We’ve developed an accessibility guide for Take it away retailers which is designed to give you the confidence to make your shop, website, and promotional activity accessible and inclusive for all. In this extract, we explore how you can market your shop to help improve its overall accessibility.
Depending on your existing customer base or target audience, you may want to consider producing information in alternative formats such as audio, braille, large print, telephone support for blind and visually impaired, British Sign Language, textphone for the deaf and hearing impaired, and easy read guides for support workers and carers.
It is always important to ensure that any printed text you produce for customers is clear and easy to read:
- Ideally, use at least font size 14 for written documents
- Left align the main body of text
- Keep the formatting consistent
- Break up the text into manageable chunks
- Keep the information concise and easy to navigate with distinct headings
- Use Sans Serif fonts such as Arial, Calibri or Verdana
- Avoid using italics, underlining text or writing entirely in upper case
- Avoid using single line spacing where possible
- Keep the text free of hard words and jargon
When working on content for your website, you should apply the same writing principles as recommended for print, but bear in mind that some people use screen readers to navigate a website. To make it easier for them, your website should provide the full description of a link instead of using ‘click here’ links, avoid having large blank spaces on your website and provide ‘alt’ text to describe images.
The statistics below show why it is worth integrating accessibility into your business activity. It can help you to attract new customers, secure customer loyalty, and ensure you are reaching the widest possible audience.
Percentage of the UK population who identify as disabled (13.9 million people)
Percentage of disabled people who search a venue’s accessibility info online before visiting
1
Money lost every month by inaccessible high street shops
Read more extracts from the Accessibility Guide
Your Accessibility Statement
The key information you should include about accessibility on your website. This can be in the form of a short statement outlining if your shop is accessible for people with limited mobility and highlighting any barriers customers may face when visiting. Read more
Making Your Shop More Accessible
There are a few ways that you can make a disabled customer’s visit to your shop a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. Read more
Making Events More Accessible
Workshops and events, such as involvement in Learn to Play Day, are a great way of attracting new potential customers. Make sure you are attracting as wide an audience as possible. Read more
Download the Accessibility Guide
(pdf download)