Services for disabled people
This is a website about providing care for adults and children with disabilities, as well as assistance for their friends and families who care for them.
Accessibility issues for disabled people
People often see enabling better access to disabled people simply as acts of charity, however there is a compelling business argument for being accessible to disabled people.
- There are over 8.7 million disabled people in Great Britain. 93% of them live in their own residence.
- Almost 20% of the working-age population have a disability of some kind.
- A recent calculation of the spending potential of disabled consumers in Britain came in at £45-50 billion per year – which amounts to about a tenth of the country’s annual GDP.
- One in every four customers will have some kind of disability or know someone with one. If they are not satisfied with the service you provide, they will inform other people and go elsewhere – remember, it costs approximately six times more to get another customer than it does to hold onto an existing one.
- Two-fifths of the UK population are aged over 45. This is the age at which the likelihood of disability begins to rise dramatically. Many older customers gain immensely from offering accessible goods and services, although they may not see themselves as having a disability.
- Good, simple-to-use facilities offer an impression of a business that is friendly and responsive to the general public. Disabled people pursue a number of activities people assume only frequented by able-bodied people.
- The wider customer base who has families with children often welcomes buildings and facilities which are accessible to disabled people.
- Ensuring access for disabled customers lifts the standards of access for every customer and user of public services. Too few high streets are accessible to people with disabilities.
It is vital to bring an end to the varying forms of discrimination that disabled people endure within the built environment and the workplace of learning/work.