As a business owner, you have a great deal of responsibility to your customers and those you come into contact with, least of all are the responsibilities to ensure access to those with a disability or who have limited mobility. Of course, there are certain legal requirements which mean that business owners must provide for those who may have difficulty moving around a place of business.
THE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT
Back in 1995, the Disability Discrimination Act was passed in order to ensure that those with disabilities wouldn’t face unfair treatment in a number of settings such as public buildings and offices. Building and business owners are now expected to make certain provisions for those with mobility issues to ensure that they are given equal access compared to an able-bodied person.
This means that if you own a business or building, you may need to install a disabled lift as a legal requirement. This may take the form of a passenger lift or you may only need a simple step lift – you can read more about our different types of step lifts.
There are a number of things to take into consideration when choosing the right lift to ensure that you maximise the accessibility of your building. For example, you may need to make alterations to the traditional lift design, such as moving lift buttons so they can be reached by wheelchair users. Of course, our engineers will be more than happy to discuss these requirements with you.
HOW DISABLED ACCESS IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS
While creating a space that is accessible is now a legal requirement, the law only stretches so far. This means that some business owners may choose to only meet the minimum requirements and no more. This may be a mistake for a number of reasons.
Firstly, by failing to create an accessible space, retailers are likely to miss out on the custom of the 10 million+ disabled people in the UK – that is a huge number of customers. While other businesses are only just meeting requirements, making your business ‘friendly’ to those with mobility issues can go a long way to encouraging the custom of disabled consumers.
Secondly, some businesses have fallen foul of backlash after their lack of accessibility has been highlighted. Not only can it open them up to legal proceedings, it can also do a lot of damage to the reputation of the business, as they are portrayed as uncaring and even exclusive. While in some cases this may well be true, it is sometimes due to a lack of understanding of the legal requirements. Either way, this can be incredibly damaging to businesses who fail to measure up to standards.
CONSIDERING YOUR OPTIONS
When you consider how to make your building accessible, it is important that you think about those that will use your building and how you can best serve them. While you may favour certain models due to aesthetics, they may not be the best option for your customers or clients. Of course, we are always on hand to offer our expert advice to help you find the perfect solution.
We would encourage you to get in touch with a member of our team who can speak to further about our lift options, so whether you are looking for better access to your home or your business, you can be assured that we have the perfect solution.
Make sure to give us a call on 01200 405005 to speak to a member of our team or email us at info@axess2.co.uk and we will be in touch. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Houzz to see our latest news and updates.