Conference Venues Warned They Aren’t Catering for Disabled Delegates
Following a report from the government that Britain’s high streets are not catering for those with disabilities, conference venues around the UK have come under fire for their inability to cater to disabled delegates.
These failings impact not only accessibility, but also safety. Being DDA compliant should be a high on everybody’s list; with so many options for available for ensuring that your venue is accessible for all, there are very few options for not taking the necessary steps to make sure you’re catering for everybody.
Many venues have been shown to be providing outdated solutions that are often difficult to reach. This is a major deterrent for people considering attending conferences, and commercially can be very damaging. It’s extremely rare that a building these days is going to be based all on one floor, and as a result installing a passenger lift or a platform lift that is able to take delegates from one floor to another is typically the only option. In these cases, the installation and proper fitting of a DDA compliant lift is a sure fire to improve your conference venue for anyone who may be looking to attend.
Experts in disability legislation have warned that outside of commercial views, there’s a serious health and safety consideration that is being ignored when buildings aren’t following simple – and often necessary – disability procedures.
Ensuring that people can travel quickly and safely from one side of the building to the other is always going to be important. It’s also going to a be vital requirement for people planning events, conferences or talks. It is believed that conference venues who don’t consider the wider picture and fail to accommodate those with a disability are seriously damaging their reputation, as well as limiting the commercial growth of their organisation.
Many have argued that the installation of proper accessibility plans require common sense, but it’s important to consider the wider angle if you yourself are involved in the running of a conference location. Of course, just installing a passenger lift isn’t the entire answer, but it is an excellent start.
Often in older buildings, passenger lifts are already in place to ferry delegates from floor to floor. Unfortunately, some of these solutions are not suitable for people with certain types of disability – for example, a wheelchair user may not be able to easily get in and out of the existing lift. Upgrades can be simple, and often carried out in the existing lift shaft. Platform lifts are an excellent way to do this, and the investment in a modern and proper accessibility package will improve the experience not only for attending delegates, but also the hosting organisation.
In today’s society, there is very little excuse for not adapting to the needs of the modern world. Quite rightly, customer expectations have changed and it’s important to keep in line with these. Ensuring your building is DDA compliant – especially if you have high footfall – is one way in which you can offer the finest service possible.
