On the 7th November 2023 Purple Tuesday takes place. This is a relatively new annual event that has taken place since 2018. It is a global social movement that focuses on improving the lives of disabled people and their families all year round, by improving their customer experience.

According to Purple Tuesday around 17% of the population are disabled. That's a huge 1.8 billion people worldwide. An estimated 70% of which would not return to a business after receiving poor customer service. So its a great idea to make sure that your business shows your commitment to disability inclusion and has the right practices in place to support disabled people. It is very easy to get involved with this years initiative, all you have to do is pledge one new commitment to improve your accessibility and practice, and then implement that improvement. Follow the link and sign up to Purple Tuesday today to get started.

As well as signing up the Purple Tuesday Website has several activity ideas for you and your staff, including a quiz, wearing purple to work to show your support for the day, and disability training. Alongside this they have a host of printable brochures, posters etc. to get yourself prepared for the day and help you show your support for the cause.

Alongside having specific disability training for your staff to ensure their customer service skills are up to scratch and to widen their knowledge and understanding of disability and inclusion, there are many other physical ways to help improve accessibility and the overall experience for disabled people, including the below ideas:

  1. Having an allocated parking space(s) closest to the premises for disabled users. It is important to clearly mark disabled parking spaces. Using disabled only parking signs or disabled badge holders only signs, makes it clear that the spot is specifically for use by disabled people and allows disabled people to access your premises with greater ease.

  2. Using disabled demarcation studs, that have the widely recognisable wheelchair symbol on them, to mark out parking bays, areas on pavements or any specific areas that are set aside for those with accessibility needs.

  3. Tactile Studs – these can be placed to help the blind and partially sighted navigate more easily. They are used as warnings as they provide a distinctive surface pattern of “truncated domes,” which are detectable by long cane or underfoot.

  4. Tactile Paving – these are surface mounted, they should be applied correctly to ensure that they conform to regulations to aid the visually impaired. They are most commonly used in high risk areas such as pedestrian crossing and street corners. If you have a car park or road on your business premises then you can install these to assist blind and partially sighted people to safely navigate around your premises.

  5. Having an accessible bathroom – if you provide customer toilets then having an accessible one to cater for disabled people is a must. An accessible toilet has specialised equipment that allows disabled people to use it safely and securely.

  6. Have a ramp for access to your premises. For those that are in wheelchairs or have mobility aids this is necessary to ensure disabled customers can access your premises easily and safely.

  7. Make sure that your business premises have clear and uncluttered areas and aisles for disabled people to be able to easily navigate around the space without the risk of constantly bumping into things.

If you have any questions regarding any of our products then please get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable customer service team who will be happy to assist you.