliminate the barrier between staff and the customer, preventing any reservation from either party, making the retail experience more accessible for those with a physical disability.

ACCESS By providing consumers with access to reviews or information about a store being deciding to visit it, it prevents bad in store experiences, and makes consumers more aware of places that meet their accessibility needs. Creating a service or a product which does this will allow for consumers to plan their journey ahead, to counter any potential difficulties that may be faced.

PROVIDE To ease the consumer in their shopping experience, creating one focal place which is an accessible environment for the individual, which offers the products they need, the potential for shopping difficulties would be avoided, as the consumer will be able to access all they need in one place.

7.6 FINAL WORDS

This report set out to answer the question, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The retail shopping experience is not inclusive of those with physical disabilities. To what extent is this true?â&#x20AC;? As the research, both secondary and primary has developed over time, a broad bank of data, knowledge and understanding has been culminated to aid the creation of a solution to the established insights. This project has allowed for a solid understanding of the current landscape, which will benefit Stage 2.

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10. IMAGE REFERENCES ZABLAN, B., ‘MAMA CAX’, DAZEY LA, 2018, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE AT https://www.dazeyla. com/blogs/dazey-zine/ dazey-lady-feature-mamacaxx

AKAN, E., ‘MARSHA ELLE’, 2018, ACCESSED ON 4TH FEB 2020, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS://WWW.HUFFPOST. COM/ENTRY/MARSHA-ELLEAMPUTEE_N_5B566 9A6E4B0DE86F48FDC33

MACLEOD, M., ‘SINÉAD BURKE AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND’, THE GUARDIAN, 2019, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS:// WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM/ LIFEANDSTYLE/2019/MAY/16/ I-WANT-TO-TILT-THE-LENSSINEAD-BURKES-FIGHT-TOMAKE-FASHION-MORE-DIVERSE

ZABLAN, B., ‘MAMA CAX’, DAZEY LA, 2018, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE AT https://www.dazeyla.com/ blogs/dazey-zine/dazey-ladyfeature-mama-caxx “AIMEE MULLINS AND HUGH HERR”, N.D., ACCESSED ON 6 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE AT https://khymeira.tumblr. com/post/60713962362/ charlesonmambo-grinderbotaimee-mullins/amp

FALQUEZ, C., ‘WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A DISABLED MODEL IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY’, 2018, ACCESSED ON 3 JAN 202, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS:// WWW.TEENVOGUE.COM/ STORY/COVER-STORYREPRESENTATION-FASHIONINDUSTRY-JILLIAN-MERCADOMAMA-CAX-CHELSEA-WARNER

WARREN, L., ‘SCREENSHOT OF DATA’, AUTHORS OWN, 2020, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE FROM AUTHORS OWN COLLECTION

WARREN, L., ‘SCREENSHOT OF DATA 2’, AUTHORS OWN, 2020, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE FROM AUTHORS OWN COLLECTION

ZABLAN, B., ‘MAMA CAX’, DAZEY LA, 2018, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE AT https://www.dazeyla. com/blogs/dazey-zine/ dazey-lady-feature-mamacaxx

OCHI, T., “AMPUTEE VENUS”, 2015, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2018, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS://THEMIGHTY. COM/2015/02/ EXTRAORDINARYPHOTO-SERIES-SHATTERSPRECONCEIVED-NOTIONSABOUT-WOMEN-AMPUTEES/

WARREN, L., ‘SCREENSHOT OF YOUTUBE’, AUTHORS OWN, 2020, ACCESSED ON 2 JAN 2020, AVAILABLE FROM AUTHORS OWN COLLECTION

KANDER, N. ‘FAR OUT ON A LIMB’, 2013, NEW YORK TIMES. ACCESSED ON 4 FEB 2020, AVAILABLE AT HTTP://ARCHIVE.NYTIMES. COM/WWW.NYTIMES.COM/ INTERACTIVE/2013/11/03/ MAGAZINE/03LIMBS_IN.HTML

JACKSON, D., ‘ PANSY ST BATTIE’, 2019, REFINERY29, ACCESSED ON 4 FEB 2020, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS:// WWW.REFINERY29.COM/ EN-US/2019/08/238819/ BURLESQUE-DANCERWHEELCHAIR-DISABILITYPANSY-ST-BATTIE

KNIGHT, N., ‘DISABILITY IN FASHION’, DAZED AND CONFUSED 46. ACCESSED ON 4 FEB, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS:// WWW.DAZEDDIGITAL. COM/FASHION/ GALLERY/20297/0/ DISABILITY-IN-FASHION

APPENDIX: CONTENTS 1. ETHICS APPROVAL.......................................................................................................77 2. GANNTT CHART...........................................................................................................78 3. INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS.............................................................................................79 3.1 JULIA ANSTEY..................................................................................................79 3.2 JENNIFER EMANUELLI.......................................................................................81 3.3 EMILY MORISON..............................................................................................83 3.4 ROSS LANNON................................................................................................84 3.5 GLYNIS WILSON...............................................................................................86 3.6 CHLOE BILL.....................................................................................................92 3.7 JOSEFINA PONTES VIELLA ..............................................................................95 4. STORE STAFF INTERVIEWS............................................................................................99 4.1 RIAIN KILGOUR. .............................................................................................99 4.2 LAUREN BROWN..............................................................................................99 4.3 VANESSA LOUIS VERDIER...............................................................................100 4.4 GRACE BROWN.............................................................................................101 4.5 LEANNE SLATTERY...........................................................................................101 4.6 KERI BREEN....................................................................................................102 4.7 ETHAN KIERZNOWSKI....................................................................................102 4.8 ALEX FERGUSON-GOW..................................................................................103 4.9 SASKIA MARSH............................................................................................104 4.10 NATASHA HAWLEY.......................................................................................105 5. EXPERT INTERVIEWS...................................................................................................106 5.1 CAROL KAUFMAN-SCARBOROUGH...............................................................106 5.2 JONATHAN HASSELL......................................................................................113 5.3 MELISSA EVERETT...........................................................................................122 6. ONLINE SURVEY.........................................................................................................125 7. CONSENT FORMS......................................................................................................131 7.1 JULIA ANSTEY................................................................................................131 7.2 JENNIFER EMANUELLI....................................................................................131 7.3 EMILY MORISON...........................................................................................131 7.4 ROSS LANNON..............................................................................................131 7.5 GLYNIS WILSON.............................................................................................131 7.6 CHLOE BILL...................................................................................................132 7.7 JOSEFINA PONTES VIELLA ............................................................................132 7.8 RIAIN KILGOUR.............................................................................................133 7.9 LAUREN BROWN............................................................................................133 7.10 VANESSA LOUIS VERDIER.............................................................................134 7.11 GRACE BROWN...........................................................................................134 7.12 LEANNE SLATTERY........................................................................................135 7.13 KERI BREEN.................................................................................................135 7.14 ETHAN KIERZNOWSKI..................................................................................136 7.15 ALEX FERGUSON-GOW................................................................................136 7.16 SASKIA MARSH...........................................................................................137 7.17 NATASHA HAWLEY.......................................................................................137 7.18 CAROL KAUFMAN-SCARBOROUGH............................................................138 7.19 JONATHAN HASSELL...................................................................................138 7.20 MELISSA EVERETT.........................................................................................139

1. Ethics Approval

2. Ganntt Chart

3.1 Participant 1: Julia Anstey | 28 | London

Could you briefly outline your disability and the main ways in which this impacts you in daily life? I am a full-time wheelchair user with limited mobility in my legs and to a lesser extent my arms and hands. This is caused by Methylmalonic Acidemia with Homocystinura (MMA with HCU) which has caused subacute combined degeneration (which affects the spinal cord) and peripheral neuropathy, I also suffer from Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) which causes frequent joint dislocations and significant physical pain, as well as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) which can prevent me from standing or sitting up for extended periods of time. My area of interest is the fashion retail environment, and the ways in which this excludes those with a physical disability. How has your disability limited you in shopping in physical stores? How do you shop, and try on clothes with physical restrictions? First, I love the idea of shopping independent, boutique and small businesses, but most of these places are hard to even get in the door, due to steps into the buildings or just existing in hard to access areas, this eliminates the majority of shops that would better suit my fashion sense. Therefore, I tend to have to shop in bigger, wellknown brands for the accessibility factor, which doesn't jive with my personal style or ethics. I can't go shopping by myself, from my wheelchair I can't reach things that are on hangers or high shelves. Navigating through tiny spaces between clothing racks is nightmarish and I usually have to have somebody help move racks out of the way which is fucking embarassing and annoying. Then when it gets to trying on the clothing then 8 times out of 10, there is either no accessible changing room, it's being used by somebody who doesin;t need it or it's full of storage. Accessible changing rooms are sometimes just bigger rooms but only sometimes have chairs, emergency pull cords, or grab bars. Some of them don't even have full-length mirrors. Then when all that's done, I'm exhausted and overstimulated and I need to rest, but I still need to check out and wait in a long queue to do that, depending on the shop. Sometimes I have to just hand my stuff off to the person with me and go sit outside while they pay for it because it has all gotten too much. What has your experience been with staff in retail stores? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Tell me more. I think I have been quite lucky in my experiences with staff, it seems like there is always somebody who is willing to help clear out a changing room or something like that, even if it's not part of their job description, relying more on human compassion than company accessibility policy. The only bad experience that comes to mind was when I was trying on a bridesmaid dress and we had the entire area to ourselves, I was not allowed to change in the main space which was accessible, and had to change in a tiny inaccessible changing room off the main space, which led to an injury. When we went shopping for my birthday, we went to a large store, they didn't have any accessible changing rooms available, but a staff member opened a new changing area for just me, which was a lovely experience but seemed to be subverting company policy. Primark wheelchair lanes are fantastic though! Do you feel that the challenges you may face in a physical store affect your confidence in buying clothes? Does it restrict you from choosing clothes you like, to buying clothes that are more practical? 1000%, I can't just decide I'm going to go shopping, it has to be something that I 79

plan. Sometimes I have to ring stores to plan and to make sure they are accessible enough, then I hear that there is a step to get in, or they don't have accessible changing rooms, then I can't go. I haven't bought a new pair of jeans for ages because of the difficulties in trying them on. The places that have styles that I like don't have the grab bars that I need to be able to try them on safely and comfortably. One of the things I would really love to do would be to go out shopping with my girlfriends without one of them having to feel like they were taking on the role of caretaker.

Do you tend to shop online or instore more? Which is an easier experience for you and why? If I want to get something independent, from a small shop, or even some larger alternative brands like Hell Bunny as their nearest physical location is in Camden Market which is completely inaccessible to me, I will try to use their online shop over a physical store because I can't guarantee that I will be able to get there or get in there. Shopping and fashion is always something I have enjoyed before becoming more disabled, it was something I would do as a treat but because of the inaccessibility of the shops - especially the smaller vintage shops - that i like, my style has changed. Also being a wheelchair user means that while shopping online is easier, shopping in person is better to see how things work from a style and practicality point of view in a wheelchair, see if it looks good sat down or gets caught in the wheels. If more stores were accessible then I would waste less money buying things that don't look good or don't work when pushing myself around. Do you feel brands have a responsibility to make this experience as easy for you as possible? Definitely. They have the money to do it to be able to do training and install bars so that people can try on their clothes. They could be opening themselves up to the purple pound but they just are not and that is pants, it makes me feel like they don't want my money and make me feel like less than an afterthought. What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of the shopping experience for those with a physical disability? Ramps into stores, wider aisles, more than one accessible changing room, standards for accessible changing rooms: Bars, seats that are safely anchored for transferring, and emergency pull cords as the standard, the bare minimum that should be accepted in a disabled changing room. More disabled queues for people who are less able to stand like in Primark, and training on how to interact with disabled people. In America, some stores have hooks to grab things from high shelves, this would be a great option to see over here in the UK. Bigger stores too, if they could have a lower counter that would be chill. With Instagram being such a used platform for brands and influencers, how does it make you feel that those with a physical disability are not widely represented in this area? It's not great, the companies that reach out to me to promote them through my instagram are typically health related when I would love to see have a clothing brand reach out to the disabled community on Instagram and say "hey, we are making clothes for wheelchair users" or "we would like to collaborate with you", it makes me feel like we are not even considered. It might seem silly but we are left out of so many conversations, to just be included in part of the fashion conversation which is so intrinsic to so many people, both disabled and not, it would be incredibly meaningful. 80

3.2 Participant 2: Jennifer Emanuelli | 28

Could you briefly outline your disability and the main ways in which this impacts you in daily life? I was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (a form of Rheumatoid Arthritis) age 4 (I’m now 28). I get pain and stiffness and have restricted growth (4ft 4in). I also have a weakened immune system, have had to have multiple joint replacements and use a wheelchair. I have a carer who helps me dress and get ready for work every morning as I find dressing myself difficult. I find reaching things and carrying things difficult. My main issue is fatigue – physical and mental. Having to think about how to navigate an environment built for able-bodied people is exhausting. I am constantly trying to work out the logistics of doing ‘normal’ things like going shopping, getting to and from work, cooking etc. My area of interest is the fashion retail environment, and the ways in which this excludes those with a physical disability. How has your disability limited you in shopping in physical stores? How do you shop, and try on clothes with physical restrictions? Many shops don’t give a thought to those in wheelchairs or others who need extra space. I find that even working out how to get in shops quite challenging. There is no clear protocol. In Lille, France, many shops have a sticker or sign at the entrance of shops near a doorbell which you can ring for assistance and a member of staff will bring a ramp out for you. Some places where I live have ramps but no way of alerting them I am outside (unless I ask a random person to tell a member of staff I’m there as they’re going into the shop!). Other places, when I have contacted them, say they are accessible but when I get there, there is a step at the entrance. There is a lack of understanding regarding what ‘wheelchair accessible’ actually means. Shelves/clothing rails are packed closely together, changing rooms are too small and card readers are too high. Sometimes counters are so high that the cashier doesn’t even see me. I like browsing in-store as I like to be able to feel the texture and quality of a garment. I will mostly buy clothes in store, try them on at home with the help of a carer and take them back if they don’t fit. Sometimes if I know specifically what I want, I will order online and pick it up in-store. What has your experience been with staff in retail stores? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Tell me more. I am an introverted person but have had to become more outspoken about asking for assistance. I used to feel like I was being demanding or awkward about speaking to strangers. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown more assertive in the last few years, or maybe I’ve just stopped caring about what other people think of me, but if I need something that’s out of my reach, I will just ask someone to pass it to me right away without thinking about it too much. I don’t know if staff are given more training or maybe people with physical disabilities are becoming more visible (in mainstream schools, in the workplace etc) but I think attitudes are improving. It used to be that when at the till, they would talk to the person I was with instead of me. I remember 20 years ago when I was buying books for university, I said ‘Hi’, placed the books on the counter and handed the money over. The cashier looked at my mum and asked ‘Do you want a bag?’ my mum replied ‘I don’t know, ask her.’ Now, I find that shop assistants will actually welcome me as I enter the shop, greet me warmly and tell me to feel free to ask them if I need any assistance. It’s starting to feel more like my money has the same value as an able-bodied person. Of course, there are still some that will look at me like I’m either going to break or steal something but they are in the minority. 81

Do you feel that the challenges you may face in a physical store affect your confidence in buying clothes? Does it restrict you from choosing clothes you like, to buying clothes that are more practical? It doesn’t affect my confidence, just my motivation and patience. If a shop is difficult to navigate, I will leave and not bother shopping there. My choice of clothing is more to do with personal style, confidence and whether a garment is easy to get on and off than whether a store is accessible. I know the types of clothing I like and if I can’t find them in-store, I’ll look online. Do you tend to shop online or instore more? Which is an easier experience for you and why? Shopping online is easier but shopping in-store is more enjoyable. Scrolling through garments is fine online but clothing often looks different in person. Do you feel brands have a responsibility to make this experience as easy for you as possible? It’s not necessarily their ‘responsibility’ to make the experience ‘easy’, it’s more about whether they want my money! If they want my money, they should make it easier for me to spend it. I work hard so I can have a disposable income. If they put barriers in the way, I’ll spend my money elsewhere! What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of the shopping experience for those with a physical disability? They need a better understanding of what ‘accessible’ actually means. Also a better grasp of what ‘reasonable adjustments’ means. The city I live in has many listed buildings which cannot be altered due to their age and historical significance. I’ve talked about access to a number of shop owners about access and they say they can’t install a ramp because of this. I tell them that portable temporary ramps are inexpensive and would not affect the look of the building and they say it’s not something they’ve thought about. A few have gone on to purchase ramps since our discussion. With Instagram being such a used platform for brands and influencers, how does it make you feel that those with a physical disability are not widely represented in this area? I’m used to not being represented. Even when they use a model in a wheelchair it’s never someone with an obvious physical disability, it’s just “here’s an attractive person in a wheelchair”. I don’t follow many brands on Instagram and I only follow local influencers within my town. I don’t really care about where a stranger is going or what they are buying! I often see reviews of restaurants by influencers in my town. They talk about the décor, service and food and I feel like messaging them to say “great, but how accessible is it?” If I can’t get into a place, I don’t care about it. The only fashion accounts I follow on Insta are ManRepeller and Advanced Style because they are more about personal style rather than ‘fashion’. They’re about having fun with clothing and using your imagination. ManRepeller has interviewed people with disabilities and featured them in photos. And because Advanced Style focuses on older people, many of them have age-related health issues and are in wheelchairs. I mainly set up my own account because I wanted to be more mindful, to slow down and pay more attention to my surroundings. Also, when my health is bad or I’m feeling down, it’s nice to scroll through and remember all the fun things I’ve done throughout the year. However, my account has started gaining followers. There is not a single picture of me and I wonder whether I would lose followers if I posted a selfie? 82

3.3 Participant 3: Emily Morison

Could you briefly outline your disability and the main ways in which this impacts you in daily life? I was born with a hip problem which means that I need to use crutches and/or a wheelchair to mobilise. I can only walk a few steps using crutches, which means that I use a wheelchair whenever I leave the house. My area of interest is the fashion retail environment, and the ways in which this excludes those with a physical disability. How has your disability limited you in shopping in physical stores? How do you shop, and try on clothes with physical restrictions? Shopping itself can be really difficult with my disability. I’ve made a list to break it down into key issues: - Height of racks/shelves: I often can’t see or reach things on higher shelves in shops. This means I can’t see all of the options available and there aren’t always shop assistants around to help (plus it’s embarrassing having to ask). - Width of aisles: I often find the aisles (particularly in clothes shops) very difficult to navigate as they are often too narrow – H&M I tend to find are the worst example of this. I often find clothes attach to me as I go past, making it really difficult to get around and adding to my embarrassment. The width also presents further problems if the shop is busy as I can end up stuck in a crowd. - Changing rooms: Often I end up not trying things on as the changing rooms are simply too small to fit myself and my wheelchair inside. - Till height: In almost all shops, the till is really high so it’s hard to get the things I want to buy on top of it. I sometimes can’t reach the card reader to pay. I am looking up at the shop assistant serving me which is embarrassing. What has your experience been with staff in retail stores? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Tell me more. I generally find that people want to help, but the issues mentioned above they tend to have no control over. Sometimes the staff will offer to pass the card reader down to me which is helpful. If I can’t reach something they are usually willing to pass it down to me.One of the poor experiences I’ve had was when I was buying something in a shop and despite the fact I was buying the item and this was clear as I had placed it on the desk and said ‘hi’, the cashier continued to look at and direct her speech at my Mum who was stood next to me.

Do you feel that the challenges you may face in a physical store affect your confidence in buying clothes? Does it restrict you from choosing clothes you like, to buying clothes that are more practical? I don’t like the feeling of embarrassment that can be involved with the trials of shopping in person as mentioned above, and this does put me off going shopping. I often feel that my choice is restricted to the clothes I can reach from my wheelchair height. If the changing rooms are too small, I often have to risk buying the wrong size/something that I don’t end up liking. Do you tend to shop online or instore more? Which is an easier experience for you and why? I tend to shop online more, as it is easier to do it from home than negotiate the challenges involved with going shopping. This is easier because I can see all of the options available as well. 83

Do you feel brands have a responsibility to make this experience as easy for you as possible? I do. I think brands underestimate what percentage of their consumers have access needs. If they don’t make the shopping experience accessible to everybody, they will lose a huge chuck of potential income. Accessibility isn’t a bonus or a favour but is simply enabling all customers to have equal opportunities. What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of the shopping experience for those with a physical disability? Ideally, brands would bring in disabled people as accessibility consultants to go over all aspects of the shopping experiences and discuss where improvements could be made to ensure a universal standard of accessibility. It’s about a change of attitude too – realising that disabled people are people and that anybody can become disabled at any time, therefore this is an important issue for all of society. With Instagram being such a used platform for brands and influencers, how does it make you feel that those with a physical disability are not widely represented in this area? I think it’s really sad that people with physical disabilities are so poorly represented. There are companies working to change this, but it’s still very much an issue. It makes me feel unseen and unworthy. ____________ 3.4 Participant 4: Ross Lannon | 26 | Cornwall Could you briefly outline your disability and the main ways in which this impacts you in daily life? I have a physical disability called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA Type 2) which requires me to use an electric wheelchair 24/7. Diagnosed at age 2.5, SMA is a progressive muscle wasting condition. Although I have a physical disability, I strive to be as independent as possible. With support from care staff & my family, I live in a specially adapted bungalow and have maintained paid employment for the past 7+ years. I also drive an adapted vehicle from my wheelchair, using hand controls. I require assistance with all aspects of personal care, such as washing, dressing and meal preparation. My area of interest is the fashion retail environment, and the ways in which this excludes those with a physical disability. How has your disability limited you in shopping in physical stores? How do you shop, and try on clothes with physical restrictions? As a lifestyle & disability blogger, I take pride in my appearance. In terms of accessibility, things have definitely improved over the past few years, but we are still faced with many barriers. My physical disability has limited me on numerous occasions in the past, as many shops still don’t have level access. As a full time wheelchair user, I rely solely on shops that have flat/ramped entrances, as well as wider doorways. I prefer to buy clothes online now, as it is much easier to try them on at home. When buying clothes in-store, 9 times out of 10 I will have to guess my sizes and run the risk of having to return them - as I am unable to access a changing room with appropriate facilities. What has your experience been with staff in retail stores? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Tell me more. I cant say I’ve ever had any bad experiences in terms of retail staff. When shopping, I like to be left alone. If I require assistance to reach something, staff have always 84

been willing to help on my request. On a positive note, I have had staff in the past offer to move certain display stands etc out of the way, in order to fit my wheelchair through the aisles.

Do you feel that the challenges you may face in a physical store affect your confidence in buying clothes? Does it restrict you from choosing clothes you like, to buying clothes that are more practical? Definitely. I dread going clothes shopping in town, because there are so many different barriers in the way. For example: “Does the store entrance have wheelchair access?”, “are the changing rooms large and accessible?”, “can you actually see yourself in the mirror?”, “is the card payment machine in reaching distance?” As wheelchair users, you soon learn which places are more accessible than others. These shops then become your regular choices and can affect the style / design of clothes you buy. Do you tend to shop online or instore more? Which is an easier experience for you and why? Online shopping is definitely easier in terms of “trying things on” - as my house is much more equipped for me to get out of my wheelchair and adjust clothes comfortably. With this being said, online shopping can take away the “fun” of fashion and seeing clothing designs / materials in person. The chances of me returning items from an online purchase are much higher than if I was to buy something in store. Do you feel brands have a responsibility to make this experience as easy for you as possible? The simple answer is YES. It’s 2019 and the world needs to become more accessible for all types of disabilities. Why is my money not as worthy as anybody else's? According to ’The Purple Pound’, 75% of disabled people and their families have walked away from a UK business because of poor accessibility or customer service. What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of the shopping experience for those with a physical disability? Retail changing rooms need to be larger and better equipped, similar to Changing Places toilets. Customers who are non-ambulant, require a hoist and large open spaces with an adjustable bed, in order to comfortably try on clothes. Other more simple fixes, could included lowered tills and card machines with extendable wires. I have been to many stores in the past where the card machines are fixed and I am unable to reach them - meaning I have to share my personal pin number with whomever I’m with, in order to make the purchase. This is not acceptable. With Instagram being such a used platform for brands and influencers, how does it make you feel that those with a physical disability are not widely represented in this area? As a disabled blogger (www.alifeonwheels.co.uk) - I feel passionate about the representation of disabilities in the media. I disagree with ‘token casting’ and would love to see a wheelchair user front a mainstream clothing campaign one day. Diversity is key, and wheelchair users in particular are often left out of these opportunities. Thanks to my blogging platform, I have been lucky enough to become an online affiliate for the brand boohooMAN - which is an amazing opportunity. Slowly but surely we are getting there, but we still have a long way to go.

3.5 Participant 5: Glynis Wilson Mother and Carer of Ashleigh Wilson (Sufferer of Rett Syndrome)

Could you briefly outline Ashleigh’s disability and the main ways this impacts on her life. Ashleigh has Rett Syndrome which is a complex neurological disorder and leaves her dependent on others for all daily care. Ashleigh is also non-verbal but can make choices. She needs two carers if walking short distances but mostly uses a wheelchair. Ashleigh finds too much sensory stimulus difficult to process and will zone out if overwhelmed although she is very sociable and loves challenges. Like many young women, Ashleigh is aware of her self-image and likes to look good. She has likes and dislikes as far as clothes are concerned but practical issues do dictate as well. Ashleigh lives with her family and enjoys many of the experiences other families enjoy, fashion shopping being one of them from time to time. How does Ashleigh’s disability affect you as a carer? I am Ashleigh’s primary carer and support her with the help of a small team of personal assistants. We enjoy our mother/daughter relationship in lots of different ways such as enjoying music, films, audio books, walking in parks and shopping for clothes. There isn’t a lot of time outside Ashleigh’s care hours for leisure pursuits so we make the most of the time that we do have and plan well. As Ashleigh’s advocate, I have to make sure that she has some control over her life by making simple choices and choosing what to wear is a choice she can make. Ashleigh has a great sense of humour and we like to have fun while out shopping too. My area of interest is in the fashion retail environment and the ways in which this excludes those with a physical disability. How has Ashleigh’s disability limited her in shopping in physical stores? As her carer, how do you shop for her, and how do the features in a store make this easier/harder? Generally, the larger out of town retail parks and modern inner-city shopping centres are more accessible for Ashleigh as a wheelchair user. We can park easily and shop independently, moving around most areas. Independent and niche shops tend to be in the more inaccessible buildings. There are many barriers such as steps, narrow doorways and small, dark internal spaces. Even when access into a store is easy, navigating the different areas can still be a nightmare. In fashion stores, clothes are displayed on racks and these do not always allow space for a wheelchair user to be wheeled around easily. The floor room between the racks is minimal and clothes usually waft in the face of the wheelchair user. As her carer, I have to hold garments back to prevent Ashleigh losing herself in a rail full of clothes. I am also aware that clothes that waft in peoples’ faces may be left with traces of make-up and hair gel. During busy periods, this is even more difficult as the larger aisles may be blocked by shoppers and wheelchair users cannot usually find an alternative route. If I am on my own with Ashleigh, we tend to abandon the shop and move on. If there is another carer with me, we tend to “park” Ashleigh with one carer while the other carer checks out the products in the hard to reach areas and brings a few back for Ashleigh to look at. When there is only one carer with Ashleigh, it is not safe to leave her unattended as she is a vulnerable adult and this is a safeguarding issue. The best example of poor navigable spaces can be found in Sports Direct shops. There is absolutely minimal space between racks and displays, every space is cramped. There has been a complete disregard for the wheelchair user in the design 86

of these shops. Thankfully, we very rarely shop there. TK Maxx used to have good navigable isles but lately, their stores have become more cramped with displays. Primark stores are also a nightmare to navigate. These stores can make us feel unwelcome and we sometimes feel that we are either in the way or taking up too much space which spoils the whole experience. Good examples of shops with wide aisles tend to be the larger department stores such as John Lewis and Debenhams. Products are also displayed at variable heights so that there is at least a visual experience for the wheelchair shopper. We can navigate spaces easily. We have also found small independent shops with wider aisles. One such shop is a boutique on Ashby-de-la-Zouch High Street. There have been small independent stores who have recognised barriers to Ashleigh’s access into their store and have found a solution. Fat Face in Edinburgh is located in a beautiful old building which has two steps at the entry. Whilst Ashleigh and I were looking into the windows, a member of staff came out to let us know discreetly that she was getting the ramp to put down so that we could enter the shop. This was one of the best examples of inclusivity that we have experienced. Once we have entered the store, there isn’t always access to all levels. Sometimes, we are unable to access another level altogether. Larger stores have lifts and these are well signposted instore. Others have small lifts or lifts that are tucked away in a corner and the wheelchair user and their carer have to do twice as many kilometres to access the next floor when other shoppers are up and down escalators in no time at all. In some stores, there are mezzanine levels which are totally inaccessible. One of our worse experiences is when we have to ask a member of staff to use a lift and are escorted in the goods lift to access another level! These lifts are usually located in the dark and dingy recesses of the store but more importantly, it robs us of our independence as shoppers. Having to find a member of staff or wait for someone to be free draws a lot of attention to the wheelchair user when, in the spirit of inclusion, we just want to blend in with the other shoppers and not be singled out so obviously. The physical barriers are not exclusive to stores, they also include pop up shops at festivals, outdoor markets, etc. Many stores have narrow access to tills as well so after all the navigating to collect items, we then have to negotiate and snake around till queues. Some stores do have lower tills that are for wheelchair users. It is not that we need preferential treatment; we are very happy to queue and wait our turn as long as we can move around the area easily. When there is a lot of fuss, it draws attention to Ashleigh’s disability and puts us off the whole experience.

What has your experience been with staff in retail stores? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Tell me more. Generally, staff are polite and helpful although this depends on how busy or short staffed they are. Again, we have found that larger stores have more staff to help and sign-post and have obviously received customer service training. They do not see Ashleigh in a wheelchair but as another shopper who is shopping in their stores. Staff can be helpful, anticipatory and discreet. In our experience, stores such as M&S, John Lewis and Debenhams tend to have staff 87

who are trained to help the less able customer. One memorable experience is when Ashleigh went to John Lewis for a bra fitting; we were shown into a large changing room and a member of staff discussed Ashleigh’s particular needs for a bra and came back with a selection. I helped Ashleigh try them on and we were advised as to suitability. Having made our choices, Ashleigh and I then went to the till to wait in line like everyone else. The staff member at the till verified the bras that had been left by the retail assistant who had helped us; she then took her time to wrap the bras in tissue paper, place them in a bag with a fragrance strip. She then handed the bag to Ashleigh and smiled. It was a good experience from start to finish. At no time, were we made to feel that it was too much bother to assist Ashleigh and her purchases were as important as anyone else’s in the store. This was some years ago; I think that maybe this level of service may be reduced in today’s climate of fewer staff and tills. It was one that stuck in my mind though. Even in some small independent stores, staff can be helpful and attentive. They view Ashleigh and I as customers who are as important as any other customer in their store. They usually make themselves known and leave us to it until we need further assistance. The aforementioned boutique in Ashby is one such example. In some stores, staff are so disregarding or downright rude that we leave at the earliest opportunity. Even more than inaccessibility, unhelpful or rude staff can completely ruin our shopping experience with one glance or sneer. They put me off completely even if Ashleigh has not picked up on it. Sometimes, stores are small and we are made to feel that we take up too much room and prevent other potential customers from entering the store. I have witnessed eye-rolls, whispers or downright sighs of discontent from staff. If in the mood, I will challenge them or linger longer in the store and leave without making a purchase to make a point. If I am feeling less confident, I tend to leave the store with Ashleigh with a very bad aftertaste in my mouth. I feel that we are not accepted as mainstream members of our society and that we ask too much to be included. This can be very demoralising. Unhelpful staff are those who answer our queries minimally, shrug their shoulders or reluctantly offer help. Their whole attitude is so negative and it takes nerves of steel to continue with the shopping. Other staff look at Ashleigh and I as a unit who should not really have expectations as the rest of their customers; as if being in a wheelchair robs you of humanity and dignity but most of all, any hope of wanting to feel and look good. Fortunately, these staff members are very few and far between and we can vote with our feet by leaving the shop. One bad experience was in Debenhams when Ashleigh was trying on shoes as she was to be a bridesmaid to her cousin. We had to help Ashleigh get shoes on and off and walk short distances in them to check for suitability and vulnerable areas of skin that could blister in certain styles. As Ashleigh mainly wears trainer and boots to walk in, we had to try styles that she did not normally use. She was looking for a pretty and delicate pair of shoes but they also had to be stable and functional. We asked for several pairs and the retail assistant was clearly bored by the whole process and more eager to help other shoppers who did not need as much input. In the end, we asked her to leave us with several pairs that we tried on Ashleigh at our convenience. Fortunately, Ashleigh had had two of her personal assistants as well as myself on that day. We were all strong advocates, determined to help her get a pair of shoes that were suitable for such a special occasion.

Do you tend to shop online or in store more? Which is an easier experience for you 88

and why? Ashleigh and I tend to do a lot of our fashion shopping on-line or in concession stores in supermarkets where accessibility is not an issue. Part of fashion shopping is the sensory experience of a physical store, the visual colours and style of the clothes, the feel of the fabrics; Ashleigh enjoys trying on hats or having a garment held up on her and looking at herself in the mirror. She is very aware of her selfimage and this is important for her self-worth. Ashleigh finds it nearly impossible to try clothes on so we tend to shop on-line at stores where we are familiar with sizing. Otherwise, we take clothes home to try and return or exchange if unsuitable. Ashleigh does like to mix this with store shopping too as I help her make choices from an array of suitable clothes. Ashleigh uses eye pointing and we work through a series of clothes, either discounting them or getting a maybe or definite yes. We also need to look at garments for their suitability, especially the ease with which Ashleigh can get in and out of them; and things like tight waistbands, garment lengths and openings. Stores tend to have loud music and with the bright lights and crowded spaces, the whole experience can be a sensory overload which tires Ashleigh. She will then disengage and we cut our shopping trip short. Whilst shopping on-line may be a simpler option, we do miss the actual physical experience of being in a store and handling garments and accessories. There is also the add on experiences of window shopping or stopping for a cuppa.

Do you feel brands have a responsibility to make this experience as easy for you as possible? Brands reach out to customers within their demographics and people with disabilities should be among them. Shoppers should not be excluded on disability alone. Of course, there are going to be garments that are less suitable or relevant but access into the stores so that choices can be made should not be denied. The market should not assume that people with physical and learning disabilities do not have the same expectations of looking their best or keeping up with trends. For example, wheelchair users still look at party clothes, exercise wear or outdoor clothing. One way to rob a person with a disability of their humanity and self-worth is to marginalise them as customers or disregard them wholly. Brands are at the front-line and can lead the way for inclusivity and acceptance to make fashion shopping an experience that can be enjoyed at many levels for all their shoppers.

What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of the shopping experience for those with a physical disability? New stores are and should be accessible for all users. Legislation under the Disability Discrimination Act of 2005 and superseded by the Equalities Act of 2010 require buildings to have reasonable access. This can be interpreted differently; larger public buildings tend to have accessible entries while smaller businesses have lower criteria. The ambiguity and cost-effectiveness of being compliant can result in this issue not being addressed at a satisfactory level. Architects and planners have to take physical accessibility as well as other issues into account when designing spaces. When planning stores, consideration should also be given to distances of accessible 89

toilets, eating places, parking or public transport. These are all issues for a person with a disability to resolve when having to leave their familiar environments. People in wheelchairs may also have added complex issues such as learning disability, communication difficulties, alternative feeding routes and even medical conditions such as breathing difficulties and epilepsy. They tend to have trained carers who support them but these carers would in turn need some support and understanding if things do not go quite to plan. Accessibility is not always about entering and moving around a building; it also encompasses the issues that have to be overcome for the shopper in a wheelchair. Again, I cannot stress enough that education and awareness for all in the service industry is important so that there is a general understanding for any shopper with added needs. Shoppers with a disability and their carers want to shop like everyone else, they do not enjoy being singled out or made to stand out for a multitude of reasons. These all add to the feeling of being excluded or not being able to participate in mainstream society. Anticipation, awareness and discreet support go a long way to positively enhance a shopping experience for Ashleigh and myself. Rudeness, unhelpfulness and drama on the other hand can make the shopping experience so unbearable that we retreat to the safety of our known environments and have to recover before we venture out again. (p.s. I am in danger of sounding dramatic here! ; )

Do you feel there is enough support for carers when it comes to shopping for those who they look after? How would you like to see this change? Carers, and I include myself in this, are seen as a single unit along with the person that they are supporting. The same assumptions that are sometimes made about the person with the disability is also made of their carer. If I am shopping for Ashleigh, people tend to talk to me and ignore Ashleigh totally and I have to work hard to keep her included in the experience. If I am shopping for myself with Ashleigh, it is even more difficult as I cannot access all areas or find suitable changing rooms to try clothes on. If we are on our own, Ashleigh comes into the larger changing cubicle with me when I try clothes on. I sometimes pretend to take something for Ashleigh to make this available. More than anything, attitude of staff has to change. Education and training are important and should be extended to junior and casual staff. There should be a pride in the service they are offering and that service should extend to all shoppers. I do understand that staff are sometimes run off their feet or overwhelmed with demands but that should be taken back to management instead of being projected on to customers. Carers who are supporting shoppers want to make the experiences positive on the whole. They tend to shield their cared-for from negative responses or unwillingness to assist and absorb the brunt of the negative impact which can be exhausting and isolating.

General Comments In my experience, the overall shopping experience for a person with a disability and their carer is far from satisfactory. There are little windows of excellent access, service and satisfaction but on the whole, it is a fraught experience and we are left feeling that we exist in a parallel universe that caters for the mainstream shopper and pays only a token nod to people with disabilities. 90

There is a general perception in society that people with disabilities perhaps do not have the same expectations as the rest of us. It is incorrectly assumed that their lives remain small and isolated; and at times, when overtures are made to accommodate the person with a disability, they can appear contrite and patronising even if it is not the intention to do so. There are examples of good experiences but these are few and far between. When they do occur, they make such a difference to the whole experience for both the person with the disability and their carer. Ashleigh and I tend to steel ourselves for a fashion shopping trip and execute what should be a leisurely pursuit as a military exercise. We try not to go with friends as we feel that we limit their experience too when we cannot access stores or aisles, so we tend to go on our own or with a paid personal assistant. We have had good experiences of fashion shopping in Melbourne, Australia and Edinburgh in Scotland; the general attitude has been one of welcome and acceptance. I feel that their society in general has more awareness of disabilities and inclusion is embraced in the true sense of the word. London, on the other hand thrives on keeping the shopper with a disability at bay while leaving the more robust amongst us to view and purchase their wares! To date, the whole experience of fashion shopping for people with disabilities in the UK remains sub-standard and much needs to be done to improve the quality of store design and service. Doing just enough is not the way forward; we should instead research strategies that deliver above minimum standards. There perhaps needs to be an understanding that begins in primary schools so that there is awareness and understanding of how we are all different but can be accommodated in our society with a few modifications and a very generous helping of tolerance, consideration and acceptance. In society as a whole, we should all be valued as individuals despite our differences. We share more than we realise and good experiences are appreciated by all.

3.6 Participant 6: Chloe Bill | 20 | Cerebal Palsy Sufferer

Okay. I've just got questions and then it's basically that we can just like chat about it. So, just for my transcript, could you briefly outline your disability and the main ways in which this affects you in daily life? So I have cerebral palsy and my left side, and it's just, just moving around and strength in my arms and legs. Each day is different. I think it's quite underlying, so people don't really see, if you look at me, you wouldn't see it. So I think that it's a lot of the problem is that you don't notice it unless you're looking for it or unless it's a really bad day. So my area of interest is the fashion retail environment and the ways in which this excludes those with physical disability. How has your disability limited you in physical stores? How do you shop? So let's say it's like the worst day you've had in forever, and I don't know if some reason you need to go shopping, which you wouldn't, but how would that look for you? How do you shop? So I would go with my mom and she would come with me and she'd probably have to hold onto me like the whole time. So even getting around the store. I think a lot of the aisles are quite narrow, especially in places like TKMaxx. Because they squish their stuff in and there's always a sale going on isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t there, like always racks squished in, so that's an issue. Just cause it's not wide enough for two people to get down. So I don't think that helps. Um, accessibility wise, there's hardly ever, especially in Canterbury, cause it's a lot of old buildings. They have escalators up and stairs down, which is helpful to some extent, but try to get back and down is not very helpful at all. A lot of the old, a lot of the older buildings have like the lips and like hidden lips and stuff that you they put tape over, but if you're not looking down, you will trip over it. Um, and not many places have ramps, like at all. And as much as I'm not in a wheelchair, having to move physically up steps sometimes can be difficult. Whereas if you had a ramp, it would help, but they don't always have that. What have your experience been with retail staff? Have you had, have you had any really good or really bad experiences that you can remember? Yeah. So if I want to get changed, it's a bad day and I need help from my mom, which is embarrassing enough as it is. And then a store person comes over, it's like, you can't have two people in a changing room, that is so embarrassing. Um, so that was just a bit embarrassing. And I think it's quite humiliating, just like, cause people always queue in to get into the changing rooms and then they're like, Oh, you can't have two people and then two people look and it causes a scene, and It doesn't really help, and I think a lot of the time they don't really understand why you might need someone in there with you or, yeah. Do you think that's because I've got a lack of understanding or they just aren't trained in the right way? I think it's a bit of both, isn't it? I think lack of understanding because they haven't had to think, I don't think you necessarily go around your daily life if you haven't got a disability, thinking about people that have got one. So, I think, yeah. It's probably, lack of just coming into your brain. In my job I haven't been trained to think about people with disabilities. So, I guess retail people probably haven't either. Do you feel that the challenges you face in a physical store affects your confidence in buying clothing? Does it restrict you from choosing clothes that you like to buy? So it restricts you from choosing what you like instead you would buy what's more practical? So that does, do the challenges you face affect your confidence by advisors? 92

Yeah, because it will make you not want to go and ask someone for the right size or the right. Like if something's a bit too tall on the rack, I think, oh, I’ll just walk past that one today. Especially with when they, like when things were folded up, and I haven't always got the ability in my other arm to help me go through piles. And instead of being like, Oh, can someone help me? I just, I move on cause I don't like being that person that isn't like able to do it for myself. So the fact that I'm not confident enough to ask someone makes me go, oh never mind I’ll just order it online or do it another day.

So, do you tend to shop online or in store more, which is an easier experience for you and why? Online shopping is easier because I can then try stuff on at the comfort of my own home. And I can do any day of the week I want, I haven't got to arrange my mum to come with me. Parking is a massive issue for shopping. Especially like Canterbury. I have to get the bus into Canterbury to then go shopping, which is just a trek as it is. So if I can shop at home, then it makes more sense because I haven't got to put myself through the challenges of going into somewhere and it's just you can do in your own home, which is nicer. So do you feel brands have a responsibility to make this experience for you as easy as possible? Yeah. I wanted to say no, because I thought why should it be their problem that I’ve got a problem. But then I thought they are all about inclusiveness now and, they want everyone to feel like they wanted. So maybe it should be a bit more of a push in that direction cause they're trying to make like plus size and petite and everything, so why not try and make it a bit more, not saying they have to make a clothing made but try and make the actual experience of going shopping a bit more inclusive. Because if they're trying to promote everyone being individual, everyone doing stuff, I don't think it's very like aligned with their brand values if they're not trying to help everyone. Well 1 in 5 people in the UK have disability some form, so like think about the amount of people that go into a store each day, like one in five, that’s a lot people on a busy Saturday on a high street for example. One in five people. That's a lot of people isn’t it. Yeah, not necessarily just physical, that could be like mental or physical. 1 in 4 in America. Yeah, that’s a lot of business that brands are missing out on isn’t it. What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of the shopping experience for those who have a physical disability? The signs, if they have lifts, or if they have escalators, if they don’t, get some. And if they do make it more obvious where they are, even people with pushchairs don't know where they are half the time. Whereas if it was obvious in the first place, it would be less embarrassing. You'd be able to get in and out, it'd just be easier. Changing rooms don't always have seats neither, which really annoys me. I like to sit down when I get changed because I can't stand up when putting jeans and stuff on, so having a chair would be helpful. And then just stop cramming everything in everywhere. It just, it makes it so overwhelming. It's a small space. Because I have my crutches in the summer and even then like trying to look at stuff was having crutches, and then people push past you as well. So, I think as a whole, if everything was a bit more spaced out, I think no one would have to come into your way. 93

So how would you feel if there was like a, like a trained store member who was trained in the best way to help you. How would you feel if like you had, you went into store and they almost became your personal shopper for your experience? Do you feel that would like single you out or like aid your experience? I don't think it would single you out. I think it's quite nice when you go shopping and someone that works there genuinely wants to help you. I quite like when you go shopping in someone's like, Oh, that would look good. I don't think it would single you out. I think because it's not a done thing to do, I think initially be quite weird, but I think it would be helpful in the long run because, if you did have that, someone to help you, so I couldn't get my mom to come with me one day. It would be helpful to I didn't have to rely on somebody to come with me because someone could help me when I'm there. I think that would be quite good. Yeah, that makes sense. So, with Instagram being such a big platform for brands and influencers, how does it make you feel that those with a physical disability are not widely represented in this area? So Pretty Little Thing. They now have like a “everybody in Pretty Little Thing”, and they've got like two people in a wheelchair. I just think that it's like, yeah, you're getting there, but is it really inclusive? I think they're the only people I've actually seen that are trying to get people in wheelchairs in. I follow a lot of clothing brands and not many of them. are inclusive at all. So, I think it is quite rubbish that they don't try. I get that you know they wanted to make it look glamorous and they want to make it appealing to everyone, and maybe sometimes seeing someone in a wheelchair in a skirt isn't going to want to make you buy it for everyone. But for the people that are in that position and they see someone wearing that, it would be good. They’re such big brands, it doesn't take much. They've got a huge following anyway. What would it be, like one post out of their six a day? It'll just make more people want to buy from them. I think there’s a whole problem with token inclusivity and just basically brands like putting a person in it, say in a wheelchair on the campaign because they have to do it. Then it's obviously if it's you just like that they’ve just included someone to tick the box almost. Whereas if they made it more of a norm and they actually use influencers that do have a disability, because there's a lot of influencers on Instagram that do have illnesses. So maybe just use them, maybe use more real people instead of the perfect people. Like all the models. Just use real people. Okay. Any more comments? How would you feel if shops did like a specific time in which they like made the shop more accessible for people to come? I think that's a really nice idea. But practicality wise, would you be able to get everyone that has a disability to the store that day? I think it'd be chaos realistically, but I think it'd be nice to feel a bit more like, like you were going to get a bit more attention and a bit more understanding on those days. If you could change one feature about the shopping store , what would be your first priority? Attitudes of people, and I guess you can't change the general public that go shopping, but if you as a store make it more of a point to make sure that you're more understanding and more aware of the fact that people do hide stuff when people are struggling. I think it would make the whole thing a bit less of an issue. When I did my store says assistant questions yesterday, the first question was, have you been trained in disability accessibility, and I'm pretty sure every single person said no. 94

Yeah, but that doesn't surprise me. For all of my jobs, I haven't been trained. I haven't, and it's only because I'm in that position, whereas when a kid with autism comes in, or a kid that's in a wheelchair comes in, I know how to do that because I'm in that situation. But 95% of the other staff at Frankie and Benny’s don’t have a clue. You can't, you can't always put a wheelchair on the tables and yeah, they all, and the only ones we can, but we would have the circular ones, but it just causes a problem because it blocks everything off. And the only reason I can accommodate to that is because I notice stuff, whereas other staff just don't. I think if you haven't ever been exposed to being around someone with something like an illness, then you just don't think in that way. I think it makes a problem when people don't have the training and don't feel confident in themselves to because they don't want

3.7 Participant 7: Josefina Pontes Viella

Lydia: So, you consent to being recorded, yeah? Josefina: Yes, yes.

Okay so the first thing I need you to do is just read this through for me, which is a project information sheet, just gives you more information. Firstly, I have a survey that I would like you to do. I am trying to collect lots of responses for qualitative data, so just to tick yes or no, or there’s some that have slightly more answers. So firstly, could you briefly outline your disability and the ways in which this impacts you in daily life. I’m a triple amputee, which means my legs are prosthetic, and my left hand is amputated aswell as my finger. Today is actually the only day I have worn my legs since last week. When I am in my chair and do not wear my legs it is more difficult for me, to manoeuvre, go shopping especially. When I wear my legs, the accessibility becomes difficult as the foot plates make the chair longer, which means aisles become more difficult, so I actually don’t like shopping. So, my area of interest is the fashion retail environment, and the ways in which it excludes those with a physical disability. So how has your disability limited you when shopping in a physical store, and how do you shop for your clothes with physical restrictions that you face? If I need something majorly, because I have to consider size, as I cant get clothes in my own size as my legs are prosthetic so they have to fit over my legs, but I am small in my waist, then if I am a size 10 then I have to get trousers in a size 12, to be able to fir my legs in properly. The shopping experience is not that fun. The accessibility is not that good, some shops I can’t even get in, especially if I am shopping not just for clothes, for everyday materials, like for my hair stuff, there is no ramp to get in, so I will have to go and find another shop. So, do you tend to do a lot of research before to find where you want to go? I have to. I can’t just get up and say, “oh I’m going to go shopping in Derby”, no, I have to make sure where I’m going has accessibility, whether I can get in or not. And do you tend to try clothes on at home? I try at home. I just buy things in my size and try at home. It’s too much effort to go in, sometimes they don’t have a big changing room and if I have my chair then I can’t get in, so there’s no point trying because I can’t fit in. so I just make sure I get my 95

size, and I get the receipt and I try it at home.

So, what has your experience been with staff in retail stores? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Anyone been really helpful or looked down their nose at you? It’s mixed. Sometimes I get people who don’t want to approach you, because they are scared that they’ll hurt your feelings or something, but then they tend to stare, which make it even worse. Most of the time I have good experience I would say, as I know exactly what I’m there for, what I’m going for and I don’t spend 25 minutes finding a top, I have an image in my head. Because I don’t like it, its hard for me, so I just go in, get what I need and get out. The staff sometimes are nice, some of them will move the aisles, because they’re often moveable to make space, sometimes, some of them wont, I could ask a question and get a one word answer, but then I’m like, but I can’t reach it because I’m in a wheelchair, and they don’t care. Do you feel that the challenges you face in a retail store affect your confidence in buying clothes? Yeah, so trousers for example, I can’t buy them online because I need to see if they fit my legs. In general, not really, I know my style, I know what my style is, so it is easier for me to know what I want, I go in, get what I need and get out. But sometimes, it depends, as I have a scar, which is why I wear jumpers and stuff. And because of the sun, it hurts my skin, so I protect it, I cover it up, so many things that people my age would wear, I don’t really bother much with it, I just get something that is comfortable for me. So, we’ve kind of covered it, but do you tend to shop online or instore, and which is an easier experience for you? In store is easier for me, online is hard because I can never make sure that I’m getting the right size, sizing comes up different from each store, and with my prosthetics most things don’t fit, so I have to make sure that it is the right size, so I would rather go to the actual store and get it, and not have to think about returning it. Do you feel that brands have a responsibility to make the experience as easy for you as possible? It is, because its not just me, its not just me who is shopping, I know people in a wheelchair who love to go shopping, but they don’t like the experience because either the wheelchair is too big for the stores, or the staff aren’t nice. For me, I guess my focus point is going there, I know people will stare regardless, unfortunately I am that type of person that people stare at because there are not people like me much. It is their responsibility because no one chooses to be born disabled, no one makes a deal with God to become disabled, so I think in a way should treat people the way you should want to be treated. You put yourself in that position, you would want things adapted. I learnt that when I became disabled, that the world is not made for it at all. I think it is a brands responsibility to make the stores accessible, yeah. Clothes, I think that’s a different story because, different size, but stores, that’s somewhere that people go to enjoy their experience, but most disabled people don’t find it enjoyable. What changes do you feel need to be made in order to improve the accessibility of a store? I think there should be someone in a store who is there to specifically be trained and help disabled people. You know, some of us are very shy and don’t like to talk, when 96

we see everyone staring, we close ourselves off. I think they should have at least one person who is trained. Not even just disabled, something like social anxiety. I think they should have someone there, if someone comes in to assist people with, especially things on a top shelf, or things that need to be moved. I move things, I don’t wait for people to come to me, I’ll move it, and I’ll get around, but some people can’t do that depending on their disability, I think they should definitely have someone there.

So my last question, with Instagram being such a used platform for brands and clothing brands, how does it make you feel that physically disabled people aren’t widely represented in this area? Because disabled people are being seen as less. People with scars, or disabilities, or something that you see in hospitals, you don’t see that on billboards. Disabled people are meant to be only for people to pity, to be recognised if you do something good. And even if you do something good, people take your disability and put it in front of it, instead of recognising what you did, I am labelled as disabled before any of my achievements. You are not disabled, I am a person before my disability, and many people seem to forget that, and they want to focus on your disability, how are you feeling about your disability? There’s many people, young people, I work with children in sports. I get to see a lot of children, especially Key Stage 1, and you see children so little in their wheelchairs, in their walkers, and they have a vision of the world that they’re going to takeover, that they’re going to be big, that they’re going to have an impact. But by the time they get to high school, that confidence is dead, they’ve been told they can’t do that. “You need to do this, you can’t do that, you need to stay in this place”. That alone puts everyone in a box. Even if they had the ability to do those things, because they are disabled, which labels them already, makes them excluded. It doesn’t matter, no one wants to see someone with scars wearing Gucci, no one will buy it, because they don’t promote it. You have to be skinny, you have to be beautiful, you have to have luscious hair, disabled people aren’t like that. Some people have physical disabilities, some people have mental disabilities. And that should be represented across the board. I think it should be taken more seriously. With Instagram, it makes disabled people feel very lonely, and not part of society, because it doesn’t represent our lives, it doesn’t mirror what we see in ourselves. I think it’s really hard, I’m not a 6-foot-tall model, but I can scroll through my Instagram and see someone that I can relate to. I think it’s really hard that it’s not the same for everyone, and that it is excluding people. Okay, so that is the end of my questions, is there any other points or things you wanted to talk about. I think accessibility is a very big thing, and it’s good that you’re doing it, as it’s not just shopping. Its university even the Newton building with the steps, the fact that I have to go all the way around. People worry more about what accessibility might look like, more than how it might help somebody else. We forget a lot about other people’s feelings. I don’t really tend to think how other people think about me, I have a very good support system, and I know what I want to do with my life. Regardless of whether I have my legs on, or not, I've got used to people staring. Children are okay, they are innocent, they don’t understand. I've got nephews who they still mimic me, we still playfight, but for them I’m their Auntie Jen, that’s how they know me, but if people were to see it, they'd be like, “be careful, don’t hurt her!” But I'm like, they're not going to hurt me, they’re my nephews, that’s how they know me. Let them act normal around me, I don’t want them acting different. I

I think people make it worse don’t they. People who don’t know how your disability affects you, like to tell you how it affects you. Most people don’t know that I wasn’t born disabled, so they expect me not to know. Its taken me a while to get used to this, but I’m used to it now. I have accepted that my body is disabled, but I haven’t accepted my mind as disabled. a lot of people forget that, my body is disabled, but my mind is not. Talk to me, get to know me, then find out who I am, instead of putting me in a box straight away just because of how I look. Amazing thank you so much.

4. STORE ASSISTANT QUESTIONS 4.1 Participant 8: Riain Kilgour | Store Assistant at Hollister, Birmingham As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? No training was given out on how to deal with disabled customers, it seemed to be a “we’ll deal with it when it happens “ kinda thing.

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? we had 2 changing rooms that were slightly bigger then regular ones which were especially for wheelchair users or anyone that needed them, a member of staff would stay within a close distance if there was a physically disabled person in there with no carer, equally there was a pull cord incase if emergency. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? At first it wasn’t easy for disabled customers to access the store, there are steps at the main entrance meaning a separate door was put in for disabled customers, walkways were rather un-wheelchair/ scooter friendly, narrow with tables and mannequins pretty close together, all changing rooms are upstairs, there is a lift they could use to get upstairs, if they needed assistance we would move mannequins, tables etc out of the way for them to move around the store Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. I had a few experiences with disabled customers, most of which were people complaining about the store layout as HCO and A&F weren’t the most diverse when I started they kinda took a relaxed approach to it as they weren’t really type of customer they wanted, towards the end of my time and the business changing hands they starting caring more, and we were instructed to be personal shopper to people that were physically disabled. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I’d feel fine helping a physically disabled customer, but it’s quite a grey area as some people want help and some want to be as independent as possible, so finding the right balance can be quite awkward at times 4.2 Participant 9: Lauren Brown | Store Assistant at Alta Costura Bride (Former Manager at New Look) As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? We didn’t get training as a manager for dealing with disabled customers other than what to do in a fire evacuation! So as a manger we didn’t train the staff to deal with them either

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? If we got disabled customers in, we would see if they would like a chair to help them in the fitting room or if they needed any help. I was a manager in a old shop but when they opened a new store which was bigger they did have a larger fitting room for disabled customers with a fold down chair. 99

Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? I had a small store on one floor so no. Our store was so packed you often couldn’t fit a wheel chair down the shop very well so had a lot of complaints. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. Only when customers wanted to try stuff on, always offered a chair or extra help, I did have to help a lady put on trousers and shoes once! How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I was fine dealing with disabled customers. It did make me feel uncomfortable being in a small packed shop, so I know they know getting around the shop hard work. 4.3 Participant 10: Vanessa Verdier | Store Assistant at Topshop As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? I personally haven’t been given full on 1-1 training, however when you do start you get given a handbook on how to deal with different types of customers including ones with a disability. We also get to watch a quick video explaining what the best ways are to go about things. Nothing is in detail though and do think it should be a more serious part of training as I know some girls, I work with will not know what to do.

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? I would first try to see what kind of disability they have and then would cater to what I believe their needs would be. However, in the 5 years that I’ve worked in Topshop, I’ve never encountered a situation where a disabled person asked for help to try on something as they normally have someone with them to assist. Nevertheless, if tomorrow someone did ask me, I would make sure that my attention was 100% of them. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? My store is one level and not very big. We have space for wheelchairs to go through the whole store as well. If one did ask for help though, we would be able to move stuff around to make it easier for them to access everything. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. I’ve had to serve a few customers at the till in wheelchairs. It’s not difficult as I’ve been told that they don’t want to be treated as if there is something wrong, so all of my experiences have been fine. All I’ve done is maybe put extra effort in making things easier for them such as going around the till to give them their bag. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? Maybe a little nervous in case I did something wrong, but I would be happy to help. 4.4 Leanne Slattery | Asisstant Manager at Timberland As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? 100

Never been given training. If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? We have to take all customers to the fitting room at the back as it has to be unlocked by a member of staff so I guess I would guide them there and tell them if they need any help or other sizes to let me know (like any other customer) unless they actually say they need help I don’t want to assume anything and make them feel weird or anything

Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? Our store is one floor with no uneven flooring or anything. We have some coats and stuff hung quite high so it’s hard to reach. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. We had a couple of customers in wheelchairs but never felt any different to a normal customer had a normal chat etc. To be fair, they were there with someone else, so they didn’t really need much help with shoes and clothing or they weren’t the ones trying stuff on. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I’d feel fine, you have to treat them like everyone else, they are human at the end of the day. I guess if they were struggling to reach something I would go and see if they need help but again that’s the same with all customer 4.5 Participant 11: Grace Brown | Store Assitant at Mint Velvet As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? We haven’t been given specific training no, but we have an iPad in store with the company website on that we can bring to customers if they have issues moving around the store finding product.

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? I would ask (if they could respond) if they needed help without being patronizing and do whatever they suggested but keep checking on them. If they were with a carer I’d feel more comfortable leaving them be until they needed assistance. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? We don’t have any steps in the store ( i know this isn’t a question ) but we have a disabled changing room too which has more space. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. I’ve had experiences where some customers couldn’t speak properly but they were with people, so they were able to translate so it was easier for me. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I would feel okay, I’d give them the usual customer service I give, with extra support and guidance. 101

4.6 Participant 13: Keri Breen | Store Assistant at Sports Direct As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? None at all - I would have found it really useful if I had as Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve dealt with quite a few disabled customers and found it nerve wracking and embarrassment having to think on my feet how to help them and give them the best possible service.

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? I worked on footwear, so I would get the product for them and ask if they needed any further assistance - in some cases I have had to physically put on a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoe and feel how it fits on them. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? My store does have a second floor with stairs however there is an elevator at the back of the store that many customers miss so I usually guide them towards the elevator. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. Yes, I have dealt with a few Down syndrome children. However, their parents are always present, but I always make sure to be pleasant and patient when serving them and to also make sure they know they can ask for my assistance if needed. I have also dealt with elderly customers who are physically disabled - this usually involves picking out what products they need and bringing it to them, asking if they need further assistance, and helping them to out on and take of the shoe. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I have always felt initially a bit nervous on how to go about serving them due to my lack of training, as I would never want to upset or offend a customer and I always want to give them the same level of service as I would any other customer 4.7 Participant 14: Ethan Kierznowski Where I've worked: Office shoes; Maidstone, Canterbury, Brighton, Lakeside and Bluewater stores. Duration: 5 years. Positions: Sales assistant, supervisor and assistant manager

As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? I have never received any formal training on how to deal with disabled customers, physically or otherwise. A lot of it is just improvisation. This didn't change at all across any of my roles either. If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? The nature of the job means that there aren't the same constraints as with clothing retail, where the demand for assistance may be a lot higher. There's no need for changing rooms, and its a lot less personal. Of course, there are exceptions, with customers who cannot for whatever reason put their shoes on. In this case, sales assistants are typically expected to put the shoe on for the customer, or if uncomfortable to prompt management to do so. This, again, isn't formally enforced, it just exists as part of the expected quality of customer service the staff are held to. 102

In this way, most staff do conform these standards, but there's no actual system in place nor is there any disciplinary action taken against staff who do not wish to be so accommodating. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? Access is very hit and miss with the stores, and there is little to no consideration for this when selecting units from my (limited experience). Stores in shopping centers are usually very well laid out, and the more modern units are too. However, Canterbury, for example, has a step half way through the store, which means its impossible for wheelchair access throughout the whole store. I, personally, would feel fine helping anyone access areas of the store where possible. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. Yes, and there's not much to tell other than you treat them like regular customers but you just have to put the shoes on for them sometimes. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? As selfish as it sounds, there is some incentive to favour a regular customer, because much of the income for sales assistants is commission based, and often these customers represent a greater time to money ratio. However, I can't say I've ever felt annoyed about a customer with more requirements, nor would I actually avoid 4.8 Participant 15: Alex Ferguson Gow | Store Assistant at John Lewis As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? No i haven't. The only thing I was told in relation to disable customers was to accept returns even if the item they are returning isn't for my department, as we usually ask customers to go to the right tills for a return. But obviously this isn't always easy for people with a physical disability so we make the exception.

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? I would ask if they needed any help to try something on, but it can be hard to tell if someone wants or actually needs help. I would be worried they might find me rude if I were to ask them if they needed help so I would just make sure to judge it on a case by case basis and offer my help if they wanted it. If we had disabled changing facilities I would direct them to these too, but again it depends on the specific customer and what facilities are available at the time. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? We have 4 floors, and different ways to get to each floor. There are lifts, stairs and escalators. Usually I direct everyone (regardless of whether they have a physical disability or not) to the middle of the store as there are both lifts and escalators there which can take them to any floor, whereas the stairs only go up one floor. If there was a physically disabled customer I would direct them to the lifts, maybe walk over with them to show them the way too if they wanted.

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Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. Yes. I've had customers in wheelchairs before who have just asked to be told where the lifts are or how they can get to different floors. Not sure the same thing applies, but if I have had heavily pregnant customers whose movement maybe isn't the best either I have done the same as I would with the returns like I mentioned before. Also, I had a customer who was deaf (again not sure that counts as physically disabled) and I didn't notice at first. She'd asked me to help find a gift for someone and I started talking about different products and showed them to her, when she interrupted and said she was deaf and asked me to slow down. Obviously as soon as she told me I slowed down and just made sure I was talking especially clearly so she could understand (lip read) more easily. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I feel fine serving physically disabled customers. I consider them to be like any other customer, sometimes even nicer as you maybe do have to spend a little more time helping them, but whenever I've been in that situation they were always extremely grateful. The deaf lady I served was probably one of the nicest customers I have ever served and I think that was down to how grateful she was that I spent my time helping her in a way she could understand. 4.9 Saskia Marsh | John Lewis As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? Yes, we have disability awareness training which is renewed every year. This training provides us with techniques on how to serve customers with a disability, how to identify one and it also ensures all partners in store are made aware of the things we can do to help those with specific requirements.

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? Most of the time, physically disabled customers come into store with a carer, however in the circumstance of someone coming in on their own I would offer any assistance that may be needed. However, some physically disabled people may feel embarrassed to ask for help or not want to accept any help at all. So in the case of the customer wanting to try clothes on, I would allow the biggest changing room to be open for them, and focus my time on checking up and ensuring I can go and find other sizes and styles for them if required. I think it is important to provide a friendly environment where the customer doesn’t feel different to other people, and feels like they don’t have to rush. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? We have lots of different levels, however we have lift access which is located in the middle of the store, so it is easy to find. We can also facilitate wheelchairs to any customers that need assistance getting around the shop. We also have the usual – disabled toilets and accessing the café is not a problem for anyone who needs more space. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. 104

Of course, disabled customers frequently come into John lewis, and I do believe it is because we are very welcoming and accommodating to the needs of these individuals. We are known for our customer service and I think customers know they will get the required assistance. When serving on the tills I naturally have come across disabled people over time, and I make sure I converse with the person in the chair, for example, rather than their carer. Because the carer is standing up and is level to you, it is easy to just transact with them to offer quick service. However, I do always ensure I am thinking of the physically disabled individual by providing a warm welcome and involving them in conversation and the transaction. Equally, I have had to serve people with disabilities at my desk, which means I have had to move chairs away to allow access for a chair. Which is never a problem.

How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? I don’t think nowadays I would feel anything different to be honest. Of course, it depends on the level of disability but ultimately because my store is very accommodating I don’t ever feel anxious about it. However, it is always a personal worry that you may say the wrong thing or not be as helpful as you possibly could be without realising. It all very much depends on the individual – some people can accept the help and have no problem asking, and some have a lot of pride and don’t like help.

4.10 Natasha Hawley | Gap As a member of a retail store team, have you ever been given any training on how to deal with physically disabled customers? No

If a physically disabled customer came into your store and asked to try something on, what would you do? How would you go about facilitating this? I would carry the items they wanted to try on and guide them to the disabled changing area, telling the customer I will wait outside in case they require any further assistance. Does your store have any steps, escalators, or different levels? What would you do to aid a physically disabled customer in accessing all areas of your store? My store is all on one level. Have you ever had any experiences with physically disabled customers? Tell me more. I assisted a young man with learning difficulties, i asked him what he wanted to buy, then carried all his items to the till where i served him at the till. How would you feel if you were to deal with a physically disabled customer? It wouldnt bother me at all if I had to deal with physically disabled customers.

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5 Expert Interviews 5.1 Participant 16: Carol Kaufman-Scarborough | Author and Lecturer at Camden Rutgers University Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Hi. Lydia Warren: Hi, thanks so much for calling. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Oh, you’re welcome, my Skype came up that I’d missed a call from you, but it didn’t come up. Lydia Warren: Is it okay if I record the audio so I can transcribe it for my work, is that alright? Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Yes, yes. Lydia Warren: Okay fab, thank you. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: I read through your agreement and your proposal, and I signed the form and I thought I could scan it and send it to you. Lydia Warren: Oh yes please, that would be really helpful. Okay, so I’ve got a couple of questions, but I’d love to just chat with you about your work and how it relates to my work. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Sure. Lydia Warren: I’ve started some primary research around my area, I've spoken to a couple of people who have disabilities themselves which has been really interesting, so I’m feel quite inspired. I’ve read lots around the area, I’ve read lots of your work, lots of people around the subject area, so my main area that I’m looking at is the physical restrictions that a retail environment would cause for someone with a physical disability, so something like the width of the aisles, physical attributes of the store. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: So, you mean someone with mobility issues, you want to be sure because when you say physical that can include sight, audio, so you mean mobility. Lydia Warren: Yes, that’s true, yes, I mean mobility. From my primary and secondary research, it seems to me that the problem hasn’t changed too much and there hasn’t been too much development, and there hasn’t been any big breakthroughs in improving the area, so I just wondered why, from someone who is more of an expert than I am, why you may think this is, or what you think it may take for there to be a drastic improvement? Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Okay, lets backup for a minute. Some stores made some big changes, and it took a legal case to do it. I don’t know if you're familiar with the Hollister stores, they used to have a big porch on the front, and I was part of a lawsuit, and they used my research in order to demonstrate to them, and it went through several different locations, but finally, Abercrombie, the parent company, had to redesign the stores, so now their stores have a different store front. So, there was some response, but in my experience, its often a case rather than voluntary. There are some exceptions, Target for example. Target, if you’re not familiar is like a large-scale Walmart. So, they have a design in which they have deliberately widen the aisles, for a number of reasons. I've done interviews with them, they feel like their customers are inconvenienced if they are not able to move about easily, or do not have the width for two carts, so their original goal was to simply make all customers comfortable. It made the store very accessible for consumers with mobility disabilities. With that being said, yes, I think the progress is very slow. In part, and again this is my own personal feeling, I really wonder if, my concern is that they underestimate the size and the importance of the market of people with disabilities, they’ll say “well I don’t have any consumers with disabilities, should I make a change?”, or “well it’s only a few people”, and so they don’t seem to comprehend how widespread disabilities are. And as the population around many 106

countries is increasing in age, the likelihood of having older people with walkers and wheelchairs and canes is increasing too. So, it’s not necessarily people who have been born with disabilities, but also people who have acquired them. So that’s another increasing area where the population ages. I worked on a big project at the church I attend, and we were looking at remodelling a large education building, and when we looked at it, the building was totally inaccessible, and we have an older population, and we actually demolished the whole building and built a new one. It was quite expensive, but what a difference, because now everyone can get everywhere. And that ought to be the goal. Something you might want to do is include in your interview people who study architecture. I was at a conference once and there were people from architectural design studies there and when I was talking about my research, they said “oh we don’t really think about that”. So, I don’t know if that’s something that deliberately taught, or if it’s something that’s done after a building is found inaccessible. It’s a reactionary approach rather than a proactive and planned approach.

Lydia Warren: I spoke so someone yesterday as part of my primary research and my last question to her was about what she would like to see change the most. In my head, I thought that she might say something about widened aisles or more accessible changing rooms, and she said about having someone in the store who is trained in accessibility, and knows how to deal with those who have got mobility issues, and that was something that I hadn’t really considered, not that I was preempting her answers, but I thought that it would be a physical feature that she’d like to change, but actually it was someone who knows about it more than others. And that was something I think, you just hire store staff and just put them in a store, and then realise there is extra things they need to learn. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: I’m just jotting down, Stacey Baker and I have done a study in the services, I can send you the article if you haven’t looked at it. We interviewed customers and also employees and we found exactly that. There was this lack of training, and because of that, it created somewhat of a dread of working with people with disabilities. And rather than just simply teaching people what the right way is.

Lydia Warren: I think a lot of people, even myself in primary research, I've been talking to my tutor at university, and kind of just questioning how I can go about finding people, and now worrying, but it’s a hard area to approach someone, and she was saying if I was doing a study of females with blonde hair, she said, “you’d go up to someone in the street and ask wouldn’t you?”, and talked about how just because someone is in a wheelchair, who cares if they say no to you. There’s a big taboo, of course you’ve got to be sensitive but, this is what the girl I spoke to yesterday said, she’s a person before she’s disabled. It’s about breaking down that stigma about not understanding them because they’re in a wheelchair, and that they’re different to us, but that’s not the case at all. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: No, you’re absolutely right, and the thing is I think we tend to think of people with disabilities as people we can’t talk to. So, you mentioned earlier about someone you spoke to who was a caregiver for her daughter, and that, Marlys Mason has done studies on families with disabilities. I have a family member who has 3 children out of 4 with special needs. And one uses a complex wheelchair, or accommodations chair, and the project it is to go somewhere, and we always go to the same restaurant because we know its okay. So you know, there’s enormous limitation of training of staff, and you know I've found 107

good luck with this because I've incorporated this into my classes, and many of my students work in retailing, and so when we do some projects related to accessibility we usually have a discussion on where they trained to work in accessibility, and boy do they have disabilities.

Lydia Warren: When I’m not at university, and I’m back home out of term time, I work part time in a bridal shop. I said to my tutor, I wouldn’t have a clue how to deal with someone in a wheelchair if they came in and said they wanted to try on a wedding dress. I've had no training around it, and fortunately one of our fitting rooms is accessible, and we’ve got a ramp into our shop, so getting into our shop isn’t a problem. But as a store staff myself, I wouldn’t know the first place to go, I’d go and get my manager. It’s just a level of having to have training and then it wouldn’t be a problem. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: That’s an excellent example to I hadn’t thought about that. In some of your interests, you talk a little bit about the fashion world, and I was thinking, my daughter has a child who is in a wheelchair, and finding clothing, it’s starting to emerge, adaptive clothing lines for children. But why has it taken so long, and have they gotten the input of the parent or the person of what they would actually want. I saw online, there was costumes for people with disabilities, and they were clever. But it struck me as sad, why Halloween but not everyday life?

Lydia Warren: The girl I spoke to yesterday, said that she doesn’t enjoy clothes shopping, and I’m quite lucky that I've got interviews with people who enjoy shopping and people who don’t. She wasn’t someone to care too much about what she wears, she goes for practicality, but even that she said she goes for the same stores. She’s a triple amputee and she wears prosthetic legs, and she was saying how getting clothes to fit her waist is really difficult because she needs trousers that are wide enough to get over her legs as her knees are quite wide where she puts on her legs. She was saying she goes for practicality and wears the same things every day. I feel really sad that people aren’t able to express themselves, I used clothing to express myself because I like to wear clothes that I enjoy, and actually that ability is stripped from disabled people because there’s limited adaptive clothing. I watched a Ted Talk with Stephanie Thomas and she talked about something like, I can’t remember the statistic but something like ‘there’s more opportunities to buy clothes for dogs than there are to buy clothes for people with disabilities’, its heart breaking almost, like how is that fair? Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Wow, doesn’t that put it in perspective.

Lydia Warren: I read your paper about how disabled people perceive welcome in a retail space, I’m kind of looking at finding a gap in my literature which is where I will take my project forward, and I think the area that I want to look into is the emotional engagement level rather than the physical store, and I just wondered how you thought this kind of engagement can be improved. Whether it is just training of staff or whether there is more to it than that. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Oh goodness, I think it’s so important because you know, I think this is where some of Marlys’ work would be useful if you haven’t seen all of it, she has some of it in books so it might be a little harder to find, but you know people want to be treated as normal but this includes their emotions. What questions would someone want to be a disability want to have posed to them when they’re shopping, the girl you mentioned, what types of questions would she want 108

to engage in with for example her knees being large. How would that conversation go, how could it make her feel included, and emotionally supported? If she could find just the clothing that fits, how good she would feel. So, she’s excluded from having that “a-ha” feeling, like when you find the perfect bridal dress, or the perfect outfit that looks wonderful on you. Really, they are prevented from having that feeling, its more functional. I think you could really come with some typologies if you haven’t already of how the feeling matches what the task at hand is. So, there’s that discovery feeling and that set of consumer feelings and that feeling of success. There’s a lot of work done in journal consumer research, not related to clothing and disability, but other types of search. Robert Schindler talks about the smart shopper, and the feelings and emotions that consumers experience when they find a bargain. Well I think there’s a parallel there at the emotion you can find, if you know there’s a possibility of finding clothing that is appropriate, and now you’re searching for style as opposed to function. Oh, you’re doing some important work. I’m just jotting notes so I can respond to you properly because I know I’ll think of things after we hang up.

Lydia Warren: Another thing I've thought about and discussed with my tutor the other day was with retail becoming so multi-sensory, everything is about experience now, it’s about experiential retail, instead of going into a store buying a top and leaving, it’s about the experience, you can kind of counter that and think about how it can drive someone with disabilities away from the store as it becomes so overwhelming. The lady I spoke to who is a carer, her daughter is non-verbal and uses just eye movement to make choices, and she was talking about how an overwhelming a store an instant no-go for them and they have to leave because it’s so much for her to deal with. I just wondered what your opinion was on this, I think from how I see it experiential retail is something that is going to keep developing, as brands don’t really sell you a product anymore the sell you an experience, and that is only going to keep developing, but that is pushing disabled people further and further away because it is something they can’t deal with. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: I did a study with a colleague quite a while ago, and we looked at people who have ADHD and their preference for a lack of stimulation because they felt that they, number 1 made bad purchase decisions because of the stimulation, and we interviewed several people. And oh, my goodness, you're absolutely right. Some reported that they had to avoid certain departments, I mean before the emphasis on experience. One example that came quite often was that our participants reported that they could not go near the area where televisions were sold. There is so much stimuli, especially if they have all different shows on, it becomes too overwhelming and they had to leave. Some retailers, in fact there’s some local to us, where they have a day for people with disabilities to shop, and try to make it very low key, and they have staff as helpers who are trained. I think it’s marvellous, it’s just the kind of thing that the people you have just described would need to have the focus on the task as opposed to the multi-sensory bombardment, which is not really a necessary part of retail. Several of our respondents mentioned shopping online because they can control their environment. They also found that they found that the distraction of multiple things in the store caused them to buy the same thing on multiple trips. What they would do shopping online is make a list, they would be able to stay focused, in a controllable home environment. To your point, they’re being excluded from retail settings, and an example that probably some of your interviewed have mentioned, going to a restaurant with someone with disabilities. There’s some that the experience and the volume of the noise would be so distracting to someone on the autism spectrum for example. But a meltdown by someone of the spectrum would be viewed very harshly. 109

Lydia Warren: I think aswell, I've kind of considered the online thing aswell, I myself don’t know which is better, I think you could argue both sides for shopping online. The lady I was talking to yesterday was saying how online for her is more difficult because she can’t see things and she can’t feel the fabrics to ensure they’re comfortable or having bulky waistband if she Is in her wheelchair all day. I think sometimes we think “oh sitting at home and ordering the clothes you know work for you would be really easy, but I think you could argue both sides in the sense that ,what are those in a wheelchair meant to do if neither instore or online works for them? there is no easy option, there is no easy way out of this. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Well plus, going back to some of the consumer led, shopping is fun, and a social experience, so the solution can potentially eliminate the social aspects of shopping, you know, shopping with friends, shopping with friends who don’t have a disability, or friends who do have a disability. It would be really interesting to study how employers not only train their staff, but how they would deal with a situation where say 3 people with mobility disabilities come into the shop at the same time, because they’re friends. Now you may have a wide aisle for one person, but how about 3? So, when we start to look at these very typical situations, how people may shop with a group of friends, now extend it to the disabilities world and it’s like woah. So now we need 3 accessible fitting rooms as opposed to one, because why should they have to wait. Tying this to fashion is really intriguing.

Lydia Warren: I think it’s something that came to me as a bit of a brainwave, when I was first thinking about areas of interest to research, it just was something that I had never considered. I watched a clip-on YouTube with a girl who was blind, and she did a video showing how her guide dog helps her in the day, and she went into a clothes store and I just had never considered how she chooses clothes. She can get around, she knows how to navigate because of having a guide dog, but she can’t see what a top look like, or choose it in the same way I choose clothes. In terms of research it has opened up a huge field for me that I’m really interested in. I think there’s lots for me to look at which is really exciting. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Good for you. When I first started studying people with disabilities, there wasn’t really much literature in the marketing area. It was very much an uphill battle, because the reviewers didn’t understand, they took sort of a pitying approach, “these poor people”, it was awful. It took a while to just get more acceptance, even as an appropriate topic which is very disturbing.

Lydia Warren: The last think I’d written down was just considering the Instagram culture, and influencers online, brands are using influencers to market now, I have become quite aware now about when I scroll through my Instagram feed and I see brands working with influencers, it’s almost second to none that I don’t see a single person with a physical disability, and I've found people who do, and I've come across a lady who had an accident when she was 15, which has left her a quadriplegic, and she works with Misguided. I just wondered how you think that can be approached, I don’t know if there’s a solution to it, I don’t think there’s ever an easy solution for any of this unfortunately, but how you think the inclusion of disabled people in that area will progress? Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: In class, we actually just did a case study on Dove, Dove soap. And you’re probably familiar with their campaign about women’s 110

appearance, shapes, races, ages, and you know it struck me that they hadn’t thought of having someone with a disability there. An approach like that where it doesn’t single out the person with the disability, but it becomes a diversity campaign, might seem less of a stigma. I think that’s where the danger is, there are people with disabilities in one section of Instagram, or it done poorly it would become more of a stigma. It almost becomes a reminder of tragedy, like a Goffman approach. Instead, inclusion of multiple views, or a retailer who has multiple clothing lines but doesn’t say “and now for people with disabilities”. The text has to be very careful and have an inclusive feel, unless they want to be a specialist.

Lydia Warren: It’s similar to token inclusivity isn’t it, and just putting someone on a campaign for the sake of it, instead of a brand approaching that as a whole. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: So, it’s like how would you, and that’s why I was thinking of this Dove example in terms of body shape, and weight, and age. They put everybody together and said, “here are real women”, where is the person in the wheelchair? They could easily do that. Everyone wants to see themselves in an ad. Everyone wants to see someone like them as an influencer, or their ideal self. For someone with disabilities, that’s tricky. Do they want to see a person with the same disability? You may be finding from your interviews that people perceive their disability differently, some people may not want to change their disability, they want to see themselves as real. Whatever it is, they want to see themselves as real. That’s where some of the television shows lately seem like they have included people with disabilities in a way that shows everyday life, they’re a real character as opposed to them being this token person. I think it’s the same thing with the influencers, there are established influencers that everybody of a certain age looks at, they could potentially have a friend who has a disability. It’s about context rather than a token approach. Taking the theme of inclusion has to be the bottom line, everyone wants to feel included, what would it look like? That would be a fascinating set of interviews, what would someone with a particular mobility disability like to see? Maybe they don’t, but if they do, what would it be like? Who would be their person, would there be a person? I know you have Dancing with the Stars in different countries, and we probably don’t see the same set of competitors, but in the US, we have had several competitors now who say have prosthetic legs. It is fascinating to see, I would love to see some wheelchair dancing.

Lydia Warren: I actually know Ballroom dancing quite well, I did it for 13 years when I was younger, and our version over here, Strictly Come Dancing had the first disabled competitor, a Paralympian. I’m not quite sure the extent of his disability, I think he had one prosthetic leg, but even things like his hands were clenched shut. So even in like the movement in his hands is limited compared to the other contestants, and that was quite a big milestone this year that he was the first Paralympian on the show. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: I don’t know if you're familiar with Andre Rieu. He is an amazing musician, kind of aimed at my generation, people that enjoy ballroom dancing. He has concerts all over the world, but he’s based in Maastricht, where he is from. He and his orchestra play Waltz’s, once he did a segment on Ballroom dancing to his famous Waltzes, and he brought a group and they had several wheelchair dancers. They were included with everybody, it was just so cool to see. It was something he did as a matter of course, it wasn’t an exception, “oh god lets feature the wheelchair dancers”, but instead they were part of this entire group. If I were going to change or make recommendations to the Instagram world, 111

try to make sure the themes there could include disability. There may be some products that the Paralympian you mentioned for example would wear, that maybe everybody would wear too. Why not have that person on the campaign as well as others. It’s that inclusive approach which is what we need.

Lydia Warren: I’ve considered the approach from the media in all of this aswell, and I think its quote sad that if a big designer brand, say Dior for example, were to do a catwalk in the next fashion show and 3 people were to have disabilities, that would make front page news. It’s sad that we have to congratulate brands for being inclusive, when it should be automatic. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: That’s really interesting. You ought to write a paper with that as the title. Seriously, that would be so appealing. I don’t know if you're familiar with the public policy and journalism conferences, I’m on the editorial board, and that’s the kind of approach that really catches everyone. So, what is your timeline for your research?

Lydia Warren: I’m in my final year at university, and this is my final project, which is split into 2 sections. The first section was called my future thinking report, and I basically chose a macro trend, and looked at various elements of the trend, which had to be quite broad. I’m currently working on what we call stage 1, where I've chosen a much more specific topic, which is obviously accessibility, and this is kind of a research section, I’m doing lots of primary and secondary research at the moment, and then at the end of this section the aim is to find a gap that needs a solution. And then the second stage, stage 2 is about creating the solution for the problem I’ve found, which could be in any form, people in the past have done physical workshops, created apps, websites. What I’m doing in stage 1 at the moment is due at the end of January, and Stage 2 is due in May and then I graduate. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: That’s wonderful, and your degree will be what.

Lydia Warren: I do Fashion Marketing and Branding. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Masters?

Lydia Warren: Oh no its an undergrad. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: You’re doing all this for an undergrad?! Wow. This is PhD level work. Seriously. Wow, you’re incredible. So, I was reading your information sheet, and it said that the results will be presented at the NTU Fashion Marketing and Branding 2020 Degree Show. What’s that all about, I've never heard of that?

Lydia Warren: So, in my course we don’t create physical items of clothing, so it is our version of a fashion show in a sense. So, I think it’s on for about a week, around the end of May. So, each student has the opportunity in some way to display our work. So, we create a concept for it, there is a board of people who are in charge of organising it, everyone has a part to play and we get graded on our input. It’s a chance for us to display our work from the year, and then people can come and view all of our work. It happens at my university, it’s in a room in the arts building, on for a week. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Now where, I’m not as familiar with UK geography, 112

where is your university? Is it London? Lydia Warren: So, it’s Nottingham. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: So where is that?

Lydia Warren: It’s about 3 hours north of London. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Somewhere towards Leeds, that direction?

Lydia Warren: A bit further south than Leeds, about an hour from Birmingham. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Oh okay, I was in Leeds about 3 years ago for a disability dissertation reading, about issues in retail. They’ve got a wonderful centre there if you didn’t know.

Lydia Warren: Yeah, I’ve found lots of stuff online which is from there. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Yeah, they are always doing research there. So, I came in as one of the readers of the dissertation, and it was fascinating. So, I was wondering where exactly you were located as I would like to stay in touch. So, I’m coming to the UK in May sometime for a conference I am working with a research group for. I’d love to touch base if you to see what you’ve done! But certainly, keep in touch. Is there anything else I could answer for you?

Lydia Warren: I think that’s everything for now, I’m sure when I start writing up my report, I’ll think of something I missed and drop you an email. Honestly, thank you so much, it’s been really really helpful. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Well thank you, please stay in touch, and good luck with your research.

Lydia Warren: Thank you so much Carol. Bye, bye. Carol Kaufman-Scarborough: Bye, bye Lydia. 5.2 Participant 17: Jonathan Hassell | CEO of Hassel Inclusion Jonathan Hassell: So, how can I help you?

Lydia Warren: I just wanted to chat really. I'm basically in the middle stage of my dissertation, which is split into three parts. And I think you saw on the, project sheet the question, which is about kind of accessibility in the physical store, but I also, I'm looking as part of it as how that translates online with online shopping being way more massively on the rise, compared to the physical store and how the physical store presents a lot of challenges for those with extra accessibility. So, thinking about then how the online store can make that easier but also it's not necessarily always as straightforward as going online and ordering clothes that way, because it, that's not always as accessible. So, I just kind of wanted to get kind of like your thoughts or I've got a couple of questions. Um, but just like what it's like just to see what you think really. Jonathan Hassell: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Well, from what Val sent through it sounded like it was more about kind of Instagram and things like that and sort of. So portrayal of people with, with disabilities in the kind of, in the kind of fashion space. 113

So, I can send you through a few things that, as I say, not really my area when it comes to, when it comes to accessibility. Of websites, and those sorts of things. That's definitely what we do. And we've done just a little bit in terms of accessibility of shops as well, for people with disabilities. So, we did some stuff with Argos and we've also worked for a very, very, sort of, well known, high fashion brand, but they don't like us to talk about it. So, so I can't, I can't tell you who that is, but they are incredibly well known and they're in the UK. Uh, yes. So, um. So, yeah, I mean, what is, what is it? Do you want kind of like a, um, you know, what, what particular questions do you have? Because there's a number of different kind of ways we can go about it.

Lydia Warren: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so firstly I just wanted to check if I'm a right to record this so that I can type the transcript up. Jonathan Hassell: Yep no problem.

Lydia Warren: Fabulous. Um, so for the purpose of the recording, could you just briefly kind of outline like what you guys do, the main areas of your work. Jonathan Hassell: Yeah. So, I'm Jonathan Hassell. I'm CEO of Hassell Inclusion. Um, what we do is we help, um, organizations, normally quite large ones, who have a digital presence. So that's either a website or maybe a mobile app these days. It could even be something like kind of kiosks in stores as well, that sort of thing. And we have done some stuff around sort of in store experiences, how they would enable everybody to get a good experience, a good customer experience from those. So, specifically the people they tend to forget are people who have some form of disability. So, what we do is we provide sort of testing, of customers, experiences that people have with, with those, uh, you know, with our clients products. If you go on to, say a retailer's websites and you have a particular type of disability. Oh, you got to make a purchase. You know, are you going to find what you're looking for? Is it going to be described in such a way that you know that that's what you want to buy it? So that's one way of looking at things. Um, the other way of looking at things is obviously it's not just about sort of purchase it there, you know, and it's not just websites. It can be mobile apps. It can be people in the store, it can be people who bought something already and they want to return it, or just interested in, in that particular the information on the site, all of these sorts of things. We're there really to say, okay, who gets barriers in having a good experience. And, um, so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s testing. We then do a lot of training with people effectively saying, okay, you know, how do you, how do you fix the problems that you may have of creators that may be in the product? And then how do you get good at, at making this just the way you work? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a really bad way of doing things to get everything wrong and get somebody to come in and tell you that you've got everything wrong. And then you have to fix everything. It's so much better if, I guess our value, is that we like teaching people how to get it right rather than tell people they've got it wrong. It's so much more fun. So, so that we do, we do that all over the world.

Lydia Warren: Fabulous. So, my first kind of area, I've looked at your website, lots of stuff, stuff that you do is digital or mainly digital. So, as I said, I'm looking at retail, which has more of a future towards being online and being digital. So, I just wondered how you think digital accessibility can be integrated in specifically for fashion stores. Um, so kind of like online shopping or that kind of thing. 114

Jonathan Hassell: Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, probably the first thing to say is that digital is good at some things, bad about a lot of things. So, who wants digital rather than rather than the in store experience might be an interesting place to start. And, and obviously, you know, people who are more likely to want to shop online, are people who would actually find it difficult to get to the shop. Um, if you like an experience in the shop, which is what they would like. So, you know, immediately we're kind of into, into people who have difficulty with mobility. So, I got into all of this stuff because my nephew Carl uses a wheelchair. He was born with spinal bifida and he's used the wheelchair in a pretty much from his early years. Unfortunately, the transport system pretty much everywhere, especially in London, isn't particularly great for a wheelchair. If he needs to go to a particular shop to, to buy something, there is so much between him at home and that shop, even if that shop is beautifully accessible when he gets there, it might've taken him a long time, and by the time he gets there, he might be annoyed already cause he's just had to go through all sorts of inaccessible stuff together. So, people who use wheelchairs, anything like that, who have mobility difficulties. Shopping online is great, you know, so much better way of accessing, uh, those products. Um, but it could also be, for example, so somebody who has some form of communication difficulty, so it could be, you know, we just pick someone who's deaf, for example. So, if I was deaf, if I would definitely use sign language. Shopping, going into a shop, if I can find what I want on the on the racks then probably okay, but if I actually want to interact with the shop assistant, they weren't use sign language. So, what do I do? So, I might phone ahead to the shop to say, do you have a sign language person in that store? But again, phoning ahead to the shop. That's not what I do because I'm deaf. So, I might email, you know, forget about it. If I can get it all from a website. Life is great. So again, it could be somebody who's autistic, who their way of thinking about the world isn't necessarily everyone else's. So, the way that they behave, the way that they interact with people is a different thing. There's a lot of people out there for whom, if you like that slightly more anonymous, that kind of remote experience of buying something from a website. And having it delivered could be the thing that enables them to, for want of a better word, participate in fashion. If the shop is the problem, but I want what the shop is selling, if I can get it from the website and the website is accessible to me, then suddenly everything is so much better. So, I think there's real opportunities there.

Lydia Warren: Yeah. I just thought, when you talked about, if someone was autistic, what do you think about the rise of a sensory experience in store and how lots of digital products are being used in a store and to make the sense of experience stack amazing. And all these are big flagship stores in London. I think for example the Nike store, with all sorts of like digital stuff all over the walls. How do you think their relationship with that works? Because for someone who's got maybe like a sensory need, that's a lot to deal with. Jonathan Hassell: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so a lot of people who get sensory overloaded, and that's mostly people who are autistic, but it can be people who are dyslexic as well. For them, everything that makes things interesting for everybody else makes things worse for them. So, you know, go into a Nike store and having all of this kind of like, wow probably like appeals to like 99% of the people out, there that's much more interesting store than the store before all that stuff was added. But yeah, there are people who want to turn the distractions off. One bits of video 115

that we show, when we're training people is a number of people with different types of disability talking about the sorts of stuff that they do and don't like on a website and there is a woman who's autistic. Who kind of says, I want a website to be like a four sheet of paper, that might be boring, but it's a lot more easy to process for me. She doesn't want all of that. Kind of like the razzmatazz. We did a lot of user research for the National Autistic Society midway through last year, asking people who are autistic, what they like about websites, what they dislike, and anything flashing, anything, you know, anything that distracts them from the thing that they went there to do. They kind of almost want tunnel vision. You know, they want to get in, get the thing they want and get out again without feeling like, um, you know, they've just been overwhelmed. So that's hard to do in a store, because on a website, for example, we've done stuff like this ourselves in the past, we have a product that allows you to kind of turn off animations on the website so the people create the website, for everybody, and then they say, okay, some people don't like the animations. Okay, here's a button to just stop that, to stop sales going around, to stop flashing or anything like that. Everyone else loves that, but anybody who doesn't, here's a button that you can press, the stop, sort of that stuff. So, you can concentrate on the thing that you're looking for, you can do that on a website. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done that on a website. You can't do that in a store. You know, you can't say, um, I don't like the way the store has been set up. Can you turn off all of the flashing lights please? One person in however many in that store at the same time. So, um, so actually if you like, what, what the web and what digital allows you to do is to allow everybody to have, ideally a personalized experience. So, they can say, actually there are certain things that I, that the other people like that get in my way. And I just need those to be turned off. Or for example, a lot of people who are dyslexic, there are certain color combinations, that make it very, very difficult for them to read things. So again, you can't change them in a store. Because we work with high fashion labels, we know how it is. Even on websites, when the default form of the website needs to feel like the brand. And a lot of fashion brands are all about the aesthetics are really, which are really key cause that's who they are as an organization. A lot of the needs of people, for example, who have a vision impairment. So, not blind, but they just have difficulty seeing, um, they might want text to be really bold and they kind of, in their face. So, you know, if you can imagine something that's really subtle and beautiful and elegant and the sort of signs you would get at Heathrow, airports are designed to be like totally in your face. You can't make, if you're a high fashion label, you can't make your website look really, really garish, bold, because that's not who you are. So, a lot of the sorts of things that we're able to do with, with digital is to say, you can be yourself as that fashion brand. You can design the way you need to do it and then if people have a difficulty with that. You can actually give them a one to one experience where they can say, I want to be shopping with this particular brand, but I need things done in a slightly different way, so I can see things more clearly. So, I think it's all a balance. You know, when people like different situations, and generally people who have a disability, there's a good reason why they like things the way they do. They can't operate well otherwise. How do you then bridge to where they are and say, okay, if you want it that way, we'll enable you to have that.

Lydia Warren: Could you just tell a bit more about what you've done in store as well? Jonathan Hassell: In store is quite interesting because as I said, there's already quite a lot that has potentially happened before people arrived. So, we do a lot of research with people with disabilities on behalf of different brands. We did something for the Science Museum. Where they had a particular show, an 116

event every month, on a Saturday afternoon, and it was specifically for deaf people. A few of deaf people were kind of coming to them previously. And they kind of wanted to know why. So, we did some research and, you know, there were some reasons that I won't go into that, as to why people weren't coming. But some of the other reasons were, it was actually just hard for them to get to the science museum at the time they arrived, they already kind of felt like going home. So, I think one of the, one of the things that people tend to miss about an in-store experience is that, that's only part of the experience, if you like. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to get to the store, then have the experience in the store, and then you have to get home again. Actually, that's the way people experience it. We've had a number of situations where, where stores have kind of said to us, they didn't understand why people were so angry. We hadn't done everything perfectly for them. But you know, it was almost like they arrived, and they were angry and it's like, that's because of what they had to go through to get there. So, it's about that full user experience, the roundtrip experience. We did some work with Argos. So obviously not high fashion at all. We kind of said, do people with disabilities come into the store? And the people who we were talking to behind the counter kind of said, well, not very many. So, I mean, the first thing is, is the, if you're a shop assistant you don't know. If 20% of the population, which is actually 21% in the UK, have some form of disability, many of those disabilities are actually not obvious. If you're, if you're standing opposite the person, if they're in a wheelchair, that's kind of obvious. If they're blind and have a guide dog with them, that's kind of obvious. But if they're autistic or have a learning difficulty or anything else like that, how would you know? A fashion brand that we worked with, they had had circumstances where people that had a claimed to have a bad experience in the store, that the shop assistants hadn't treated them in the right sort of way and they can make complaints to the phone line. So, we were doing a lot of the customer service. And they were saying, you know, this is discrimination. I'm going to take you to court unless you give me like vouchers. Or money off your products. And the people in the call center were saying, well, how do we know if this person is for real? It just kind of, they're either do some form of I'm sorry, from the organization because they've been treated badly, or this person is just trying to extort money off our office. And I actually, when we were doing the, the training, it was like a day long training and one of the call center people came to us after lunch and said, I've just used the training and over lunchtime complaints that they had already bad experience in store. And now because of the training we know how to deal with it, most people do not have experience of working with people with a disability that includes everybody who works in shops. So, this combination of people who are having disabilities, who that are obvious and people who aren't trained in the staff can be a real sort of, a real problem. And I'm guessing that most of that problem will never be known by the shop. It's most of the time, you know, if I have a bad experience in the shop, I just go somewhere else. The number of people who complain is like, you know, 1% of the people who had a bad experience. And so, chances are a lot of what's happening in shops is that where somebody who isn't getting their great experience because they have a particular need that isn't being supported, would just go, I'll go somewhere else. I mean, there are a lot more kind of technical things. So, the stuff in Argos was all about kiosks and the way it works in Argos, and the kiosk was completely inaccessible, for example. 117

For most people who have one of these things, [disability] you know, so most people who have are blind well has a mobile phone and they'll be used to being able to interact with digital staff via speech. So, it speaks to them, and they move their finger around on the screen and it will works either really, really well if they've got a nice accessible product or not. If itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a kiosk, then that kiosk probably is just a tablet. It's an iPad tablet or something like that, but it's locked down. So, in the sense that if I want it to speak to me then thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the settings of the tablets, which I probably can't get to on there. Because that feels like breaking it, you know? And even if I did manage to actually set that up so it now spoke to me, the next person that has that. So, there's what we call a shared kiosk experience, and that's a real problem for stores. You know, similarly, if you just want to the text to be bigger on the screen, you could set that up really, really easily on an iPad and Android. But you can't do that on a kiosk. So actually, as soon as you get to those digital experiences in a store, all of the stuff that you can do, if it's your device, generally isn't available. And that was the key difficulty that some people had with, with the kiosks and stores, was that they were kind of expecting, if the website was good and the, even the mobile app was good, and they went to the store. The store kiosk experience didn't support them the way their online stuff on their phone did. So, some of the things that we've been looking at are, um, what, can you just use your phone rather than the kiosk? In Argos, for example, if you wanted to buy something in the store. You use the kiosk, but it was kind of like, well, actually the software on that, it's actually really similar to the remote. If you've got the mobile app on your phone, can you just say, look, I'm in the store. I want to use the app, but rather than getting it, so to be delivered to my house, I'm in the store. It's kind of like I got to pay for it now, just because I'm not using your kiosk thing. I'm in your store, so I just want it now. So, some of the things, I mean, these things are really, really helpful because, because what they all almost are for a lot of people when they're with a disability is almost their remote control for the world, but it's that personalized remote control. So, if the world doesn't work well for me, well, my digital world works well because set this up so it knows where I am while I want all of those things. And so that's some of the things that we're looking at is how do we bring the kind of digital experience of the websites and the apps, and the digital experience in store together so that people who, rely on the personalization on their phone, get that experience in the store, that's kind of cool, into the store. I'm looking at a screen that is telling me about a product and it knows that I, me and I need the text to be a bit bigger. That will be cool. One of the places where we're looking at in terms of the innovation in some of the stuff that we've been starting to look at with some of the kind of museums and things.

Lydia Warren: As part of my, as the final stage of my project, well, at the end of stage one is what I'm doing at the moment, I've kind of got to find a problem and then in the second part, create the solution. So that kind of thing is like a really interesting concept. Jonathan Hassell: I think that would be a really key thing. Most people who have a disability when they go to the store, they want the store to change the way it works with them or for them to, for them to walk into the store and for example, if they have difficulty hearing somebody in the store to know that somebody who has that impairment has just walked in and might need some help. All of these sorts of things cause that store experience, there's a reason why. I mean, you've done this yourself. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been a shop assistant helping the stores. There was a real purpose for you doing that because, people like me when I'm in a store don't necessarily know what's going to look good on me or whatever, that experience with the, with 118

the assistant, it's so important. So, how do you then enable everybody to have that experience. Those are some of the challenges.

Lydia Warren: So, a very broad question, but I wondered what you think is the future of accessibility, both digital and an in-store experience. Jonathan Hassell: You can look at it in various different ways. I mean, different people want different things. I think that's the really key thing. I think it is quite interesting what's happened with the high streets, you're absolutely right. You know, the Nike store or the rest of them, we were walking down Regents Street, just before Christmas. Um, what is the purpose of those shops? You know, the purposes of those shops used to be to, as you know, to buy things. Now, this is really a brand selling itself rather than products at times. And actually, as you know, in some ways, the shop, the experience in the shop needs to be that beautiful experience in these days. If you've taken the trouble to go to the shop rather than, buy it for cheaper online, there has to be a point. I haven't got a clue what I look good in. Rosnah knows better than I do, but better than both of us is a personal shopper. So, we go to have my yearly kind of a shopping trip where I go to normally Debenhams and in three hours, we’ve kitted me out for the year. And I really don't go into the shop floor. People bring things to me and they've got a better idea of what I would look good in that I would. And if you take that and you and you then look at somebody, for example, who's blind, who will never see what they look like, what does somebody who will never see it but still wants to be fashionable. If I'm blind and I want to come across well. Some real opportunities for organizations to say here is a service maybe, that will enable people to feel more empowered and clothing is not just about keeping warm. It's about who you are. Actually, I think that will be really interesting. And there are obviously other people who would have disabilities, who have particular needs, that might impact the way that they purchase clothing. So, one of the things I've sent you, is Aimee Mullins, if you come across her at all. She's fascinating and some of the videos out there about her 12 pairs of legs, she's worked with Alexander McQueen, all these sorts of people. She’s a catwalk model and actress, who takes prostheses and then says, these things don't need to be a problem. They can actually be like an expression of who I am. There's a lot of potential for people.

Lydia Warren: I watched a TedTalk with a woman who was talking about this and how there's something like five stores in the world that are specialized in clothing for disabled people, which is like five stores in the whole world. Jonathan Hassell: But yeah, you can buy more clothes for your dog than you can for a disabled person. And that's problematic. I mean, we've got a dog we love, I don't understand the whole thing about dressing your dog. But I understand people like loving their pets and things but one of the things for us, so there is, there is inclusive design. Can we design something for everybody? It's fashion for everybody. Fashion is saying, this is who I am. I think, you know, I mean, you know much more about this than I do, but fashion is about finding of all of these clothes, I like thing that fit, that makes me feel good, that fits my body type, that fits my idea of who I am as a person. I don't want inclusive design, like if everyone wearing the same thing, that's, you know, that's not what people are after. So actually, I think in the era of, of fashion, it's actually about saying how do we celebrate that diversity? How do we enable everybody? Kind of like Aimee Mullins. I mean she's in a privileged position in the sense that Alexander McQueen doesn’t carve prosthetics 119

for everybody. But you know, she’s a model and there's obviously a lot of people out there who have money, who have disabilities, who want to spend that money making themselves feel like they want to feel. There's probably lots of other people with disabilities who are kind of saying, I just want something that is cheaper that makes you feel good. I think it’s a market that people don't understand. I mean, our experience of working with lots of organizations is that there is a certain squeamishness when it comes to disability. It’s kind of understandable, but you kind of need to get people past it. Like, you know, normal is, two legs, two arms, you know, no disfigurements or whatever. Anything, which is not that normal is kind of like, you kind of want to know why. You know, were you born with that? Did you have an accident? But all of those. Questions that go through people's heads. None of them are particularly positive. How did this bad thing happen? How are you limited? Number one, it's up to me whether or not this is a good or a bad thing. I may want to celebrate this. I worked with a lot of people who are very, very proud and very, very pro. Being utterly in people's faces, the way that they are different. They see that as being a massively positive thing and they kind of want to confront people with that. And, you know, Aimee Mullins does it in a way which is kind of high fashion and high gloss. But there are lots of other people who are kind of a bit grungier about it and just want to keep it to themselves. So, what's the future? I guess? I would hope the future is people being able to express themselves more. Being able to find the fashion that they like, that says who they are, and not having so many barriers in the way for them to be able to get to that place. Because in the end, that's all that matters really. Everyone needs clothes. But everyone wants to close that means they don’t have barriers presented to them. You know, I'm going to something in a couple of weeks’ time and we're looking at barriers in the workplace. So, if somebody has a disability will their colleagues understand how to relate to them. We had someone who was deaf in my team and everybody needed to work out the best way of providing that person, for that person to be fully themselves and to be fully part of the team. And that required a little bit of changing the way we did things. That was, really, really challenging as well as really, really cool. And that's what diversity does. This is extreme diversity. I would hope that the people in the fashion industry wake up to the fact that there is loads of money that they are throwing away all day. Because, you know, there are so many people out there who have a disability and who have money to spend.

Lydia Warren: Yeah. There's an article I read on Business of Fashion about the gap in the market for accessible fashion and clothing, something like $150 billion, because there’s an assumption that some disabled people don't have money. Jonathan Hassell: This is true. So, I mean, one of the things that we do as a business is try and balance between, between the things that people have wrong, where they make assumptions about people with a disability and actually sometimes the things that people have right. People with disabilities do have a huge amount of money to spend because there are so many. And yet at the same time, you know, unemployment amongst the same people is much higher than everyone else. It’s as important to get fashionable items that somebody, who is on low income, who hasn't got lots they can access and make them feel good about themselves as it is to, you know, to Aimee Mullins and, you know, presumably she has loads of money to supply some things. I wanted to buy Rosnah a Chanel bag, and that's terrifying, even for me, especially because I was going to the States because they were cheaper. And I was thinking, I'm here in San Francisco, you know, but where is the Chanel store? But, you know, 120

I'm like, am I in the right sort of person to go, I have a disability that was about, you know, that was not a comfortable experience. So as a result, she doesn't have a Chanel. It's part of the fashion industry’s needs to make themselves more accessible to human beings who maybe aren't shapes or whatever the way they think people should be. To answer this, actually, I think there is something quite interesting about the fact that I would be much happier to buy a Chanel handbag on a website than going into a store because of how I would feel. So, magnify that a lot of times and you’ve got a lot of people there who potentially and not spending the money that they have in their pockets, won't spend. I want people to have less barriers and to be judged less.

Lydia Warren: I've done a lot of prior research interviews of people who've got disabilities, one lady from is the mother of someone at my work and his sister has got it's called Rett Syndrome. So, she's locked in. She's 20 something and her mother talks about how she goes shopping with her and for her, and just the judgment when she walks in and how people will instantly talk to her (Glynis) instead of talking to her daughter, even when they’re in the shop buying clothes for Ashley, the daughter, and she won't be looked at once because she's the one in the wheelchair. People will just talk to her mum. It's really sad to read and to kind of get an understanding of how it is for her for them. And she talks about embarrassment and being angry at people, like all these emotions that she's made to feel, which are not part of the experience that I get going into. Jonathan Hassell: Well, I would listen to her. I mean, I don't have a disability yet. You know, any of us could get a disability at any point. My expertise is come from listening to lots of different people. But that doesn't base those stories directly from people. How they are either enabled to feel included in the fashion sphere or excluded, and what the trigger things are.

Lydia Warren: I think that is most of the things I had written out in my questions. There's lots of me think about and research. We've pretty much covered everything that that's great. I’ve emailed a proposal with a consent form. I don't know if you've got to look at that, but if you could fill it out and send it back to me please. Jonathan Hassell: Can you send that to me again? Because I don't think I got to see that, but that's fine. I know how all of this works because we do this a lot of the time.

Lydia Warren: Yeah, I will, thank you. Yeah, I'm really interested, and I've got lots to do, so, yeah, it's really good. Jonathan Hassell: Yeah, it was cool. When, when do you, when, when's it all done?

Lydia Warren: The first part of this is due at the end of January, which is my stage one and then the stage two, which is the creating the solution is due at the end of May. Jonathan Hassell: Good stuff. Well, good luck. And that was fun. I really enjoyed that. That was good.

Lydia Warren: Thank you. See you later. Jonathan Hassell: Bye. Bye.

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5.3 Participants 18: Melissa Everett | Designer of Adaptive Clothing range

With accessible fashion developing, why do you think there has not been a big breakthrough in this area? What do you think it takes for brands to be fully accessible to those with disabilities? Melissa Everett: Before starting my research I never actually knew how much of an impact disability has on people in the UK, it is a topic that many people are very naive about. This is why I think brands have ignored it for so long as they fail to see the large amount of people that actually have a disability. In more recent years we have seen a wider range of inclusive models being used which is a great step forward for the industry, however it has not caught on into mainstream fashion. Brands are unaware of the amount of young target consumers that they are ignoring. Our research was based heavily on young stroke survivors, therefore we interviewed people under the ages of 35 who had survived a stroke. Each participant had said that they do not feel catered for in any way within fashion and this is due to the lack of research into their garment needs. Many people believe that strokes only occur later in life but this is not true, surprisingly there has been a 50% increase in young people having a stroke due to many factors such as poor diets and an increase in drug use. When we were researching the options these young individuals had in terms of clothing it was so shocking to see the lack of brands available. Any brands that were available such as ‘Silverts’ is aimed at an elderly audience. Many of our participants did not have any choice in what they could wear and it was so sad to see how their identity had to change due to the fashion industry not being inclusive or able to provide suitable clothing aesthetically. This is an insert from our dissertation which shows the huge market gap being ignored within the fashion industry “Over one billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, experience some form of disability, according to the World Bank Group. In the UK, almost 20 percent of working age adults are disabled, according to British disability equality charity Scope” (O’Connor, T 2019) However, disability still remains unvalued, under-researched and very much excluded from the mainstream conversation: “despite commanding a global spending power of over $1.2 trillion, according to a report by the Return on Disability Group (£249 billion a year in the UK). This figure hits $6.9 trillion when families, parents and carers of disabled people are also taken into account” (O’Connor, T 2019) The prominence of disability in the UK is huge, yet it is still a part of society that is generally misunderstood and ignored. The market gap is huge and the industry is missing out on billions of pounds. If companies invested into adaptive clothing they would not only dramatically improve otherly-abled individuals lives but also make a huge impact on the fashion industry. The lack of research into this market is the reason why their has not been a massive breakthrough. Brands are too scared to loose time and money however they are missing out on making a lot. Since the entire history of fashion, large brands have solely focused on creating desirable and often unreachable standards of beauty that they aspire towards. As society has changed to become more accepting and fluid, championing all body shapes and consumers; fashion brands have had no choice but to adapt and listen to their audience. For example, plus sized clothing has steadily increased in availability within large fashion brands due to this specific consumer speaking out about their lack of representation. As the conversation of inclusivity and disability grows and their voice becomes stronger, brands will have no choice but to listen 122

and provide for their consumers, in order to make the fashion industry more inclusive and diverse.

How do you think social media and influencer culture can become more accessible for those with disabilities? And why do you think that this hasn't happened already? Melissa Everett: Brands need to research into the effects that different disabilities have on people, so for example what we found is that many disabilities cause upper limb weakness or lower limb weakness, therefore providing alternatives for fastenings and pulling clothing up. People who suffer with an upper limb weakness means that they can’t fasten the clothes correctly, therefore brands should look into alternatives such as Velcro, magnets and poppers. The problem with a lot of adaptive clothing is that the brands don’t think of the style and the adaptations at the same time. They should be able to incorporate these alternatives such as Velcro but make it fashionable and current and on trend for a younger audience. This would allow for all wearers to be able to feel comfortable in all garments, despite their range of ability. I think the more people talk about this topic and creating more awareness, the less stigmatised it will be. If celebrities and influences who have millions of followers on Instagram started to share this amazing news that brands have invested into research for adaptive clothing that would be great, it would get the conversation started. With the steady rise in otherly-abled influencers such as Sinead Burke, Kaitlyn Dobrow and Jillian Mercado; I feel that social media is becoming an extremely powerful tool to increase inclusivity and to allow for all individuals to have the platform to express their voice, which may be heard by wider society and brands alike. It is fundamental for brands to identify these specific influencers in order to listen to their ideas and take them (and others like them) into consideration for all aspects of their brand- from the garments to the marketing and social media campaigns.

My key area is the accessibility of retail stores. From your expertise and understanding of accessible fashion, how do you think this can be improved upon? Melissa Everett: For our research we interviewed young people who are otherlyabled and the feedback was shocking in terms of the clothing they can wear and that is available for them. Not only is clothing inaccessible for many people it’s also the process of buying clothing that causes issues, for example retail stores do not provide the correct environment for people in wheelchairs as the aisles are too small, the clothing rails are to close together or high up which means you can’t get crutches or wheelchairs around the corners, clothing is lying in the middle of the floor which is very hazardous for people who are otherly-abled. Not only this but online stores make it very hard for otherly-abled individuals to shop due to the fact that some people may not be able to type therefore they should introduce a speech feature or the fact that the font might be too small and the colours might be too off-putting. Overall our research proved that shopping in general for clothing is not accessible for people who are otherly-abled, from the stores themselves to the clothing and then to the website everything has been completely ignored in terms of people with disabilities. We interviewed one wheelchair user/ amputee who is not able to even get into certain stores and move freely between the fixtures, meaning he often relies on others to shop for him, or to shop online. This is even more of a disadvantage to this consumer and he must be able to try on the garments to examine the ease of use, wearability and suitability for the needs that he has. Modern high street stores 123

are more than capable of providing more room to allow for all consumers to be able to shop freely and physically in-store. As Melissa mentioned, the height of rails within stores are often limiting for some shoppers. This could be avoided by using adjustable fixtures and simply displaying specific notices around the stores to show that the retailer is mindful of all consumers and their needs, and are available to assist with any issues. Many intervieweeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that we spoke to simply do not feel listened to or catered for, which could so easily be changed.

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6. Typeform Survey Responses Total Responses: 25

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7. Consent forms 7.1 Julia Anstey

7.2 Jennifer Emanuelli

7.3 Emily Morison

7.4 Ross Lannon

7.5 Glynis Wilson

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7.6 Chloe Bill

7.7 Josefina Pontes Viela

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7.8 Riain Kilgour

7.9 Lauren Brown

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7.10 Vanessa Louis Verdier

7.11 Grace Brown

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7.12 Leanne Slattery

7.13 Keri Breen

135

7.14 Ethan Kierznowski

7.15 Alex Ferguson-Gow

136

7.16 Saskia Marsh

7.17 Natasha Hawley

137

7.18 Carol Kaufman-Scarborough

7.19 Jonathan Hassell

Lydia Warren

05/01/2020

138

7.20 Melissa Everett

Lydia Warren

139