Across Northern Ireland many business owners are struggling to come up with different ways of attracting new customers and increasing their sales. However, have you ever thought of the physical barriers that are preventing customers with disabilities from accessing your shop, restaurant, café, or office? According to a survey carried out by Disability Action, 1 in 5 people in Northern Ireland have a disability. JAM Card have created a list of tips on how to make your business accessible to people with disabilities. By working towards making your business accessible for everyone you won’t only increase your sales and customer base, but you will also create a more inclusive space for everyone.
What Does Accessibility Mean?
When you hear the word ‘accessibility’ you may think of a wheelchair user who cannot access a shop or maybe it could be someone who is struggling to use the internet. The word accessibility has a different meaning to everyone. Whether it is at home or within the workplace, we all face different challenges when it comes to inclusion.
How You Can Make Your Business Accessible to People with Disabilities
Training Your Staff on Disability Awareness
One of the first steps in introducing accessibility to your business is for your staff to take part in customer service disability awareness training. This should focus on how to identify people that have communication barriers or hidden disabilities and how your staff can provide quality service based on these needs.
One of the many benefits of becoming a JAM Card Partner is that we offer an E-learning course for all members of your staff. Research we have carried out shows that 75% of JAM Card users are more likely to choose a business that has been trained to recognise and respond to our card.
The JAM Card training course is interactive and will introduce your staff to hidden disabilities, communication barriers and how our hidden disabilities card can be used by both your business and customers.
Highlight Accessibility in Your Marketing Materials
Before booking a reservation at a restaurant or going to a shop for groceries, people with disabilities and their family members will consider whether this business is inclusive. By using an inclusive design in your marketing materials, you are showing potential customers that your business aims to serve the needs of those with disabilities and provide them with quality service.
When your business signs up as a JAM Card partner we will send you a Welcome Pack with marketing materials and some JAM Cards to help you to get started. Extra marketing materials are also available to purchase that will help to promote your partnership with JAM Card and how your business is working towards inclusion and diversity.
Reviewing Your Progress
Introducing accessibility to your business is a long-term strategy that will need to be reviewed regularly. As a JAM Card partner, you will receive a quarterly data report on the JAM Card App reviews and the App usage specific to your business. This will help you to highlight any issues and you can work towards improving the customer experience for everyone who uses your products and services.
Making changes towards becoming a disability friendly business in Northern Ireland will have a range of benefits for your customers and members of staff. Businesses that are disability friendly will rise above competitors and will enter the Purple Pound market, resulting in a stronger bottom line. For more information on how JAM Card can help your business become inclusive for everyone and how you can become one of our partners, get in touch with us today by calling 028 9043 6400 or alternatively you can email us at hello@jamcard.org.
