Accessibility

Good accessibility helps create an inclusive, relaxing and stress free environment for visitors. With around 2.7 million potential visitors with disabilities in the UK who travel and many more overseas who are interested in exploring new places, taking steps to be more accessible can help attract more customers.

Accessibility is about more than being wheelchair friendly.  It’s about catering for all the groups and individuals that might have some kind of restriction including the elderly, families with young children, the visually impaired and those with mobility impairments.

There are a wide range of steps businesses can take to make sure they are meeting customers’ accessibility needs.  It’s also important to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995). 

To help businesses get to grips with some of the issues EMT has produced Think Access, part of its Q-Book series, which provides an online industry guide designed to help businesses make their operations as inclusive and accessible as possible to all visitors.

Think Access is packed with advice, market insights, engaging video clips and case studies from tourism businesses who have successfully addressed the issue of accessibility.

National Accessible Scheme (NAS)

NAS is a nationally recognised rating scheme for accommodation, including serviced, self catering and camping offered by VisitBritain, the national tourism organisation.  The scheme ensures accommodation meets the requirements of people with physical and sensory needs, and offers a number of benefits including a rating that can be used in marketing to show customers the business has made a commitment to accessibility.

The scheme is split into three categories:

• mobility impaired and disabled people
• visually impaired and blind people
• hearing impaired and deaf people

One Step Ahead is the mobility entry level standard of NAS.  With more than one third of the UK’s population expected to be over 55 by 2025 it provides useful advice and tips to businesses on how they can better meet the needs of older and less mobile guests.  The scheme provides:

• Tips and advice from a specialist assessor about how to improve accessibility
• A recognisable logo for use in marketing that demonstrates the business’ commitment to accessibility
• Listing on www.tourismforall.co.uk, the UK’s central resource for holiday information for people with access needs

There are also a number of other accreditation schemes and guides available to businesses to help improve the visitor experience.