The full results of recent surveys, conducted by Blue Badge Style, which reveal a good deal about the current state of accessibility and mobility equipment in the UK, are coming soon. We recently brought together a group of less able people and carers into our interest panel to ask them about the troubles they have at the moment and also what they think is being done well.
We found some brilliant details about the problems less able people face and how they think they can be solved in the future. Although we can’t provide full details of the panel at this stage we really want to briefly show some of the key findings so far.
Our research into accessibility generally found that the disabled community are extremely frustrated by lack of information on accessibility to venues and that often they give little credibility to information as it is either not clear enough or not in sufficient detail to be useful.
Helen Davies of Pink Flamingo Shopper, the research agency responsible for the surveys, found “our respondents are passionate about change. They want to feel inclusive in society but currently feel alienated. Venues are not offering them enough support.”
Our other study, into mobility equipment, found that members of our research panel found that both home and mobility equipment often lack style and choice and users can feel embarrassed to be seen with some of the equipment.
Suppliers need to work harder to offer a greater choice of equipment and to ensure that items are fit for purpose. Almost three quarters of our panel felt there isn’t enough choice and only 20% said they’ve never been disappointed by home equipment purchases.
BBS has a panel of supporters with varying disabilities who research and discuss topics close to their hearts and provide insight to support the campaign for change. We want to take this chance to thank them all for being involved in these surveys. We think that suppliers and venues will be able to learn a lot from them and we hugely appreciate our panel’s wonderful insight and input.
We hope to use the panel again in the future and encourage anyone else who wants to have their voice heard to join us! To sign up for the panel, or to find out more, email helen@bluebadgestyle.com
Thanks again to our terrific panel. Look out for the full details of the Blue Badge Style Surveys in the next couple of weeks!