DIAL Weekly #07
A recap of November 18, 2024 issue
Another week, another DIAL Weekly. If you prefer a pdf version, you can download/read issue #07 using this link.
This issue was centered on accessibility outside of digital technologies. In the total 9 pages, we look at companies providing services enhancing accessibility in the physical world, spotlight an accessibility educator and the Marsham Court Hotel for its accessibility efforts, and more.
Let’s get right into it!
Page 1: Accessibility in physical environments.
Accessibility is more than a digital issue, it also is a physical and environmental one. If disabled people exist in that sphere, then accessibility should be an important part of the development process and experience.
In April of this year, we set out to understand the ways blind and visually impaired people are impacted by inaccessibility in both digital and physical spaces. So we ran a survey (as well as a focus group session). While our survey covered the African experiences of this particular group, we only included responses from those in Nigeria when we worked on the minimal version of the report.
Question 8 of the survey asked “What’s something you’ll love to see fixed to be more inclusive of visually impaired people? The most common responses we gathered were about the physical environment such as roads/walkways, ATMs, POS machines, elevators, and someone even used the words ‘’physical environments and public spaces”.
Some other non-digital responses we got included:
- Sporting activities
- Public transportation. Implementing audio cues, braille signage and tactile indicators on platforms and vehicles
- Braille sign on currency notes
etc
It is important to note that aside infrastructural changes like these mentioned here, accessibility isn’t just the responsibility of the government, you as an individual could also impact accessibility in your space. Whether it’s by building a workplace that is accommodative of those with disabilities or even a party. Whatever it is, accessibility is a collective responsibility and in this issue, you’ll learn about implementing it in the physical environment.
Page 2: WelcoMe and Sociability
WelcoMe helps you improve the physical shopping experience of your disabled customers
WelcoMe is a Scottish based web app developed by former guide dog trainer Gavin Neate to help retailers provide tailored and more accessible services to disabled customers.
Currently implemented across 160 venues in the UK, the app works by letting disabled customers schedule a visit including their time of arrival and the specific support they require. With this knowledge, retail staff can then adequately prepare ahead of time on how to serve them.
In the UK, approximately 16 million (1 in 4) people are disabled with a total spending power of around £274 billion annually. Improving the retail experience of people with disabilities therefore, matters on both a human rights level and an economic one. With improved customer service, businesses increase sales, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction.
WelcoMe’s goal is to provide a more equitable and inclusive physical shopping experience for disabled people by empowering staff with knowledge and also customers with the power to reduce the barriers they experience.
Discover accessible venues with the sociability app
For disabled people, sometimes finding public spaces that are built to support your needs can be difficult. Whether it’s a cafe with an accessible bathroom or a church with provisions for deaf and hard of hearing worshippers or parks with disability-friendly playground equipmen for kids. Sociability solves this problem by providing easy access to detailed information about accessible spaces. They do more than tag a place as accessible or not, they provide specific details on what each space features so you can select the one that’s just right for your needs.
The sociability team is made up of people with a varying range of disabilities who bring their lives experiences and expertise to their mapping exercises. They also work with members of communities to find and map locations. Currently they have mapped over 14,000 venues in the UK and have almost 15,000 users.
“Too often disabled people are left spending hours ringing around and not finding the answers they need or wandering around trying to find somewhere to go that can accommodate their needs. Couple that with last-minute plans and it’s usually a recipe for disaster.
Using Sociability you can search for bars, café’s, restaurants, and pubs, and filter using the specific access requirements you may have. We capture a whole host of information, from mobility-related accessibility to visual, hearing and sensory.”
Page 3: Accessible Events 101: 6 tips for organizing accessible physical corporate events with pointers from the 2024 Democratic National Convention
- Provide live audio descriptions: Audio descriptions are beneficial for blind and low vision people to help them understand what exactly is happening in a place or on tv. While this was usually available after the conference, this year it was available live and also in Spanish.
- Ensure live captioning or/and a sign language interpreter are available: The convention was streamed live with American Sign Language interpretation available as well as live captioning to aid deaf or hard of hearing attendees and viewers.
- Sitting & floor plan arrangements should be inclusive of wheelchair users: Unlike other years where delegates in wheelchairs had a sitting area separate from the other delegates, this year a ramp was added to grant access to the convention floor so all delegates could sit together regardless of abilities.
- Sensory accommodations should be included for those with sensory issues: The DNC provided sensory kits included things like noise canceling headphones to help delegates and attendees who had sensory issues like autism. Sensory or quiet rooms with low lighting are also a provision.
- Accessible transportation (which also includes disability parking): Wheelchair-accessible buses were provided and available all through the convention. In addition, scooters were available to borrow at the convention for those who couldn’t be on their feet for long periods.
- Trained support should always be available: For those who needed it, there was support and assistance available to them once they arrived at the airport from someone who had been briefed on their specific needs. Ask guests prior if they’ll require disability support/assistance of any kind and make that available to them.
Page 4: Meet the woman helping make bathrooms and spaces more accessible — Julie Sawchuk
Julie Sawchuk is a Canadian-based Accessibility Educator and Strategist helping make spaces more accessible through her company Sawchuk Accessibility Solutions. She’s especially popular for her #ToiletTuesdays LinkedIn posts where she as a wheelchair user audits public bathroom and toilet spaces she encounters to determine whether or not they are accessible for wheelchair users or people with mobile disabilities.
She is also a best selling author of Building Better Bathrooms. Her journey in accessibility began after an accident in 2015 which was when she became a wheelchair user. After a 2-year redesign of her home to be wheelchair accessible, she realized how much more efficient the changes made her. Since then she has built her company educating and consulting with designers on home to public space renovations, become a. Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification Professional, and much more. You can find her at www.juliesawchuk.ca
The image includes the words in this section as well as a a photo of Julie — a white woman with blonde hair, she’s wearing glasses and is seated legs crossed in her wheelchair. Beside her photo is another photo, this one is of her book.
Page 5: Accessibility at the Marsham Court Hotel
Marsham Court Hotel is a family owned hotel located in Bournemouth, England. The building is over a 100 years old and yet, one of the most accessible hotels in the UK. It’s a 95 room full service hotel whose current management are especially keen on accessibility and inclusion. This is evident not only in their efforts towards hiring diverse staff members, but also in their renovated additions/provisions of accessible facilities. Including 5 rooms with profiling beds and removable ceiling hoists, some of which are dog friendly and also have connecting double-bedded rooms ideal for disabled guests with carers or family members.
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Located in a town that sees about 5 million tourists annually that also has 73,838 disabled people according to a 2021 census, investing in accessibility provides the hotel with an advantage over many others. By catering to the needs of disabled people and their carers — a market globally estimated at about $18 trillion USD. and £274 billion in the UK — the hotel increases their customer pool while also building brand loyalty with people.
The hotel also has a sensory room for visitors and residents with sensory issues. Installed in November 2021, the sensory room was designed to help people relax and de-escalate. It is also open to residents and non-residents, although non-residents may be charged a £5 fee.
Only hotel in the UK with a changing place facility
A changing place refers to a fully accessible toilet and bathroom space fitted with amenities that cater to the needs of those with a varying range of disabilities, especially those that can be impacted by the quality of the bathroom or toilet space. In an episode of DHM’s — Hotel Digital Marketing podcast, Rosie Radwell, Managing Director of the Marsham Court Hotel mentioned how they were able to fund this project through a grant funding of £70,000 and till date they are the only hotel in the UK with this facility in place.
Some of the facilities provided in the Marsham Court Hotel’s changing place include:
- Colostomy shelf
- Height adjustable wash basin
- Nonslip flooring
- Wall mounted height adjustable, adult-sized changing bench
- Ceiling hoist
- Peninsular toilet with drop-down grab rails on each side
- Privacy screen
- Shower chairs of different types
When thinking about investing in accessibility, a worry for most companies is the return on investments. Following this hotel’s efforts, not only has this opened them up to a new community of repeat customers, their marketing is heavily from word of mouth from satisfied visitors as well as influencers.
Page 6: 5 concluding points on how to approach accessibility.
Useful whether you’re designing physical products, digital products, or services.
- When in doubt, start with data:
Collect data from your users on their disability status or if there are any existing or new functionalities that will improve their user experience.
Also, consider studying existing data and research on the disability market value generally and for your industry.
2. Begin with smaller changes:
Understand how assistive tech works and the accessibility provisions you can begin making. from now eg adding alt texts to images, captions/subtitles to videos and audio content, provide training for your staff or design team.
You can also adopt an accessibility guideline like the WCAG and follow its provisions.
3. Run product tests with diverse categories of people:
If accessibility is a goal for you, then you need to approach it with the understanding that reading about it isn’t enough, you also need to include disabled people in the development and testing process of your product or service.
4. Support accessibility across your product/service. Not only one part:
Accessibility should be a comprehensive effort impacting every customer touchpoint. Improving your website while your stores or offices or social media or marketing or customer support efforts remain inaccessible leaves a gap. A good user experience design caters to every stage of the customer’s journey. So should it be with accessibility.
5. Consider the simple and true fact that accessibility grants people access and is the right thing:
Change your mindset on accessibility as a special feature and instead see it as a right. Then it would be easier to make it a part of your product. Accessibility features benefit everyone from ramps. to subtitles to text magnifiers. It improves overall user engagement, retention, and experience and it opens you to more customers.
Page 7: Webinar: Disability Literacy 101 — Inclusion Education for the Workplace
This webinar held yesterday the 20th of November and was organized by the Inclusive Workplace and Supply Council of Canada (IWSCC) and presented by Mindset Executive Producer Jeff Tiessen, PLY. Informed by 45+ years of lived-experience as a double-arm amputee, and 30+ in the media business, Tiessen is a 3x Paralympian and gold medalist, award-winning author, advocate, publisher, producer and educator.”
Page 8: Get started on accessibility with DIAL Design
From accessibility-focused research, recruiting testers, accessibility audits, accessible content creation, and compliance, we at DIAL Design help ensure your products and services are usable for all people regardless of their abilities or disabilities.
Contact us: dialdesign26@gmail.com
Page 9: Thank you for reading!
DIAL Weekly is a weekly magazine run by DIAL Design. Every Monday 10am EDT, we share an issue containing design equity insights to help us think and approach design more equitably.
To find out more about us or our services, visit our LinkedIn (DIAL Design) or email dialdesign26@gmail.com
Signed: Ebosetale Jenna.
