First Steps Towards Improved Accessibility

Accessibility

First steps towards improved accessibility:

Read the Toolkit's 'How To...Make your business more accessible' guide

Full of helpful information on the value of this market, ten reasons for making your business more accessible, as well as the tools and resources offered by VisitEngland and the National Accessible Scheme for making your business more accessible.

Read and download 'How To...Make your business more accessible'

Take our FREE online accessibility training course

Study at your own pace with the Profit through Access online accessibility training course that’s been designed and developed by One North East especially for tourism businesses.

The course gives you:

• an understanding of your legal responsibility
• an understanding of what being accessible means for your business
• an awareness of the range of accessibility needs of visitors
• help and advice on practical and low-cost ways of implementing accessibility
• how to promote your business to this market
• all you need to write and produce your own Access Statement
• examples of what other businesses are doing to improve accessibility

Register for the Profit through Access course here

Read 'At Your Service'

'At your Service' is a comprehensive guide for accessible tourism in England.

Created through a joint partnership between the Government's Accessible Tourism Stakeholder Forum - Tourism for All, and VisitEngland, it's aim is to inspire tourism businesses to improve accessibility for customers in the lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games & Paralympic Games.

Read more about 'At Your Service' and download here

Read ‘Easy Does It’

A colourful and easy to read stage-by-stage guide to making simple and low-cost changes that will benefit you and your visitors and improve accessibility. Produced by EnjoyEngland for all tourism businesses.

Download 'Easy Does It' (PDF)

Make an Access Statement

Access statements give your visitors a clear and honest description of your business, its facilities and services. They help visitors make an informed decision on whether your business meets their access needs. The online Profit through Access course helps you write an Access Statement.

View and download VisitEngland’s sample Access Statement template

Examples of sample statements from North East England tourism businesses:

• The Old Manse, Chatton
• Tyne & Wear Museums
• The Bowes Museum

Join the National Accessibility Scheme - for accommodation providers

The National Accessible Scheme (NAS) benchmarks accommodation providers’ levels of accessibility against national standards, and awards appropriate ratings for mobility and/or hearing and/or visual impairments. The NAS is available for serviced, self-catering, hostel and campus properties, as well as holiday, touring and camping parks.

Once you are NAS assessed your business will be searchable by accessibility rating on www.enjoyengland.com and www.visitbritain.com

VisitEngland has refreshed the entry-level mobility standard of the National Accessible Scheme.  This entry-level standard is called 'One Step Ahead' and will help you see your business from the perspective of older guests and those who are a little less mobile.  Read more about 'One Step Ahead'.

Join the National Accessible Scheme  

Welcome to Excellence training courses

A Welcome All disability awareness training course gives an insight into how to meet the expectations of people with disabilities or specific needs

Find out more about  Welcome to Excellence

Our Document Library

The 'Accessibility' folders in our Document Library and Case Study sections contain helpful factsheets, documents and live case studies highlighting how tourism businesses have embraced accessibility as well as the challenges they have faced along the way.