How to make your business accessible

If you want to make your business accessible for everyone, there are several steps that you can take. Things like making sure that there is dedicated parking space and adapted toilets for the disabled, or installing a wheelchair lift are just some examples. But there is so much more you can do! In a fully accessible business, all obstacles are eliminated to enable all customers to benefit from the offering of the establishment, regardless of muscle power, sight, hearing, or mental capacity. Even if perfect accessibility is difficult to achieve, trying to facilitate access for your customers is worth it, both from a humanitarian and a business perspective.

Why make your business accessible?

According to WHO (World Health Organization), more than one billion people, or 15% of the world population, live with some form of disability. In the US, the number is even higher. In fact, approximately 18% of the American population, or 50 million people, have disabilities and all of them are potential customers.

Furthermore, accessibility is a human right in the UN Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities. Buildings, products, services, and activities should be available to everyone, regardless of disability. So, the right question to ask yourself is not why but when you should make your establishment accessible.

The advice below will get you started and make your business more welcoming for all your customers.

Tactile paving in a contrasting yellow color helps people with vision loss to navigate.

Barrier-free access to the entrance

The entrance should be clearly indicated and easy to access, and the space in front of your establishment should be leveled and free from obstacles. If the ground is sloping, or if you need to install an access ramp, the gradient should not be more than 1:12 (or 8,33%). The pathway and entrance door must also be wide enough for wheelchairs, at least 3 feet wide, or even 4 feet if you need to turn the wheelchair to enter the building. If you want to enable 2 wheelchairs to enter and exit at the same time, a clear opening width of 6-8 feet is preferable.

Automatic sliding doors with motion sensors or classic, single-hinged doors with power door openers will facilitate access for people using wheelchairs and walkers. Single-hinged doors with automatic door openers can also be equipped with an activation button placed away from the door. This ensures a safe distance between the wheelchair user and the door when the door leaf opens.

To make it easier for visually impaired people to find your entrance, make sure that both pathway and entrance are clearly indicated, preferably in a contrasting color. However, the contrasting color does not have to be bright, it can very well be a contrast of neutral colors like white and dark grey. Another great solution to improve accessibility is to enhance the pathway to the entrance with tactile paving.

This modular platform lift provides a solution for easy access to all floors, with minimal refurbishment.

Accessibility solutions for split-levels and floors

Customer areas sometimes stretch across several floors and contain one or several split levels. Make sure to add tactile tiles at the bottom and top of the stairs and contrasting stair nosing to the steps for sight-impaired customers.

To provide easy access to all the floors of your business for people using wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, or canes, or parents with children in prams, the best solution is often to install an accessibility lift or elevator. The elevator should typically comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Accessibility or handicap lifts exist in many different models, such as platform lifts and LULA elevators (Limited Use/ Limited Application). Even if an elevator is a big investment, it improves accessibility for your customers and helps your staff transport merchandise and heavy items between floors.

Stair nosing and tactile flooring in a contrasting color can be made to look very elegant.

Easy navigation

Simple signage with high visual contrast, tactile paving, as well as clearly indicated and wide enough passages, will help your customers find their way around your establishment.

• Clear your aisles and pathways from unnecessary obstacles, placing furniture and plants against the walls.
• Make sure that all doorways are wide enough (3 feet or wider).
• Remove thresholds to reduce the risk of people tripping and falling. Another alternative is to add an access ramp.
• Use tactile paving or tiles and contrasting color to guide your customers through large, open areas or to notify them about critical obstacles like stairs.
• Ensure that all straight sections of your aisles are at least 3 feet wide, and at least 4 feet wide at every turning point.
• Use signage with high contrast, large text, and clear symbols for stairs, exits, lifts, and restrooms. When possible, important information should be completed with Braille.
• Make sure that there is enough light in all customer areas of your establishment (reception desk 300 LUX, circulation areas 100 LUX, ramps, and staircases 150 LUX).

The above advice is general and requirements may differ between jurisdictions. To ensure that you follow local accessibility regulations, get in touch with a building accessibility consultant.

Training will make your staff more confident and comfortable in supporting all customer needs.

Educate your staff on accessibility

Finally, providing your staff with training on how to welcome and help customers with different types of disabilities is essential. Many national and local associations for the disabled offer training and there are also online courses. Training will make your staff more confident and comfortable in supporting all kinds of customer needs and improve your overall customer service. Here are a few first tips:

• Always ask before offering help. People with disabilities often have their own solutions and ways of doing things.
• Make sure to greet and leave your customer in a way that is adapted to their sight or hearing capacity.
• Never touch equipment such as canes or wheelchairs without permission.
• For longer conversations with customers in wheelchairs, consider finding a place to sit down and talk so you can make eye contact at the same level.
• When approaching a customer with vision loss, always make sure to state your name and function clearly.
• If a customer identifies themselves as hearing-impaired, make sure that your face is well lit so that lip reading is possible.
• Customers with learning disabilities may need more time to digest questions and information. So be patient and let them take their time. Rephrase, using different words, if necessary.
• Never assume that a person with speech or language disabilities does not understand you. Try to ask questions that can be answered by “yes” or “no”.
• You can also regularly summarize what your customer is saying to make sure you have understood correctly.
• Never interupt your customer.

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