Released: 19 January 2006
Free business assessment will help companies meet part of their legal obligations to the Disability Discrimination Act and increase revenues.
Small and medium sized businesses will benefit from the launch of a free service that helps them to meet part of their legal obligations to the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act), whilst opening their doors to millions of people with specific access needs.
The free Access Assessment has been created by directenquiries.com, The Nationwide Access Register, in partnership with RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation).
Since October 2004, companies have had to consider making adjustments to their premises to overcome physical barriers to access and services. At the very least they should be aware of what facilities they can/cannot offer and have planned improvements with budgets and a timeline. The Free Access Assessment, which is available online (www.directenquiries.com), helps companies meet these legal obligations and provide better facilities for disabled people. It achieves this by allowing them to review their own access and facilities, also removing the fear and uncertainty businesses may have been facing over potential costs.
Companies who go on to register with directenquiries.com can use the results of their Access Assessment, with the directenquiries.com Action Plan to identify areas where access needs improvement along with the possible costs and timescales. The Action Plan also includes advice on simple changes that can be made to improve access to goods and services at no cost. For example: “why not stack shelves vertically rather than horizontally to ensure products are accessible to all?” directenquiries.com, chief executive, Grant Kennedy, said: “Small and medium sized businesses regularly offer better customer service than their big brand competitors, including better service to disabled people or parents seeking pushchair access. Unfortunately, most companies struggle in providing better physical access or communicating what access they have, usually due to the belief that it is too costly to make changes, or too expensive to audit. A lack of understanding has driven many companies to simply ignore the whole issue, unaware that not everything involves cost. Our free Access Assessment offers a way out of this difficult situation and when combined with the Action Plan, details a cost effective way to move forward. Providing better access to premises and communicating with disabled people is not only a legal obligation but makes good business sense.”
The Disability Rights Commission has backed directenquiries.com and their chairman, Bert Massie has said: “The DRC is delighted that a service such as directenquiries.com 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. As importantly, it helps service providers to attract more business from the 10 million disabled adults that spend £80billion per year in the UK.”
directenquiries.com are also championed by the Federation of Small Businesses. Stephen Alambritis, FSB head of parliamentary affairs said, "The FSB is pleased that a helpful service such as that provided by directenquiries.com is in place, giving small businesses an ideal opportunity to inform the world at large that they are fully accessible to 10 million disabled adults"
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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