Disabled people shop.
We buy clothes. We buy food. We book holidays. We buy presents. We eat out. We order products online. We use services. We spend money just like everyone else.
So here’s a simple question for businesses:
Can your disabled customers actually get to you, use your service and buy from you?
Because accessibility isn’t just about whether someone can get through your front door.
It’s about the whole customer journey.
And if a disabled customer hits a barrier somewhere along that journey, you may lose a customer before they ever reach your business.
Accessibility starts before the customer arrives
Imagine a wheelchair user wants to visit your shop.
Your building has a ramp.
Great.
But what happens before they get there?
Is there an accessible route from the surrounding area?
Are there dropped kerbs?
Are pedestrian crossings accessible?
Is there accessible public transport nearby?
Is accessible parking available?
Can someone actually get from the parking space or bus stop to your entrance safely?
And here’s another problem.
What happens when the dropped kerb is blocked by a badly parked vehicle?
Or a car is parked across the crossing?
Or a delivery vehicle is blocking the pavement?
The business might technically be accessible.
But the customer still can’t get there.
That’s why accessibility needs to be considered as a journey, not a doorway.
Getting inside is only the beginning
Let’s say your customer makes it through the door.
Can they actually navigate the premises?
Think about the layout.
Are aisles wide enough?
Are products easy to reach?
Are there obstacles in the way?
Can someone using a wheelchair, walking aid or mobility scooter move around comfortably?
Can someone with sight loss navigate the space?
Is there enough contrast between important features?
Are signs easy to find and read?
Is the lighting appropriate?
Is the checkout accessible?
Can someone communicate with staff in a way that works for them?
And what about the toilet?
Having an accessible toilet somewhere in the building doesn’t automatically mean the entire customer experience is accessible.
Accessibility is about whether people can use the service, not whether a business can point to one accessible feature.
What about people who don’t have a physical disability?
Accessibility isn’t just about wheelchairs.
A customer might have sight loss.
They might be deaf or hard of hearing.
They might have a learning disability.
They might have dyslexia.
They might have an invisible disability.
They might have difficulty processing large amounts of information.
They might be sensitive to bright lights, noise or flashing displays.
They might need information presented differently.
That means businesses need to think beyond ramps and accessible parking.
Can your customers understand what you’re asking them to do?
Can they find the information they need?
Can they communicate with you?
Can they complete the purchase?
Your website is part of your shop
And this doesn’t stop when you move online.
For many businesses, the website is the first point of contact.
A customer might never walk through your physical front door.
They might be trying to buy from you from their home.
So ask yourself:
- Can a screen reader navigate your website?
- Do your images have useful alternative text?
- Can customers navigate without getting lost?
- Are menus and buttons clearly labelled?
- Is the text readable?
- Are your colours providing enough contrast?
- Are you relying on colour alone to communicate information?
- Can customers increase text size?
- Are forms straightforward to complete?
- Are product descriptions clear?
- Can someone understand what they are buying?
- Do important images contain information that isn’t available anywhere else?
- Are there flashing or moving elements that could create problems for some users?
- Can people find what they need without going on a digital treasure hunt?
Some businesses spend a huge amount of time making their website look impressive.
But looking impressive and being practical aren’t the same thing.
A website can have beautiful animations, fancy fonts and clever design — and still be frustrating or impossible for some customers to use.
The question isn’t:
“Does our website look good?”
The question is:
“Can our customers actually use it?”
One inaccessible experience can affect more than one customer
There’s another part of accessibility that businesses sometimes overlook.
The customer doesn’t necessarily keep their experience to themselves.
Imagine I visit a business and can’t get inside.
Or I finally get inside but can’t navigate the shop.
Or I try to order online and can’t use the website.
I might tell people.
I might tell my family.
I might tell my friends.
I might leave a review.
And I might post about my experience on social media.
Now the problem isn’t necessarily one lost customer.
Other people can see what happened.
Someone who was considering visiting might think:
“If that’s what happened to them, I’m not going there.”
And someone else might share the post.
That doesn’t mean every person who sees it will avoid the business. But it demonstrates something important:
A poor customer experience can travel much further than the original customer.
Your reputation isn’t built only by your advertising.
It’s also built by the experiences people have when they interact with you.
Christmas makes this even more important
Christmas is coming.
For many businesses, this is one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.
People are looking for presents.
They’re visiting shops.
They’re booking restaurants.
They’re ordering online.
They’re attending events.
They’re spending money.
So this is a good time to stop and ask:
Can disabled customers take part in that experience?
Not just:
“Can they get through the door?”
Ask about the whole journey.
Can they get there?
Can they enter?
Can they move around?
Can they find what they need?
Can they communicate with staff?
Can they pay?
Can they use the toilet?
Can they understand your signs and information?
Can they use your website?
Can they complete an online purchase?
Can they do all of this without unnecessary barriers?
Accessibility isn’t just the right thing to consider — it’s part of customer service
Disabled people are customers.
That’s the important bit.
We shouldn’t have to be treated as a completely separate category of human being who occasionally turns up at a business and needs something special.
We want to shop.
We want to eat.
We want to travel.
We want to buy presents.
We want to use websites.
We want to spend our money.
And businesses that make it unnecessarily difficult may be turning customers away without even realising it.
The UK Government’s guidance on services says businesses and other service providers have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments where disabled people would otherwise face a substantial disadvantage. The guidance also says businesses should think ahead about accessibility rather than simply waiting for a disabled person to encounter a problem.
That’s an important principle.
Don’t wait for the customer to tell you there’s a problem. Look for the problem yourself.
So, take a walk through your customer’s journey
Before Christmas gets even busier, try something different.
Don’t just walk through your premises.
Walk through the customer journey.
Start at the customer’s front door.
How would they get to you?
What happens when they reach the area?
Can they cross the road?
Can they use the pavement?
Can they park?
Can they use public transport?
Can they find your entrance?
Can they enter?
Can they navigate?
Can they understand your information?
Can they communicate?
Can they buy?
And if they decide to use your website instead:
Can they complete the entire journey online?
You might discover barriers you never knew existed.
And that’s exactly why accessibility needs to be considered from the customer’s perspective.
Because an inaccessible business isn’t simply a business with an accessibility problem.
It’s a business that may be losing customers.
And in a competitive market, why would you want to make it harder for people to spend their money with you?
Disabled people spend money too.
The question is:
Can they spend it with you?