Explain Your Experience: Do we need to get better at disability communications in attractions and tourism marketing?
To many businesses in the Tourism sector, being accessible to people with disabilities means installing ramps and making sure doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs. Communicating this “feature” in their marketing might simply be using the typical wheelchair symbol on their website.
Images by Freepik
But here’s the problem…
Research shows that only 5-10% of people living with disabilities use wheelchairs*. This can leave a significant percentage of potential customers with a diverse range of disabilities often confused or struggling to understand which tourism options are suitable for them to experience, be it alone or with friends and family.
Many people with disabilities like to visit attractions or go on holiday. They will research online or in brochures to assess for how well-suited a venue is for their individual and diverse needs.
Images by Freepik and upklyak on Freepik
Diverse disabilities need diverse information
Displaying a Wheelchair Accessible sign is a good start, but it’s far from enough. Most websites and brochures offer little other information relevant to more diverse disabilities, such as:
- Vision impairment
- Deafness or difficulty hearing
- Mental health conditions
- Intellectual disability
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Other physical disabilities
While I am frequently encouraging operators to create more diversely considerate experiences, I have also observed that the parent issue is more about lack of understanding, rather than lack of will. Many owners and operators simply do not understand the needs of many people with diverse and frequently hidden disabilities, let alone how to start improving their venues or experiences.
So we want to encourage owners and operators of Tourism Facilities to help people with diverse disabilities assess suitability by providing a better description of their venues.
What to do about this?
Recently we started to prototype a system to better communicate what facilities and conditions exist at tourism venues and attractions. Moreover, it would assist attractions and tourism operators to understand more about diverse disabilities and how people experience their sites.
To address this challenge, a two part approach is proposed:
Part 1: Educate Tourism Operators
Develop an Education Pack to educate tourism operators on the diversity of disabilities and provide a simple set of tools, symbols, and phrases to better communicate their offerings to prospective customers with diverse disabilities.
Our prototype Education pack includes:
Information on why communicating more than just wheelchair accessibility is so important.
Information about different types of disabilities and how various circumstances in a venue might impact visitors with disabilities.
A step-by-step guide, with examples, on how to self-assess and score their venue or experience. This is a practical way to actually start to understand the issues, but also highlight to operators., potential shortcomings within their venues or attractions.
CHALLENGE: Why should a business implement this?
RESPONSE: Value - Kit will highlight a concise business case and the size of the potential market.
CHALLENGE: It’s kind of complicated. How difficult is this?
RESPONSE: Process - The kit will provide simple step-by-step instructions on how to self-assess and implement.
Part 2: How to Communicate Your Experience
Develop a Resource Kit of icons and communication tools representing facilities and conditions that may be useful for different disabilities. This would be in two parts:
PART A: Icons to show Useful Facilities that may be available at the venue. For example, Audio descriptive guides, braille signage, hearing loops, staff with sign language skills, wheelchair-accessible swimming pools, companion restrooms, or accessible adult change facilities (many of icons already these exist and are in use now internationally). Like these:
Images by Freepik
PART B: Icons to show Conditions on site: For example, uneven or loose ground, bright or flashing lights, loud noises, narrow spaces, high spaces (balconies or elevated walkways), low ceilings, low light, potential encounters with insects, birds, or animals.
I believe Conditions Icons will need two pieces of qualifying information in conjunction with each of the icons:
IS THIS A DETOUR OR ROADBLOCK? Is there an alternative route or way around the problem or section, eg: if some attraction had a place with flashing lights, could people bypass that room and continue on with their experience - or would it become a roadblock.
WHAT IS EXTENT OF THE ISSUE? For example: if soft sandy ground was a mobility concern, did this represent just 5% of the pathways or 90% of the pathways. This way people are forewarned and can make their own decisions or preparations.
So it might look like these samples:
Example 1 shows: There are stairs, 5 or less, but there is no alternative route.
Example 2 shows: There is loose or uneven ground, about 25% of walking paths, but there are alternative routes.
CHALLENGE: Wait, why would any business highlight possible concerns or issues?
RESPONSE: Clarity of Information - ‘Conditions’ icons should never seem negative. Just keep it clear and informative. Better that customers are informed in advance rather than leave disappointed.
The Value Proposition
The free or low-cost resource kit would provide a compelling explanation of the value of implementing a better communication system. It would offer a set of tested icons, knowledge about disabilities, and concise instructions for self-assessment and implementation. By adopting this kit, tourism operators can tap into a significant market segment while fostering inclusivity and accessibility in their offerings.
Raise Awareness and Improve Inclusiveness
By implementing the kit, operators will become more aware of the needs of people with diverse disabilities. This awareness will encourage them to be more considered and considerate when creating new experiences or products, leading to improved inclusiveness in their facilities. Displaying the icons and information on their websites and in brochures not only shows they care about their broader customer base, but allows them to measure and set themselves above their competitors.
What do you think?
Let me know if you believe something like this is needed. Please leave me a comment.
Also, I have not yet discovered a comprehensive icon system for explaining what to expect from a tourism experience (or for other sectors such as theatre, museums, galleries, etc.). If anybody knows of one, I would be happy to hear about it – please leave me a comment or message me.
*Sources: Australian Disability Network, WHO and CSR Europe