Celebrating Disability Blog

Hiring Disabled Employees: 5 Reasons You Should

In this blog: We explore 5 main reasons that show how hiring disabled employees can benefit business and look at case studies from companies in America who are making it a success.

We all agree that everyone has an equal right to employment.

For years, employers have maintained low expectations when it comes to hiring disabled employees. As a result, the workforce of disabled people is greatly underutilised. According to one statistic, there are currently 1.2 million disabled people in the UK who are available for and want to work.

Thankfully, due to spreading awareness about false perceptions regarding hiring disabled employees, this mindset is now changing readily. 

Today, companies are highly interested in recruiting disabled people. This change in perception is not only favourable for disabled individuals but it is also beneficial for the employers. A study was carried out by Accenture in partnership with Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities. The study revealed that there are multiple benefits of recruiting disabled people. In fact, companies that are keen on hiring disabled employees tend to outperform others, with profit margin around 30% higher, net income 200% higher, and 28% higher revenues. These companies are also 4 times more likely to enjoy higher shareholder returns.   

The statistics say it all. There is no doubt that disability inclusion is a way to take your business to the next level. If you are still wondering how disabled people can prove to be a valuable asset for your business, here are some reasons why you may want to start a recruitment drive for disabled people in your company.  After reading these, check out Recruiting Disabled People in the Workplace.

1.  High Work Quality after Hiring Disabled People

A study carried out by the Institute of Corporate Productivity shows that 3 out of 4 employers ranked disabled employees to be just as good as—or even better than—others in terms of work quality, attendance and motivation. Most leading companies understand the importance and advantages of hiring disabled employees.

Like most employees, a job means a great deal for a disabled person. This is mainly because of the fact that there are relativelylimited employment opportunities. So, if you recruit disabled people, they are more likely to be highly motivated to prove valuable to the company. This translates into equal or better work performance as compared to other employees.   

2.  Improved Corporate Culture 

Carlos Slim, a gigantic business magnate and one of the richest men in the world hires disabled people. He shared in an interview with The Wall Street Journal:

“I know disabled employees are very dedicated workers and they are good for the morale of all of the company.”

Most employers second this opinion, especially those who already have disabled people employed in their companies. This is mainly because by providing employment opportunities to disabled people, you are adding highly motivated professionals to your team. This promotes a sense of inclusiveness in the workplace which improves the overall quality of the  culture. In other words, welcoming disabled employees to your workforce is another way of improving job morale. The employees develop a more empathetic behaviour towards each other and even towards your customer. This reflects positively on their performance and as a result the company’s productivity increases.    

3.  Lower Employee Turnover 

Disabled employees are more likely to stick around a company for a long time. This means that the funds you spend on the recruiting process and training are less likely to go to waste. This is partly due to the fact that disabled people face certain difficulties when it comes to job searching. Apart from that, disabled employees are more likely than other candidates to seek job stability.

4.  A Wider Talent Pool

According to the Labour Force Survey ‘05, around one in every five people of working age (6.9 million, or 19%) in Great Britain is disabled. This means inviting disabled people to join your workforce will only give you access to a wider talent pool. It is better for your business, in the long run, to recruit highly talented and motivated disabled employees instead of hiring people who are relatively less talented and potentially less motivated. It is important to recognise that companies today are at war for talent and qualified workers. In today’s tight economies, every business wants the best employees and it doesn’t make sense to leave out a perfectly relevant and deserving group of people. Listen to what disabled people say about the workplace on the podcast.

According to an employment counsellor at the Monmouth County Office of Workforce Development:

 “One of the trends to look for in 2019 to 2024 from all employers is training staff they already have, and thinking outside their normal box. That includes recruiting and hiring disabled people…groups that normally have some type of stigma. In this very tight economy, employers have to be competitive.”

5.  Prioritise Awareness 

Limited employment opportunities for disabled people who are otherwise fit for the job is a dilemma. It is affecting our society in multiple ways. The way to provide equal job opportunities to all deserving candidates is to create awareness. You can play your part by prioritising awareness and creating vacancies in your company for disabled people.  Simultaneously, you can set real-life examples for other businesses by reaping multiple benefits that come with welcoming disabled employees to your workforce. 

Therefore, as a way of creating awareness, many companies in America celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This not only improves their public image but is also a way to send a powerful message to other businesses in all sectors.

An Exemplary Case of Hiring Disabled Employees

Did you know that Microsoft created an exemplary recruitment program for disabled people? The recruitment drive was specially directed towards autistic people. The best part is that the program was not only focused on recruiting disabled people but special attention was also paid on training. Microsoft took coaching initiatives to make sure their disabled employees couldperform to their full potential.   

This goes on to show that providing job opportunities to disabled people will only work positively for your business. Moreover, you will be able to play your part in building a community that isn’t biased and allows everyone to participate in society. All of us deserve to be valued and it’s time we celebrate our differences!   

Disability Inclusion Bites is a weekly email series offering guidance and expert knowledge on creating that disability inclusion culture within your workplace. To start receiving emails, sign up here

Understanding Disability Language

Disability Language: Where To Start

I think so much of what prevents society and business from engaging with disabled people is down to a lack of confidence in the language.  It could seem to an onlooker that the language surrounding disability is complicated and inflammatory. Therefore, rather than risk making a mistake and defending somebody, avoiding a conversation is easier.

When running disability awareness sessions, we often explore disability language in depth.  As language is so fluid, especially language around disability, it changes so often.  Because the disability movement is developing and disability advocates have a greater voice than in the past, we are speaking up about what inclusive language actually means and why it is important.

To compound the confusion, different countries use different terms to describe disability. For example, in the US, it is popular to say persons with disabilities. They also commonly use the term handicapped which in the UK is a big no-no and has been for several years.  In other countries, they use terms such as differently abled.

Why Disability Language Matters

Whilst this may be an interesting read and an interesting discussion topic, it is still very important to understand the background to the language, terms and words we use when describing disability.  When reading biographies, business books, books about diversity and even crime podcasts, I still come across terms describing disability that make me cringe. This comes from the unknown, not doing enough research and not having enough information to make an informed decision about the impact of the word.  

I have written several articles on the impact of the language we choose to describe disability.  Because essentially, the words we use to describe anything seep into our unconscious and inform our thoughts.  And our thoughts inform our actions.  Therefore, when we are in the workplace and serving our “handicapped” customer, we may unconsciously be thinking about that customer in a different way than we are thinking about our non-disabled customer.  The word may make us believe that the customer is not that important or that the customer should be pitied.

The history behind language helps us understand where it originated and why it is or is not appropriate to use in today’s world. We explore some of this language below. You may have some terms yourself that resonate with you. If so, please let me know what they are.

Handicapped

This term dates back to the reign of Henry VIII.  During this time, disabled people, unable to earn a living to support themselves would beg on the street.  This was done with a cap in hand.

Synonyms of handicapped: crippled, disadvantaged, blocked, burdened, deterred, restrained, obstructed

Spastic

Scotland founded the Scottish Society of the Care of Spastics in 1946.  England’s Spastic Society was founded in 1951.  

However, even earlier than this, the term “spastic” comes from the Latin term spasticus which translates as “afflicted with spasms”.  The term is medical terminology which describes the symptoms of a person with cerebral palsy.

Synonyms of spastic: debilitated, paralysed, sick, atonic, diseased

Person with a Disability

The terminology “person with a disability” comes from the person-first theory. I have discussed this in another blog.  The decision for a disabled person to identify themselves as a person with a disability or disabled person is a personal choice and neither is right nor wrong. 

Wheelchair Bound

A person who is wheelchair-bound is bound to their wheelchair. In other words, that person cannot get out.  This is never really the case as a person using a wheelchair full-time still will leave their wheelchair to use the toilet, go to bed, etc.

Synonyms of bound: constraints, enslaved, obligated, restrained, compelled, coerced

Preferred term: wheelchair user

Disabled

I know of disabled people who do not like the term disabled. This is because as mentioned, the synonyms surrounding the term are all negative.  Thinking back to what I was saying earlier about thoughts seeping into our unconscious, this would mean that whenever somebody used the term “disabled” it would be synonymous with negative thoughts.

Whilst I understand this thought pattern, I prefer the term disabled for other reasons as I have shared before.  I also believe that as with other words from other diverse backgrounds, it is time for us as disabled people to reclaim the term.  Therefore, instead of seeing disability as a negative, we can continue to redefine the term to be positive.

However, this certainly does not discount the fact that the results of an impairment can at times, for different people in different ways be incredibly limiting.  Whether it is due to chronic pain, limited mobility, cognitive processes or many other barriers resulting from the symptoms of any impairment.

Synonyms of disabled: handicapped, infirm, paralysed, wounded, disarmed, maimed, sidelined, powerless

Able-bodied

An able-bodied person is a person who does not have any physical impairment.  In other words, their body is able.  However, this is still sketchy territory because some bodies are more able than others: an Olympic swimmer is more able than a novice.  The term able-bodied is often used to describe someone with no obvious impairment. This can lead to potential inaccuracy.

Synonyms of able-bodied: athletic, brawny, powerful, robust, strapping, sturdy, powerhouse, ripped, well built, tough

Preferred term: non-disabled

Collective Labels and Positive Language

At times, people have been known to talk about disabled people as a collective.  For example, “the disabled”.  This term should always be avoided because disabled people do not want to be grouped together as one.  The preferred term would be disabled people (or people with disabilities, depending on which term you prefer).

Always use positive language when talking about disability and disabled people.  Questions such as “What’s wrong with you?” Should be avoided because it is suggesting that there is something wrong with the individual and as we have discussed, disability is not a punishment nor is it any illness. Similarly, comments such as “You do so well” are not appropriate.  This is because they imply that disability is a struggle.  Whereas, for many people, our impairment is part of our everyday.

if you’re interested in finding out more about developing confidence around disability language, have a look at our training page and get in touch.

Disability Inclusion – I Did Something

In this blog: When promoting disability inclusion, it’s important to be consider as many factors as possible. Here are some tips to get you started.

Quick Links:

I have a question.  Is it ok to be 50% disability inclusive?

I think disability inclusion is an essential factor of presenting and hosting events. The other day I attended an event where the speaker displayed a video with no dialogue.  Instead of dialogue, the message was displayed in text. This video was about 5 minutes long.  I mentioned to the speaker afterwards that although the video was good, there may have been people in the room who would not have been able to access the video due to sight impairments, dyslexia, a language barrier or for many other reasons that prevent an individual from being able to read the words on screen.  For example, I read at a slower pace and therefore was not able to access this film because the text was changing too quickly.

The speaker replied that they knew this was an issue but it was the best video they can find.

As a professional delivering content over several platforms: social media, website, blogs, podcasts, face-to-face speeches and conversations, I must admit that on occasions I have fallen into that trap of going for the “easier” option and not covering all the accessibility basis possible.  But is this a good enough excuse?  Can convenience be the prevailing factor over whether we look a bit deeper to find the perfect video?  Can a limited time be the reason why 4 out of 5 of our videos have closed captions but the 5thone hasn’t?  Let’s explore this a bit deeper.

Convenience of Incorporating Disability.

The argument that the inclusive version that you found conveys your message but the video is not inclusive because not everybody can access it.  If your audience cannot access the video, is it really affective and therefore is it actually convenient?

Time.

On one hand, it is faster to upload a video that you have recorded on your phone or in the studio straight onto LinkedIn/Twitter/ Instagram or any of the other platforms in order to immediately share new and exciting content with your audience.  You may even get a few hundred likes, comments and even sales.  But how many more would you have if you were reaching and engaging with all your potential audience?  How much time do you save?  How much more time does it take when somebody contacts you and asks you for information on a specific subject and instead of just giving them the video, you have to create something new because your video does not meet their requirements?

You may be thinking that your audience does not have access requirements and nobody has ever said anything and that is why you do not need to invest the time making your content inclusive for everyone.  Calculate your potential audience.  One in five of your audience will have a disability.  That’s one in five that could potentially not engage with your message.

I did something for disability inclusion. But is it enough?
I did something for disability inclusion. But is it enough?

At the event I was talking about, before the speaker showed the video, at least 3 audience members had disclosed that they had dyslexia and a learning disability.  That was 3 members of the audience where the important message that the speaker was trying to convey may not have been engaged with.

I’ve decided that creating content out of convenience but excludes people is not a good enough reason. I have created 5 tips to help you ensure that disability inclusion can be easy and convenient.

Planning for the majority

Although disability is still a minority group, there are now 13.9 million disabled people in the UK.  This is a very fast-growing minority.  Create content that everyone can access. If you’re not sure how, ask.  Look on LinkedIn to find those videos that do have captions and then contact that person to ask them how they did it.

When I attend events as a delegate, I am often handed a workbook or a feedback form.  As a physically disabled person, I cannot handwrite and so I ask the host to forward the document to my email address.  This could always be offered ahead of time so that your delegates that cannot access physical paperwork have an alternative.  Apart from being inclusive, you are also helping the environment.

Captioning services

YouTube have a service where they generate closed captions on your behalf.  It is always worth checking that the dialogue reflects what the person in the video is saying as this is not always accurate first-time.  Temi.com and Rev.com also provide efficient close captioning services for competitive rates.

Think about access requirements

Offer your audience and opportunity to tell you if they have any specific support requirements.  Ahead of delivering, I contact the delegates and ask if they have any access requirements they would like me to be aware of. This is their opportunity to tell me about anything that would make their experience better.  It also ensures I can be informed and prepared.

When I send online surveys via links in emails, I make sure to tell the recipient that the survey is also available as a Word document.  At the top of the Word document, I state that the document is available in other formats and leave my contact details for anyone to contact me who would like this.  This is displayed in at least font size 14.

Obviously, this would be harder to do on social media when you are talking to a mass audience but is easy to implement for face-to-face events, written correspondence, etc.

Looking deeper

There are so many videos on YouTube that will convey the message that you’re trying to give to your audience.  If after looking a little bit deeper, you genuinely cannot find the video that conveys your message and also meets your inclusion standards, consider another way to convey the message.  Perhaps make your own video or explain to the audience as a whole what the video is showing.

Setting the standard

I am a strong believer that we need to start taking responsibility for creating disability inclusion in society and that we can lead the way for others to follow.  Therefore, if you’re hosting an event where you are booking speakers, have a standard of inclusion that your speakers must follow in order to secure a spot at your event.

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Recruiting Disabled People Into The Workplace

In this blog: A few quick tips to help you be successful when thinking about recruiting disabled people in the workplace.

Field of Dreams

Recruiting disabled people into the workplace is a bit like that Kevin Costner film. You know the one with the line: “if you build it, they will come”? Well it’s not true! I hate to break it to you.  The lucky few (and I mean the very few) seem to have everything fall at their feet but the majority of us, we have to work to make things happen. 

The same can be said for disabled candidates.  Many times I’ve heard people tell me that their business is inclusive but disabled people just don’t apply to their jobs.  The short answer is, businesses cannot be inclusive if disabled people are not applying. 

A laptop showing various graphs
A laptop showing various graphs

The stats 

With 30% of the workforce currently been made up by disabled people and just under 14 million disabled people in the UK, it is really not the case that you are doing everything possible if people are not coming to your doors.

To recruit disabled people, you must first understand the barriers to employment. Some of the most common barriers are:

  • Traditional, inaccessible application forms
  • Rigid interview processes
  • Inflexible and short-sighted job descriptions and person specifications
  • Job boards that do not sponsor and champion diversity and inclusion
  • Inaccessible transport

So what can we do about it? Nothing? Ok, thanks for reading. No, definitely not nothing, everything! Starting with this infographic.

Recruiting DISABLED PEOPLE into the workplace infographic. Explained below.
Recruiting DISABLED PEOPLE into the workplace infographic. Explained below.

Ensuring Inclusive Hiring

Whilst not a quick fix to begin with, can eventually mean that the processes run systemically throughout your business and department.

Inclusive Job Boards

Your prospective candidates must be able to find your job adverts before they can apply for them.  Advertising in places where disabled people know that they will be valued will help you attract a diverse pool of candidates. Evenbreak is one such website. Every disabled candidate using the site knows that the businesses listed as truly inclusive of disabled people.

Non-Rigid Job Descriptions

A job description that is too focused on tasks and not on strengths and goals will prevent a lot of people from applying. You don’t want to lose the best candidate because they cannot relate to your job description.

Introduce The Business

Publishing an introduction to the business and what its vision is on your recruitment page/adverts will demonstrate your values to any candidate that reads it.

Flexible Application Process

Many application processes create barriers for disabled people who are trying to apply for the role. Ensure that your application process is accessible for all.

Creating Accessible Interviews

Making sure that your interview is accessible for every candidate will ensure that your disabled candidates can demonstrate all their abilities.  Ask your candidates if they have any access requirements when you invite them to interview. There is more than one way to interview a candidate, the traditional version may not allow everyone to show their potential.  Other successful interviewing methods include:

  • Assessment Days – a range of excersises carried out in both group and one-on-one settings
  • Task based interviews – assigning a candidate a task to complete. The task would emulate an actual task that the candidate would undertake if employed. For example; serving in a bar or coding a page. This interview method can be beneficial for candidates who struggle to communicate their strengths, i.e, autistic people or people with a learning disability
  • Interview Panels – with interviewers from across the business with a broad range of diverse backgrounds. This can help to prevent an bias in hiring

You should never ask about a candidate’s disability. A question about reasonable adjustments should only pertain to the interview context. A conversation about workplace adjustments should be had after the candidate accepts the role.

Celebrating Disability can assist you to create recruitment processes that attract and engage disabled candidates. To find out more, click here to get in touch.

Disability Awareness Training Benefits

In This Blog: there are many benefits to disability awareness training. Within this blog, we have listed just 7 of these and the ways to harness these benefits within your organisation

Disability awareness and inclusion training can often take a backseat to other seemingly more pressing priorities within the workplace. However, what many fail to realise is that disability awareness training can offer valuable insight into how to develop your disability inclusive strategy. When you prioritise disabled people within your business strategy, you are creating an environment that is inclusive and accessible for all your employees.

Disability awareness training will support you to ensure that you are being inclusive of disabled people in every area of business.

Whether it be recruiting for a new position in your team or welcoming disabled people to an event.   The benefits of disability awareness training can be witnessed in many ways; building and developing confidence within existing employees in a team, gaining skills, knowledge and know-how and clarifying the next step.  As we are talking specifically about disability awareness training benefits, there is nothing more beneficial than having your training delivered by people with lived experience. Obviously, I’m a bit biased.  But it’s true!  No matter what the subject, somebody with personal knowledge of that subject matter backed with professional experience is always best placed to support others to learn.

Interactions with disabled people

As we know, 1 in 5 people have a disability. Disability touches many people in many different ways; directly and indirectly. However, there may be a number of people within your business who may not have much, if any experience of disability. Many people live alongside disability, either because they are disabled themselves, there is a disabled person in their family or a neighbour or friend is disabled. (Don’t forget, disability is diverse. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there) However, there are many more that have not experienced disability. This could simply be because their friend or family member has not disclosed that they have an impairment, or that person does not identify as being disabled. Read our blog on why disabled people may not be disclosing their disability.

If a person has never experienced disability, it will be challenging for them to have a successful interaction. When it comes to your business, it’s imperative that every interaction with a customer or an employee is a successful one. This is because successful interactions lead to happy people. Happy people regularly frequent your business and talk about your business opportunities with others.

The risks of not investing in disability awareness training

Without an awareness of the barriers that disabled people face and the potential assets that disabled people are, there are many risks:

  • Lost customers – if a disabled customer doesn’t feel welcome, they will go elsewhere
  • Shallow candidate pool – there are many methods a business can implement to attract disabled candidates
  • Stagnant creativity and innovation
  • Discrimination
  • Lack of empathy – if you are not aware, you can’t empathise
  • Intolerance
  • Fear
  • Pity
  • Lack of confidence
  • Misrepresentation – a person who is not aware of how to be inclusive can misrepresent their intentions

Disability awareness training can support the mitigation of all of these. Celebrating Disability’s training style is designed in such a way to create an open, transparent environment where delegates feel that strategies suggested are tangible. Time is spent helping delegates to understand why the risks discussed above as long with many others exist and ways to mitigate them. To read more about how our training style supports delegates to take action, read this blog.

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Does disability awareness training sounds like something your organisation could benefit from?
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7 Disability Awareness Training Benefits That Will Support Your Business

Whilst particular content will be unique to the subject matter that we will be discussing in your disability awareness training session, the benefits below are universal for any group.

Preparation

By being aware of the diversity of disability and the barriers that disabled employees and customers face, you will be able to find ways to mitigate these. Even whilst every disabled person has unique requirements, you will be able to draw on your experience of implementing accessible and inclusive processes so that every time you do so, it gets easier.

Confidence

When we understand something, we are more confident. And that’s how you want your employees to feel. They can then project that confidence throughout your workplace and they will be more confident to take risks and implement something new.

Engagement

By being more confident about the language we should use when talking to disabled people, it will be easier to engage and interact. In a customer facing service role, this will support your disabled customers to feel welcome. In a workplace environment, when you can confidently engage with your disabled employees enabling them to feel part of the team, they can be more productive, engaged, creative…

Awareness

There are many barriers that disabled people face on a daily basis, if we are aware of these barriers, we can start to think of solutions:

Value

Disability awareness training helps foster value. Knowledge is valuable. Having knowledge of barriers, ways to mitigate and ways to include everyone, your business will be able to eradicate the risks we discussed above.

Design

By understanding the barriers, every time you design a new service, building, product, etc, you will have the information you need to ensure that it is accessible and inclusive for disabled people. You also have the confidence to engage and enlist the support of disabled consultants and lived experience experts to help you design your services and products to be accessible and inclusive.

Culture

Every business wants to develop that inclusive workplace culture. However, how many businesses consider disability inclusion as a priority? Disability awareness training in which ever area of business is relevant, encourages that conversation to design and develop a culture of inclusion for everyone.

Is disability awareness training something that would be useful for your business? We have more information about how our training sessions can work for your business needs. Alternatively, get in touch to start planning your disability awareness training session.

The Business Case for Disability Inclusion

The business case for disability inclusion in the workplace is a strong one.

 Within the sector of disability inclusion, you do not have to go far to hear a disability expert talk about how supporting disabled people to achieve in the workplace has nothing but major business benefits which permeate the entire organisation.  Yet, the business case is still being vastly under-utilised.  Perhaps this is due to many reasons: under representation, lack of support, misunderstandings/ lack of awareness, confidence… the reasons go on and on.

Until businesses can truly believe the added value disabled people can bring into a workplace, things will barely change.  So, I have created this quick infographic to help you and any of your colleagues/managers to begin to see the business case for developing a workplace that is inclusive of disabled people.

1 in 5 of the UK population is disabled.

Making up 30% of the UK workforce. When we think of disability, we still associate this with physical disabilities. However, many disabilities are hidden.  In fact, less than 8% of disabled people are wheelchair users, with 80% of disabled people acquiring their impairment. According to the Equality Act 2010, a disability can be:

  • Physical
  • Mental Health
  • Learning Disability
  • Sensory
  • Autism and Neuro-diverse
  • Acquired

Did you know the average cost of a workplace (reasonable) adjustment is £95? This is because a lot of the support a disabled person needs does not necessarily have cost implications. Offering flexible and agile support and working options can make a huge difference. For those occasions when resources and assets do have to be purchased, there are funding streams available. Ross talks about this in his #PartofMe episode.

In an inclusive, supportive workplace culture, disabled people are…

Proactive and Innovative

Due to the large array of barriers disabled people face when attempting to enter the workplace, disabled people make productive, proactive employees. Innovation comes from utilising experiences of overcoming barriers on a daily basis in society.

Hard Working & Championing

If offered the right support and made to feel welcome, disabled people are hard-working employees. When a disabled person feels they are valued within your business, they will Champion your business to fellow colleagues and external friends and family.

Less Sickness Days & Lifetime Employees

On average, less sickness days because a happy disabled employee has good mental health and well-being. Due to perceptions and attitudes of others in the recruitment arena, a disabled employee is less likely to move to another business.

Celebrating Disability offer:

  • Lived experience of disability
  • Professional strategic planning
  • Interactive, tailor-made training
  • Face-to-face personalised support

If you would like to find out how we can help your business make this a reality, get in touch.

How To Make Your Business More Accessible


When you break down the term ‘accessibility’,

You get the most straightforward definition in the word – the ‘ability’ to ‘access’.

Accessible design doesn’t specifically refer to only disabled people, although most of the time, it is assumed so. It is about creating a world that everyone can easily access, whether this is a public swimming pool or a 50th-floor restaurant. With just under 14 million disabled people in the UK, you could be losing a lot of potential business or even the chance to hire talented candidates if your business building isn’t accessible. It’s time to start celebrating disability and ensure your business is doing its part in creating an equal and inclusive world.

The physical changes you can make to your building 

Making your business accessible can sound like a big and daunting task, but it really doesn’t have to be. There are several changes, big and small, you can make to get on your way to creating an accessible building. 

First, look at your building: are there appropriate measures in place that mean those with a disability or low mobility can easily access all areas of your building? If not, what and where are they? 

We have put together some of the most common issues faced by disabled users when accessing a building and how they can be fixed! 

•    Aisles and doors

There can be dozens of obstacles inside of a building that can restrict some people from getting around, including small corridors and doorways. For a wheelchair to be able to fit easily, space should be at least 32 inches wide. Most aisles will be 32 inches or more, but just make sure they are free of any obstructions. If your doorways aren’t wide enough, then getting them widened is an important, yet easy and cost-friendly task, which can often be carried out in a couple of hours.

Another obstacle can be the doors themselves – those with low mobility can find it challenging to open heavy doors and may be reluctant to ask for assistance. Automatic or sliding doors are the perfect solution for users to have their own independence, especially those using wheelchairs.

•    Tables and Service Counters

Without careful consideration, many restrictive factors like the height and size of tables can be disregarded and can prevent disabled people from using your facilities. Tables can often be either too high, too low or not wide enough to fit a wheelchair user comfortably. As a general rule, tables should be no more than 34 inches wide and no less than 28 inches in height.  There needs to be at least 27 inches of knee clearance between the floor and underside of the table. If your furniture is fixed, then consider making sure you have a few tables that can be accessed or move furniture around into a better layout to ensure there is a clear path, this is also important for those with visual impairments.

The same goes for service counters; many are too high for wheelchair users. When designing your service counter, it’s vital that at least one section is no more than 36 inches tall and at least 36 inches long so it can be accessed by everyone.

•    Stairs and inclines

It can be daunting for someone with low mobility to be faced with steps or a steep slope, commonly found at the entrance of a building. 

Providing access doesn’t need to be expensive. It can be as simple as installing a ramp or purchasing a temporary, non-fixed ramp. Alternatively, a platform lift is a great option to allow independent access to a building—there are several different models available, meaning you can find the perfect option for your building. All lifts can be installed internally and externally, which is a useful solution to accompany stairs leading to higher or lower floors.

Non-physical changes you can make to your building 

After updating your office space, do not neglect your website. Accessibility doesn’t just stop at the physical aspects of your building; you need to look at your entire business. 

•    Your Website 

Without realising, your website’s design may not be suitable for everyone to use. As a result, over 90% of disabled people will choose not to use your website. If you’re a business, this can mean you are losing a group of people who could otherwise be loyal customers. To make your website accessible for everyone, it often requires minimal, easy changes, including:

  1. Adding alt text to all the images on your website.
  2. Using images that do not contain text within the image. This avoids confusion when people are using a screen reader. If this is unavoidable, ensure to add alt text.
  3. Choosing colours carefully. Black text on a white background is best.
  4. Making sure anything clickable is big enough and not too close to another clickable element
  5. Ensure you’re headings are easy to digest.
  6. Using a font size that is at least 16px

•    Advertising

 Disabled people have a spending power of over £200bn per year. Ensuring your advertising is accessible and inclusive for disabled people will encourage more sales.

Some things you can do to make your ads more inclusive:

  1. Create audio descriptions for your visual media content.  This ensures that those with visual impairments can understand what your ad is about
  2. Similarly, adding text to adverts ensures that those with auditory impairments can understand your advert
  3. The best accessible designs are clear, simple and clutter-free. Avoid putting text on images, as it could be hard to read
  4. Use simple English. Aim for 8 on the Flesch-Kincaid Scale. The tools in Microsoft Word can confirm this.

•    Customer Service

Having an excellent customer service team or procedures in place is vital to ensure that everyone can access help and important information when they need to. One of the main things is to teach your staff how to communicate with customers who have various types of disabilities effectively, an example of inclusive communication is: an employee reading a schedule for someone with a visual impairments.

Some customers may require more help and assistant from staff, so making sure they are on hand and ready to help can ensure customers feel comfortable and at ease while visiting your business. Having a policy on your website highlighting how you provide products and services to disabled people can be important to ensure everyone can benefit from your business equally.  

Creating a list of where your quick ones are could be a great place to start. You can even involve your disabled employees and customers to ensure you have a lived experience perspective.

Feeling inspired but not sure where to start? Read the blog on setting the right goals.

An Unexpected Trip


Where My Journey Begins….

I recently attended an event in London. The details about where the event was held were quite sketchy.  Once I arrived at the event, I realised that this was because the event was internal and therefore probably didn’t need to be more specific.  I arrived at the place where the event was held to be told that it was about a 10-minute bus drive away followed by a 15-minute walk. This did not faze me as my wheelchair is very fast and a 15-minute walk is more like 5 minutes.

Blurry Paralympion Cyclists
Blurry paralympian cyclists racing in motion

So, I arrived at the bus station after being given directions by staff and boarded the bus.  I promptly noticed that the button I needed to press to alert the driver that I needed the ramp was inaccessible to me – situated just out of my reach.  So when the bus came to the stop, I called out to ask the driver to release the ramp.

The Pitstop

Once on the pavement and the bus had driven off, I opened Maps on my phone to see where I was going next.  Easy, it’s a straight line!  However, when I looked around me, I noticed that I was on a high pavement.  Looking to my left I could see there was no drop curb.  Looking to my right I could see there was no drop curb.

Tall pavement with no drop curb.
Tall pavement with no drop curb.

Luckily for me, just at the moment as I was thinking “oh my gosh, what on earth am I going to do” (or words to that effect), a van pulls up in the car park next to me.  2 people got out and came over to see if I was ok.  Asking for help to get off the curb, I explained where I was going.  The man (George) told me the walk was riddled with pavements without drop curbs and to ensure I reached my destination; he would walk with me.  Sure enough, by the time we’d reached the venue, George had helped me navigate (and by navigate, I mean lift my wheelchair) 5 curbs.

The Re-routing

Upon arrival into the venue, I informed reception of the event I was attending and they informed me that I was given the wrong information and it was in another building.  The incredibly generous George offered to take me back to where I needed to be. 

As an employee, George had access to the staff shuttlebus that would take us straight to the doors of the venue.  However, when the shuttlebus arrived, it was not accessible. They informed George that none of the staff shuttle services were accessible.  We headed back to the main bus stop that would take us to where we needed to go.  When the bus arrived, it had what I call a manual ramp which requires the driver to operate.  I had to manoeuvre around an incredibly tight gap into a small, cramped space where I didn’t have room to move and therefore sat facing the wall.

The Arrival

Despite all this, we had arrived. George signed me into the building and escorted me to the room.  To get to the room, we needed to use the lift.  The lift was opposite a wall, meaning that I had to navigate a tight gap and turn on a difficult angle to enter and exit the lift.  Upon entering the room, it was immediately obvious that I had managed to gate crash an internal event.  

Why am I telling you all this?

Ironically, when George asked the question if I come across inaccessibility like this a lot, I honestly answered “no”. Yes, I definitely come across exclusion and inequality as a result of people’s perceptions and lack of understanding of disability but I don’t commonly come across inaccessibility to such an extent.  If George wasn’t there, I would’ve literally been stuck at every point after I got off the bus.  At the beginning of my ordeal, I thought that was a bit unusual.  After the third barrier in a row, I decided that this had to be documented.  As a disabled person, I am used to checking ahead of arrival that the venue is accessible.  What I don’t do, is check the route to the venue for accessibility.  These days I take that as a guarantee.

The support I received from George was amazing and without it, I would’ve given up probably when I arrived at the bus stop.  Due to his understanding, empathy and persistence, the afternoon turned out to be incredibly productive and worthwhile. However, it shouldn’t have been down to George’s persistence to ensure I made it to my event.  When I arrived at the venue (one hour late), I was slightly windswept, cold, tired and stressed but I had to immediately put all of that to one side to behave in the professional manner that I wanted my potential new contacts to remember me by.

I am not the first, nor will I be the last disabled person to experience these, or comparative barriers and then to have to immediately put them to one side and adapt to the environment.  Nor am I suggesting that non-disabled people haven’t experienced similar cases where they’ve had to swallow what they are feeling to present in certain way.  However, the barriers that I refer to are unacceptable and surprising.

I don’t often purely talk about the physical barriers presented to disabled people but in this case, the front facing services of this business clearly show that they are making an effort to be inclusive and accessible for disabled people.  However behind-the-scenes, this doesn’t seem to always be the case for their employees. Whether this is deliberate or not (and I very much doubt it is deliberate) the message it sends to any disabled employees who currently or are looking to work for this business is negative.  We talk about unconscious bias but what about unconscious influencing? When developing a culture of inclusion, to non-disabled employees, it could contradict any messages of creating inclusive environments.

The Learning

When thinking about your inclusive culture, it is so important to think about every area of inclusion.  Not just the attitude of your staff, not just the opportunities for disabled employees to achieve but also your physical landscape.  In your business, there will be things that you can change relatively easily but there will also be things within your external environment that are seemingly out of your control.  When planning your inclusive strategy, don’t forget to think about these things and how, if that environment does not belong to you, you can influence councils and the community to make meaningful change.

The Insidious Result of Language

Language surrounding disability has always been a minefield

To me, I have always been baffled over the complexity of what people make language to be. When working in the disability charity sector, I was constantly perplexed by the terms that were used to describe disabled people and the help and support that they received. One of the hardest things is there is no overall consensus as to what language should and shouldn’t be.

The 2 statements people agree on

Inclusive Language is ensuring everybody feels and is thought of as equal and included. If you will – the vehicle to inclusion and equality

Political Correctness on the other hand is ensuring that we do not go out of our way to offend others

However, language is objective

Case in point is a blog I wrote about the terms disabled person and person with a disability. My argument is that identifying as a disabled person is recognising and championing the social model of disability. However, a person who identifies as person with a disability may have an equally compelling argument. What might make one person feel excluded and offended, may not even enter another person’s radar. A common example of this in the disability community is the term or terms used to describe the person paid to support a disabled person.

For example, as a disabled person, I choose to describe the person I pay to support me as a personal assistant. This is because I believe I am paying them to assist me to do the things that I could not otherwise achieve. By consciously using the term “Assistant” it reinforces to that individual and anyone we come into contact with that they are there to assist me with the physical aspects I would otherwise struggle with. Imperatively for me, it also reinforces the fact that they are not there to “Look After” me or make decisions for me.

I have heard other disabled people describe the person paid to support them in many other ways; care-worker, support worker, enabler, etc.

But why does this matter? Is it really that important? Well, yes, I think it is. Taking the above examples: 

Personal Assistant

What images/perceptions come to mind when you think of this term?

Care worker

What images/perceptions come to mind when you think of this term?

For me, one describes independence whilst the other describes dependence. 

In social care, there are many words bounded around to describe the support given to a disabled person:

Toileting, feeding, showering, looking after, taking to, doing for.

These are nouns that suggest an arduous task, a burden, a sense of helplessness. Simply turning the phrase around by saying “I’m helping Esi to the toilet or “I’m supporting Esi to eat some lunch” adds a completely different perspective: I am not useless or a burden.

By using these nouns listed above and many more like them, it reinforces the idea that disabled people are useless, helpless, a burden and cannot do anything for themselves. Which we all know is simply untrue. However, these are the terms that are used by the media and in official social care terminology and therefore penetrate their way into our homes and our unconscious thought.

As a result, they seep out – into our corporate and business workspaces and penetrate our unconscious thought towards disabled people. This in turn makes it harder for disability to be a priority on the Diversity and Inclusion agenda because our semi-conscious biases are reinforcing those stereotypes.

Yes, your business may believe that disabled people can benefit society and your workplace but what part of that culture is thinking “At what cost? What resources is it going to take up for me?”

Language and the business case

The business case for disability inclusion is a strong one but will never get off the starting block if we don’t start thinking about the biases that accompany the language we hear all around us.

Many people ask me to blog on the correct language to use around disability. I am happy to do this. In the meantime, have a think about the words you hear and the effect they have on you. Then with that knowledge, simply think: “What language would reflect the contribution that person is making?”

Becoming A Confident Business Owner

When developing my confidence as a new business owner, what I found most helpful was the experience that came with time.  As a disabled business owner, there can be added barriers to navigate; sometimes due to perceptions and attitude and other times due to the physical environment (and often, at the same time). These added barriers, along with being a new business owner have at times made it difficult to remain positive, focused and confident.  If we’re not confident about our businesses, nobody else will be.  So, below I have written 8 lessons picked up along the way that have helped my confidence as a business owner:

Image: A treasure map

1. Have a plan

The thing about a business plan is that it doesn’t need to be a specific template.  It can be whatever you need it to be.

For me, I have my external business plan that I would give to potential funders, any one on the outside that needed to see it.  It is a very professional looking business plan with headings, chapters, statistics, SWOT and everything else you would expect to see if you wanted to impress somebody.  My internal business plan is very different.  This is the one I keep to myself and is essentially a table that acts as a visual reminder of why I am doing what I’m doing.  When I read an article or listen to a talk that gets me angry or passionate, I write it down on my business plan.  This then fires me up on the days where I am not feeling motivated.

2. Be flexible

As a new business owner, I would say the best part of the last 2 years has been about getting to understand my business and my clients. I have listened to the services clients want and sometimes this has not married up with the services I have wanted to deliver.  This is not a suggestion to bin your own ideas or to take on board everyone else’s but purely to have an open mind about how your services can be adapted to work with your client’s needs.

3. Watch out for unsolicited advice

I don’t know if this is a disabled thing or just a thing but I will say that the first year and a half of running Celebrating Disability, everybody wanted to share their advice.  This could be helpful at times, but it was happening more often than not and became confusing, disheartening and nerve wracking.  It wouldn’t just happen at appropriate times, it would happen when I introduced myself and name of my business.  People felt it okay to jump in with their opinion having no idea of what I did and the experience and expertise that I held.  Depending on the advice given by somebody else, it can be really counter-productive.  A stranger you met once at a business meeting, has no right to give you uninvited advice on something that you are the expert in. 

These days, I tend to throw it back and offer advice on how they could run their business. (their facial expressions are quite funny when I tell them how they should be running their financial service!)  

The important thing is, whether you decide to take somebody’s advice or not, always understand that you are the expert and any advice you take is because you understand that it will work for you and your business.

4. Know your own mind

Image: Blackboard with arrows point yes and no

There are oodles of free seminars you can attend (I have attended most) giving you plenty of advice on how to run your business.  There is nothing wrong with these but watch how many you go to.  After you have been to your 7thdigital marketing seminar and received 7 different pieces of advice on how to make your Facebook Business Page work for you, you have to make a decision as to how to proceed.

My advice would be: if you attend any, test drive the advice you have been given to see if it works for you before attending more.  Otherwise, you will have been to 7 without moving forwards with your Facebook page.

5. Be prepared to prove yourself

I am absolutely certain that proving your worth is relevant to every new business owner regardless of disability.  However, there is an extra hurdle to cross when you are a disabled business owner.  Thanks to perceptions, stereotyping and attitudes, non-disabled people (and even at times disabled people themselves) do not think that we’re capable of spelling our names let alone running a business.  I am not saying it is right, it certainly is not but make sure that people know you for your expertise not for your disability.

  • Always have questions prepared for the end of a seminar
  • Don’t be afraid to show your expertise in the room and make sure people around you hear about them

6. Own those extra support needs

No matter what your disability, the majority of disabled people have access requirements. This is nothing to be ashamed of.  Without your specific experiences, you probably wouldn’t be running a business, regardless of whether your business is aimed at disability or not.

As a disabled person, you cannot share your expertise as a business owner unless you have the support in place in order to do so. So whether you need a ramp to enter a building, the PowerPoint slides printed in large print, or even a chair at the back of the room in order to take regular breaks when you need to, never feel as though you cannot ask and don’t let people make you feel as though you should apologise.

7.Make a plan for networking… Fast

Image: People talking and moving around busy market

The stereotypes that accompany disabled people create barriers to engagement because at times, people do not feel that we will be able to engage fully in the conversation. This can be quite a headache at networking events.  

Obviously, we’re all there to engage with new people and to tell them about our products and services but if we are prevented from engaging, this is not possible. 

  • Approach people and make sure that you make the first move. Half the time, when I start engaging with people and telling them what I do, they quickly realise that I can hold a conversation and become engaged in what I’m saying.
  • Scope out the room.  Quite often at networking events, the room is overcrowded.  Your location is very important.  Ignore the bar, the coffee and the buffet and make sure you are in a place where you can maximise the amount of conversations you have as well as your visibility.
8.Don’t bite off more than you can chew

We all have to accept limitations.  What we lack in one area, we can make up for in expertise and experience.  In my first few years I worked flat-out but it paid off because now, I can relax a little bit knowing that I have a reputation and my reputation is working for me and bringing in leads.  

1 or 2 tips to ensure that you don’t become overwhelmed:

  • Know your limitations. There’s no point in working to the bone if it’s going to cancel you out for the next week
  • Understand where you get business from.  Concentrate there.  Don’t waste any effort in the places that don’t bring return
  • Outsource where possible.  If somebody else can do it, let them 

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