Five steps to making your services accessible to all
If you are new to the area of access or if you would like some useful steps to further develop your access strategy, the following may help.
- Establish an access team which is representative of all the key functions within the organisation. Before you start, make sure all members of the team are fully up to date with the latest legislation and best practice requirements in this area.
- Benchmark your accessibility to ensure all users can access and use your services in a friendly and efficient way. When getting an audit carried out, ensure it reviews all your services not just the built environment.
- Develop an Access Policy and identify key priorities for change over the next few years. As part of the development of the policy, ensure all the key stakeholders are involved in the process.
- Develop an action/implementation plan going forward. Some of the actions could include: Disability Equality training, access audit of your buildings, promotion of role of the inquiry officer etc.
- Monitor progress of Access Team/Action Plan and promote accessibility to all your staff, customers and key stakeholders through consultation, website, advertising, media, etc.
