A wander through the shops looking for gifts, watching something festive at the cinema or enjoying a pantomime with your family – things that many people like to do at Christmas, but not all can.
In research undertaken by us earlier this year, both entertainment and retail were the areas of research that our consumer panel of over 4,000 disabled people most wanted us to look into - because of concerns over accessibility.
We asked our panel members, a pan-disability group of people from across the UK, what issues they would like us to investigate via an online survey. Much of our work is carried out for organisations wanting to understand how to make what they offer more accessible, but we wanted to see where we ourselves could support the needs and experiences of our members.
Entertainment venues, such as theatres, cinemas or sports venues, and retail outlets such as supermarkets and clothing stores, came out top as the areas our panel most wanted us to investigate.
Shopping for gifts and seasonal food
The absence of people to assist them was one of the biggest challenges identified by our panel when it comes to shopping.
From accessing disabled parking spaces to getting into stores, navigating the aisles to reaching goods on the shelves, the physical accessibility of shops was another major concern.
One panel member told us:
“Often produce is put in the centre of aisles causing issues for wheelchair users and visually impaired (people) - it seems to become a bigger problem during the Christmas season.”
Some shops do introduce more staff to cope with the Christmas demand, but while they can be helpful for many, the extra displays do little to encourage disabled people into store to interact with those staff.
If shoppers do find, or are able to reach, the items they’re looking for, service can make or break the sale. People told us they’d left stores without buying anything because there was no-one to help them, including this panel member who has a visual-impairment.
“Shopping and especially the payment process, is so difficult, I often go without because I don't feel mentally strong enough to stand my ground and say no, I really can't use the self-service, and no, I really don't want to have to explain why I can't in front of lots of other shoppers.”
The rise in the number of self-service checkouts worries many, including those with mobility issues who struggle to reach the loading areas and the touch screens, and shoppers with visual impairments.
The lack of variation in the height of counters is excluding for some, while an absence of (working) hearing loops means that those with hearing aids can’t hear staff clearly.
Better staff training could go a long way to improving our panel members’ shopping experience. As well as there being a lack of awareness about the ‘careless placement of obstacles’ as one respondent put it, many of the near 900 panel members who took part in our research complained of poor attitudes towards them.
“If you are in a wheelchair, you lose your ability to speak apparently” one person told us.
Enjoying Christmas events
Many respondents to our survey found the booking process for entertainment venues to be inaccessible. They also cited the lack of availability to book more than one accessible ticket or to be able to sit together with their family instead of an allocated space at the end of a row.
As one respondent described:
“My partner & I run into so many issues trying to book tickets. As two wheelchair users, we’re often left unable to book two wheelchair spaces together, sometimes we’re unable to even purchase two wheelchair space tickets via a website (if we can find them).
Many venues are an absolute nightmare to book tickets for, too many do not allow online bookings and the wait on the phone means access to tickets is problematic.”
Another reported:
‘I want to be able to sit in my wheelchair with my family, not with one carer’.
People also described the difficulties of physical access to buildings, as well as the lack of seat options – the only wheelchair space often being right at the front of the screen in the cinema or with a restricted view in theatres.
“A lot of cinemas and theatres are inaccessible to me with my severe balance problems due to a lack of safety rails in the aisles, lots of escalators which I cannot use & not enough lifts, especially in peak times.” Our panel member told us.
Another commented that:
“The arrangements for wheelchairs and those that use crutches is often at the side of the venue, which makes the view of the stage or screen difficult.”
Christmas is almost here, and too late for many venues and shops to action improvements for disabled customers for this season. But our research should be a call to action for stores to offer an inclusive service that enables everybody to enjoy the pleasures of the season.
Designing inclusively is a win for everyone. As well as for disabled people, wider aisles work for parents with pushchairs. Clear access to chiller cabinets makes the top shelves more accessible to everyone. And absolutely everyone will need the support of staff at some time.
Contact us if you’d like to know how your business can become more accessible.
