You want to make every single customer feel welcome when they visit your business.
However, some businesses fail to make all of their buyers feel as welcome as they should.
People with disabilities may experience difficulties in visiting your establishment, for a number of reasons (poor layout, cumbersome doors, flouting of health and safety standards).
Accessibility has become more important than ever before, and it’s an issue our team is incredibly passionate about.
RightHear has been developed to offer greater independence to blind and visually impaired people, making indoor environments much more accessible through our innovative app.
People affected by all disabilities have every right to be treated with the same respect, courtesy, and care as everyone else – but how can you make your business accessible?
Basic Accessibility is Crucial
You have to ensure your business premises is accessible to absolutely everyone: if a customer struggles to cross your threshold, how do you expect them to spend any money? Or work?
Furthermore, how do you expect them to find anything positive to say about your entire company? If your business premises aren’t easily accessible, you’re limiting yourself to the amount of people who can work for you. The offices for lease Grand Forks, ND set a good example of what to look for when you’re looking for office space. For example, their lifts are wide enough to cater to anyone in a wheelchair or use a walking apparatus. Front doors and doors to offices are wider than average, creating a walkway for anyone. Small changes to a workspace and create a much friendlier working environment.
It is very easy to get ramp and door facilities that are easy to use by people with disabilities and creates no difference to other customers at the same time. Using things like Texas Access Controls touchless door opener on your doors, not only makes it easier for accessibility but also makes it more hygienic in the process. It is important that businesses value their disabled customers equally to that of their other clients.
People with disabilities value their independence as much as anyone. While some may rely on a carer or friend to help them navigate and stay safe, they should be able to move throughout your venue in comfort.
How easy to open are your doors? Are there obstacles that a blind customer will walk into? Do you have enough staff to aid people if needed?
This applies to both your brick-and-mortar and online sites: make your web design as easy to browse as your actual venue.
As technology is becoming more popular, businesses are starting to follow this trend by utilizing more online tools to help grow their business, and that usually starts with their website. A good website can do a lot of things for a business. From obtaining more clients to improving your search engine optimization, it can do a lot of things. With that being said, contacting somewhere like Plenty of Pixels (https://plentyofpixels.com/locations/web-design-baton-rouge-la/) may be in your best interest if you want to make sure that your website is accessible to everyone because if you don’t, you could be missing out on revenue. This is important and it’s something that you should think about incorporating as soon as possible.
Invest in Effective Training
Your staff represents your business. If they simply have no idea how to aid people affected by sight loss, mobility limitations or any other disability, this could cause major problems.
Look into training techniques and courses that encourage more awareness of blind or visually impaired people and the challenges they could face when visiting your business.
It’s well worth the investment.
Identify Appropriate Behavior
Training is critical to improving accessibility within your business, but the staff has to build on this to develop the best service possible.
For example, don’t instantly assume that anyone who is blind or visually impaired wants assistance when they visit you.
They may be happy to explore independently and ask for help when necessary.
Another major mistake is making the customer feel as if they’re an inconvenience or require ‘special’ care.
Obviously, if they need help to navigate your store or can’t reach a product, offer help but don’t act as though someone with disabilities is completely out of the norm.
Never ask questions about ‘how’ they became disabled either. Always be sensitive: they’re a person first, customer second.
Consider ALL Types of Accessibility
Good accessibility goes beyond well-trained staff and good health and safety precautions. You have to think about your safety signage, your menus, your signs, your brochures, your price tags.
Anything and everything should be viewed in the context of aiding those customers with disabilities.
Consider incorporating braille into your list of opening hours, make sure there’s space for assistance animals in your business, and use high-contrast signage to aid those with reduced vision.
Our team is committed to making businesses more accessible to blind and visually impaired people through our app.
If you want to learn more about using RightHear, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
