Universal Design for customer engagement in tourism services – Public Consultation
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) Access For All Standards Consultative Committee is currently working with national key players in the Tourism Sector to develop the first Irish Standard on Tourism Services. This standard is entitled I.S. 373: Universal Design for customer engagement in tourism services.
This Irish Standard, which is voluntary, provides an industry best-practice reference on design requirements for the application of Universal Design by Tourism Service Providers. It outlines Universal Design requirements that facilitate positive customer engagement through the provision of products and services for communications that can be easily accessed, understood and used by tourism customers. The categories of communications include written communications, face-to-face communications and electronic/web-based communications.
This Irish Standard is intended to enable tourism providers to communicate more effectively with a wider range of tourists and has the potential to grow the tourist market for Irish tourism. Universal Design for customer engagement extends beyond a focus on disability and special needs to include all people, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.
The Scope of this Irish Standard is to provide requirements and guidance on Universal Design, for tourism service providers, in the provision of tourism products communications and tourism services communications and to assist Tourism Service Providers to make their products and services for communications more accessible and usable by as many people as possible without the need for additional adaptation or specialized design. It is not the intention of the standard to be used as a basis for tourism service provider associated ratings, awards schemes, certifications and accreditations.
As part of the development of the Standard the NSAI is looking for all those with an interest in this standard to comment on the draft standard. The period of public enquiry is from the 4th March until the 29th March 2013. If you would like further information or want to know more about how you can have your say on what should be included in the final standard see the public consultation page on the NSAI website.
