Released: 9 February 2006
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has backed directenquiries.com, the Nationwide Access Register, which is currently receiving over 190,000 hits per week from people looking for accessible businesses.
In the current environment, where businesses are under pressure from legislation and trade laws the Disability Discrimination Act has been seen by many as another obstacle to success. To help businesses understand that making changes and providing better services is not all about high costs, the DRC (the independent body that promotes equality of opportunity for disabled people in the UK) has backed directenquiries.com as a potential lifeline.
directenquiries.com not only helps businesses meet their legal obligations, by providing advice and information, but also drives new business by giving companies a platform from which to communicate with the UK’s 10 million disabled people.
DRC chairman, Bert Massie said: "The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is delighted that a service such as Direct Enquiries exists as it helps to give disabled people more choice and at the same time assists businesses both large and small to meet part of their legal obligations. Just as importantly, it helps service providers to attract more business from the 10 million disabled adults that spend £80billion per year in the UK.”
Direct Enquiries chief executive, Grant Kennedy said: “By opening their doors to disabled people, businesses open their doors to everyone, including parents with pushchairs. The support we have been given by the DRC sends a clear message to our users that we are the one credible service providing the access information they need to plan time away from home. Providing good access is not only a legal obligation but makes good business sense.”
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Notes to Editors
Directenquiries.com, was set up as the Nationwide Disabled Access Register in 2002 in partnership with RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation) and The Employers' Forum on Disability. During the past 12 months the information available has grown to include access for parents with pushchairs as well as the general public. This allowed directenquiries.com to rebrand as The Nationwide Access Register in January 2006.
Directenquiries.com is the only UK directory specifically designed for companies to showcase their disabled access and other facilities. On average, directenquiries.com receives over 1.3 million hits each month from people looking for businesses, organisations and services with the disabled access they require. Registration is only £35 per year, per location, for which companies receive the following:
- Nationwide registration on directenquiries.com detailing company name, address and other contact details, including links to their website, should they have one
- Access to the Action Plan
- A “More Information” section, equivalent to five pages of A4, updateable on a daily basis. This allows businesses to include information on forthcoming additions or changes to their disabled access as well as useful information about their business in general
- Feedback facility to provide customer comments and opinions
For users, directenquires.com provides a full directory service for UK companies detailing the access and facilities available at those registered with directenquiries.com. The register currently includes disabled access information on leading high street names such as Boots, LloydsTSB, Argos, Gap, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Costa Coffee, Pizza Express, PC World and Waterstone’s as well as thousands of small and independent businesses. The disabled access information encompasses everything from parking, entrances, lifts, toilets, counter heights, wheelchair and pushchair access to staff assistance and auxilliary aids such as Braille, large print and induction loops.
For further information, images and interviews please contact us on 01344 360101 or e-mail press@directenquiries.com
www.directenquiries.com