An accessible office is inviting to new clients and employees alike
While it’s important to instill tolerance and diversity as a key ethos of your business behaviorally, that should be backed up with how you’re organised infrastructurally, too. It wouldn’t give the best impression if you were to have claimed to be a progressive company but your building didn’t have proper disabled access, or facilities that’re available to everybody. Not only do you run the risk of alienating potential employees, but prospective business partners and clients, too.
There are, however, plenty of ways available to quickly remedy that oversight, should it exist. While some may require investment to install and have in place to an acceptable standard, others are either free – just needing a change of outlook or attitude – or minimal spend to implement. Given how much better your business will be both to work for and how much more positive you will seem when spoken about in terms of reputation, these are changes worth making for not only moral reasons, but business ones, too.
Improve Your Access
First impressions can be everything, so if somebody is approaching your place of business and there isn’t adequate disabled access available, that won’t be a great start. You should also consider lift access if you’re not on the ground floor, with enough room to comfortably fit in a wheelchair or similar. Additionally, you should ensure that your building is properly signposted, with disable access points highlighted and obviously directed to, in order to avoid any possible confusion.
Optimize Your Interior
Office buildings that aren’t properly maintained can often be difficult spaces for those reliant on crutches, wheelchairs or mobility scooters to maneuver freely. One quick way to remedy this is to ensure that all corridors and pathways are adequately cleared and open, so that those people affected don’t have to worry about obstacles when moving around their place of work. Additionally, all signage should be written and displayed in a size and font that is legible for those who’re deaf or have low vision, so that exclusion is kept to a minimum.
In retail spaces – should you own a small supermarket, convince stores, clothing shop or similar – you have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people – but one way of going above and beyond is by offering mobility scooters to customers is a fantastic way of enhancing convenience and happiness, which is likely to promote return business and a better reputation among the disabled community.
