Barclays launches Accessibility support tool
22nd Apr 2016
Barclays launches Accessibility support tool
Barclays launches new web portal to help inspire businesses to be more accessible
UK Businesses are failing to meet the needs of disabled customers and Barclays are hoping to change that.
Today Barclay s launches a brand new web portal – https://www.barclayscorporate.com/insight-and-research/managing-your-business/making-your-business-accessible.html– a site, created for business owners and change makers, offering insights and practical tools from their journey of accessibility and others who champion best practice.
They have created this new digital resource which will help enable businesses to learn how organisations like Barclays and others have made the leap from a ‘tick the box’ attitude to accessibility, to one which seeks to innovate, inspire and engage.
Barclays have taken the learning from making banking accessible for their personal customers and turned it into information they hope will help other businesses understand why being accessible for all makes great business sense as well as being the right thing to do.
Barckays commissioned research which asked 500 UK Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs )about adaptations they’ve made to welcome disabled customers and their understanding of inclusive design and the results were quite a revelation with the vast majority of SME's not currently catering for disabled customers - a market worth £212 billion. However, 77% of businesses polled said they would like further advice on becoming more accessible which is why the Barclays on-line resource was created.
Tony Adamson, Managing Director, Enterprise and Innovation at Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: “At Leonard Cheshire Disability we work to ensure disabled people are treated fairly and offered the same opportunities as everyone else. With that in mind, we are delighted Barclays have produced this resource as a demonstration of their commitment to supporting businesses to become inclusive and accessible to all.”
Robin Hindle-Fisher, Chair of the Extra Costs Commission, said: “Three quarters of disabled people have left a shop or business because of poor disability awareness. However, we know that businesses often want to do more to serve disabled people – nearly two thirds of businesses we surveyed said that more information about the needs of this consumer group would be useful.Businesses that make reasonable adjustments are well-placed to tap into disabled people’s spending power, the so-called “purple pound”, estimated to be worth over £200 billion a year. Most changes are small, and often include how you engage with disabled consumers. We hope that this new service from Barclays will enable more companies to access the “purple pound”, in the way that they have embraced opportunities to serve the “pink” and “grey” consumer markets”
The full results of the survey can be seen here
For additional support on enabling your business to increase its accessibility contact The Accessible Training Company at http://theaccessibletrainingcompany@gmail.com or call Jane on 07775 639789.