Adopt  an Access Gallery to attract Disabled Customers, their friends & families…

Because …the Business Disability Forum & Open Inclusion found that disabled customers make decisions on where to spend their £274BN based on ease of access and detailed information on websites. Purple Tuesday estimate that businesses lose £2BN a month by ignoring these needs. (UK figs).

“…Accommodation needs are varied. Pictures provide the best information for me to decide if the place might be accessible. [However], marketing photos are often of pretty scenery or ‘arty’ photos of a fresh pot of coffee or something similar. I am more interested in what the bathroom looks like, the front door and parking.” 

(85 per cent) said that disability or access needs influenced their choice of restaurant, café or pub.

“I like to ‘virtually attend’ before actually going so I know how it will be and what to expect. It is often hard to find pictures of everywhere, such as where the doors and toilets will be.” 

A Blue Badge Style (BBS) Access Gallery is a quick and easy way to immediately improve accessibility i.e. by showing images of access and potential obstacles for disabled people , upfront.

It shows the journey through a venue for all disabilities, in the same style as your venue’s brand, – nowhere can be 100% accessible to all!

It creates a warm welcome and as Caesar said ‘show them & they will come’ and use their spending power of $13TR globally and £274 BN (UK). It’s estimated that inaccessibility costs businesses £2BN/month in the UK and of that £163m/month is lost by restaurants, pubs & clubs.

Showing access (or otherwise) up front, achieves 3 things…

• Reduces embarrassment and anxiety for disabled customers, their friends and families. Remember 70% of disabilities are invisible.
• It’s a training/information aid for staff and saves time by referring customers to the Access Gallery on the website.
• It’s good PR and shows you’re an enlightened business – ‘it’s the right thing to do’.

It is also available on mobile via the Blue Badge Style App.

Build Your Venue’s Access Gallery by following the instructions below or just contact us & we’ll do it for you.

Access Gallery Options

1. Access Gallery Quick – BYO (Build Your Own)

A Quick Gallery is a way to create your own access statement in hours. Send three photos and it can be up and running within 24 hours. We review three main spaces;

1. The entrance,
2. Reception
3. The bathroom/toilet.

We add notes to these three images which are all in your brand style. See below the gallery for High Road Brasserie, Chiswick

2. Access Gallery – Full

Within a week we can prepare a Full Gallery. The Blue Badge Style Gallery team covers all the relevant access points and facilities, taking stylish images. We then add our guiding notes and host it on our website, providing you with a website-ready button. View South Place Hotel and Angler Restaurant for examples of a Full Gallery. 

3. Access Gallery – Virtual

Our VR team visits and records all the key facilities in virtual reality format. With the addition of our guiding notes the Virtual Gallery can then be presented on your website or viewed via a headset.

Not just for hospitality venues,

Dentons ,the world’s largest firm of solicitors, uses a BBS Access Gallery on their website. It shows the accessibility of their offices for both visitors and employees.

Not Convinced? Then take a look at this video – ‘A Single Perspective of Disability’ 

Understand why an Access Gallery is invaluable in a disabled world. Not all disabilities are visible or the same & nowhere is 100% accessible!

Blue Badge Style Consultancy

If you’re in the design phase, or having a revamp, we can advise on how to improve your facilities so that you comply with the law without compromising on style. We’re great believers in disability as a driver of invention and that good design can benefit everyone.  As Cliff Kuang says,

“By designing with the disabled in mind, we can create products that are better for everyone else” Fast Company, February 2016