Accessibility
If you provide services to the public, you have a duty to disabled people under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
You will need to ensure that you not only meet the legal duties but that you also consider the needs of disabled people and anticipate the types of problems which could arise, so that when a disabled customer requests a service, reasonable steps will already have been taken to ensure that they can be served without difficulty.
In some situations, it may be difficult to anticipate a particular problem, not all disabilities are immediately obvious. However, once a disabled customer's particular need becomes apparent reasonable steps must be taken to resolve the problem. You should try and:
- remove the feature, or
- alter the feature, or
- provide a reasonable means of avoiding the feature, or
- provide a reasonable alternative method to making the service available to disabled people.
What you need to do
Step 1
Write an access statement. We've produced a guide to help you write your own access statement, click on the link below to open the document.
Step 2
Make reasonable adjustments. The factsheet below will help you with making the necessary adjustments.
The Disability Rights Commision has produced a guide, as the result of co-operation between the public and private sectors, to help smaller guest accommodation businesses take the necessary steps to become as accessible and inclusive to as many visitors as possible. To download the guide, click on the link below to open the relevant page on Disability Rights Commision website.
What do guest accommodation owners need to know
Step 3
Update your access statement
You should also consider participating in a Welcome Host course. In particular, the ‘Service for All’ course is designed to raise awareness of the needs of customers with disabilities of any kind, and to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act.