Accessibility for all is key to Purple Tuesday

That is a debate still mired in controversy, while Purple Tuesday shows us all what can be achieved with a sensible and pragmatic approach and a desire to do the right thing.

Purple Tuesday is a change programme for organisations of all sizes, from all sectors, to get involved in. It’s one day to mark progress towards an ongoing goal of improving the customer experience for disabled people 365 days a year.

In the UK alone, the Purple Pound as it is known – the spending power of disabled people and their families – is worth £274bn, which equates to £274m. for Guernsey – and is estimated to be rising by 14% per year. But fewer than 10% of organisations have a targeted plan to access the disability market – a huge frustration for disabled people, but is also a huge missed opportunity for organisations who could be benefitting both socially and commercially by accessing the disability market.

Available improvements include physical accessibility, also online accessibility, customer service training, formalising quiet hours, and training and awareness. So much can be achieved without the need for legislation.

Purple Tuesday is about creating a culture of step change improvements in the awareness of the value and needs of disabled customers, and making the customer experience accessible.

Our stories today reveal how islanders feel that they are excluded from certain establishments – mostly without the establishment ever being aware of what they are, or maybe are not, doing.

Retailers who have taken up the Purple Tuesday cause say that not only is it ‘the right thing to do, but it also makes commercial sense’. And the positive impact can spread even more broadly.

There is a long way to go. The initiative is well promoted in Guernsey, but not hugely well supported.

But the campaign to create true accessibility for all, with or without legislation, is one that still needs to be pursued.