An Isometric Flowchart with a blue background populated by visual representations of various accessibility services. Disability Rights is represented by a book of law, healthcare is represented by a white cross, universal design by architectural drawing equipment, physical activity by a wheelchair user using a ramp, and inclusivity by a braille sheet.

Accessibility

Guidance

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

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A photograph of a luxury apartment poolside area in a city featuring outdoor deck chair seating.
accessibility guidance

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

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A photo of a young smiling woman in a wheelchair being passed bags of clothing purchases from a shopkeeper in a retail store.
accessibility guidance

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

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Shot of a mixed group of businesspeople sat on different rows of seats attending a class. Some are watching an out of shot person attentively, while others are writing information on their notebooks, laptops, and tablets.
accessibility guidance

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

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accessibility guidance

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

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An inspector holding a pen and clipboard writes down something while an inspector holding an electronic tablet from behind observes. Both are stood by a windowsill from within a building.
accessibility guidance

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

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The interior of an empty movie theatre warmly lit by overhead lights. In the forefront of the photograph are empty seats all red in colour.
accessibility guidance

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

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Two female children smile as a rollercoaster sends them flying down the track. One of them is posing for the camera holding her hands up high.
accessibility guidance

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

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Senior mother with shopping bags laughing and talking to her daughter while pushing her in a wheelchair in a shopping centre.
accessibility guidance

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

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A young Caucasian man who is a wheelchair user eats on the terrace of a restaurant with a Caucasian male friend. The friend assists by cutting his food up with a knife and fork.
accessibility guidance

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

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A photograph of the front cover of the Access Guide which Direct Access produced for Cannock Chase. The cover has a dark green colour scheme with a mixture of yellow and white text. It reads "Cannock Chase access guide. Welcome to the Access Guide for Cannock Chase". Underneath this text is the Cannock Chase logo. A photograph on the cover shows a young white woman with downs syndrome riding a bike with stabilisers joyfully. Next to her getting in close for a photo is a white male companion who is off his bike and holding it with one hand. He is also smiling happily. Behind them is a bike trail through some woods.
accessibility guidance

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

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WC and shower sign in the forest. WC for disabled. Beach resort. Sea and beach in the background.
accessibility guidance

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,

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A modern living room space with artificial plants decorating a space which includes a coffee table and red armchairs.
accessibility guidance

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

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Part of a spacious office with a long aisle and row of desks with business supplies and green plants standing by walls and on workstations.
accessibility guidance

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

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A black wheelchair user wearing a white vest and armband carries a basketball in the palm of his left hand and holds on to his wheelchair with his right. He is on a basketball court on a sunny day.
accessibility guidance

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.

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A mixed group of work colleagues discuss work around an office table. One of them, a male wheelchair user, points to his female colleagues monitor to point something out.
accessibility guidance

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

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Hand of an unrecognizable person dragging a suitcase, wearing on the wrist a lanyard of sunflowers, symbol of people with invisible or hidden disabilities.
accessibility guidance

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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