Accessibility
Guidance
How to facilitate inclusive Electric Vehicle Charging Points
Electric Vehicles (EVs) are considered a sustainable alternative to traditional vehicles. This is due to the lower emissions they produce and the opportunity to reduce society’s dependence on fossil fuels their introduction to our roads presents. However, it is equally important that EVs are accessible and inclusive as their usage
Read More...The Accidental Accessibility of Luxury Residential Developments
In the luxury residential sector, developers often focus on creating spaces that exude elegance and exclusivity. However, many of the high-end features marketed to appeal to the desire for convenience—such as seamless flooring transitions, wide corridors, and automated systems—are, in fact, cornerstones of accessible design. While accessibility isn’t always the
Read More...Why Accessibility Needs to Be Part of Your Branding Strategy
Let’s talk about something that often gets overlooked when it comes to branding: accessibility. Sure, we all know it’s important to have an inclusive brand, but how many of us really think about making sure our brand names, product categories, and even the way we organise our stores are accessible
Read More...Back to school: How to ensure access and inclusion for education environments
As students return to school across the U.S, it is vital to ensure that our educational settings are accessible and inclusive. By paying attention to this, schools can support quality learning experiences and ensure all aspects of education are equally available to students of all abilities. It is no secret
Read More...How your organisation benefits from training staff in disability awareness
Providing disability awareness training for staff is as vital to any successful public-facing business as its management or marketing teams, yet for some reason, whether from ignorance or laziness, very few organisations will put in the required effort to reap the rewards that come from training staff in how to
Read More...The right to play: creating accessible playgrounds for all children
When we consider the thought of what accessibility in the built environment looks like, it would be fair to say that inclusive children’s play areas do not normally come to mind first. Typically, accessibility in the mind of the average person is thought about in contexts of more menial and
Read More...Why architects need accessibility consultants for New Build design projects
It is generally understood that there are five different phases for New Build construction projects. Across these five stages, accessibility consultants play a key role in the delivery of at least three of them to ensure that site owners and architects (the Project Management Team) are meeting their legal obligations
Read More...How to make your theater inclusive and disability-friendly
The live event market is currently booming, making a huge resurgence within the wider entertainment industry. With the pandemic becoming something of a distant memory, the general public is becoming much more comfortable in crowded spaces again, with live performances and concerts generating billions of dollars a year. The joy of
Read More...How providing tote bags with small objects can increase accessibility on your premises
Adopted widely from education and play settings to workspaces, sensory bags are an inclusive, inexpensive method of signifying to visitors that your premises actively consider accessibility and comfort. The tools and resources available within the bag can ease or lessen situations of sensory overload, as well as aid in the
Read More...Developing Accessible and Inclusive Theme Parks
From improving the emotional well-being of disabled people to generating more wholly positive perceptions of accessibility in the public consciousness, creating accessible and sustainable leisure facilities not only creates positive social awareness of disability issues (particularly among non-disabled children) but also allows disabled people from all walks of life the
Read More...Designing inclusive retail stores for accessibility
Designing inclusive retail and shopping spaces for accessibility It is no secret that the rise of E-commerce, quickly accelerated by changes in people’s spending habits and the realities of our world economy, has resulted in physical retail spaces suffering losses in both consumer and business interest. However, while shopping for
Read More...How cafés, pubs and restaurants can better serve disabled patrons
How can make coffee shops inclusive and accessible? One of our team’s favorite subjects for blogs, (like this one), is using our combined knowledge of accessibility to make recommendations to business owners about how they can become more inclusive to current and (potentially future) customers with disabilities. Whether that’s by
Read More...Why the parking lot is the first indicator of your site’s accessibility
Why the parking lot is the first indicator of your site’s accessibility As the point of entry for the majority of public facilities, the accessibility of a site’s parking lot has the capacity to shape the perception of an entire facility in the eyes of disabled visitors. In this blog,
Read More...The benefit to providing accessibility and sensory guides for site visitors
The benefit to providing accessibility and sensory guides for your site Whether you are a site owner providing an attraction to the public or are the custodian of a heritage site/museum, Accessibility and Sensory Guides are fast-becoming a standard of the overall visitor experience in public recreation, entertainment, and educational
Read More...The Direct Access Guide to Accessible Wayfinding
When we hear the phrase “wayfinding”, what most frequently comes to mind is the application and availability of signage in a particular environment, which is normally used to signify elements of a space that require visitor attention, or offer directional guidance in complex environments, such as shopping centers, hospitals, museums,
Read More...How inclusive and accessible design leads to future-proof housing developments
What is inclusive design? In construction, inclusive design is a sustainable, inclusive, and cost-effective design practice, yet is also massively underutilised. For firms that do use inclusive design when approaching new builds, it presents an opportunity for site owners to create built environments that are massively beneficial to every individual
Read More...The health, environmental, and social benefits of Biophilic design
Biophilic design (from the Greek, ‘philia’ meaning ‘love of life’) is an environmental design choice that is being adopted by architects and decorators around the world for modern office spaces and desk-based work environments. Office spaces, though largely safe and unassuming compared to workplaces of past centuries still provide potential
Read More...Why the Models of Disability matter when creating inclusive environments
As access consultants at Direct Access, we often get asked this question and when we do, we tend to give a rather dry and professional answer explaining legal requirements and building regulations. Whilst these legal boxes indeed need to be ticked, it is hardly an inspirational, encouraging, or motivating answer.
Read More...How business owners stand to benefit from accessibility and inclusion
When we think of the built environments that make up our society, whether that’s bus stations, libraries, hospitals, supermarkets, or hotels, thought is rarely ever given to the potential of these spaces were they to be rebuilt, readjusted, and made inclusive. Indeed, when we think of accessibility and inclusion in
Read More...The difference between disability awareness and understanding
Much is often said about disability awareness, whether it’s businesses and organisations earnestly involving themselves in the various disability awareness days that happen each year, to huge corporations painting an image of inclusivity simply because they offer images of diversity in their branding – it is clear that in today’s
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Inclusive Guides
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