Better accessibility isn’t just a right, it’s good business
Barriers to disabilities reduce profits, says Brad McCannell.
A recent research report from the Conference Board of Canada has made a powerful business case for improving accessibility in the built environment. People with disabilities already represent 14 per cent of consumer spending, or $164 billion annually. By 2030, real spending by this group is anticipated to grow to 21 per cent of the total consumer market, or $316 billion annually.
At the same time, there is a lack of meaningful access in Canadian workplaces resulting in chronic unemployment in the disability community. Fifty-seven per cent of Canadians with physical disabilities who are currently unemployed believe they would be able to work if workplaces were made more accessible. This would allow over half a million Canadians with disabilities to work more hours, potentially increasing the country’s GDP by $16.8 billion by 2030.
There are several tangible ways in which businesses can start improving access today. Changing the way we think about accessibility is a start. It’s time to go beyond the narrow list of accommodations for wheelchair users and view “access” as the user’s full and complete experience of a building.
This means developing an access strategy that plans for the site as a whole — parking, transit hubs, connecting pathways, sidewalks, entrances, doors, and general circulation and usage of the facility.
This holistic approach is what creates real and meaningful access for all users no matter their physical abilities.
The best first step in identifying a location’s current level of access is through participation in the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification™ Program. Launched in British Columbia last fall, this LEED -style rating system evaluates the current level of accessibility of commercial, retail, multi-unit residential, and public buildings.
RHF-trained access professionals perform site visits and use a comprehensive rating system to determine a location’s overall level of meaningful access, providing owners and/or operators with a rating score and a roadmap for improving accessibility over the long term. The first 1,100 ratings on B.C. based buildings are free, and those buildings that are RHFAC-rated are eligible for grants up to $20,000 to improve accessibility.
Accessible built environments accommodate people of all abilities, ages and life stages — people with permanent or temporary disabilities or illnesses, parents with strollers, older adults and seniors — and are inclusive of people’s needs across their lifespan.
Making our businesses and community spaces universally accessible ensures that everyone is able to participate and live to their full potential. And that’s money in the bank. Some great examples of local accessible buildings include the Vancouver International Airport, Richmond Olympic Oval and SAP in Vancouver.
Today, 3.8 million Canadian adults report living with a disability. In the next 20 years, this is expected to double to almost nine million Canadians. Improving access in both communities and workplaces is not just a question of human rights, but is an economic imperative that would result in a dramatic increase in consumer spending and labour force participation.
Relying solely on building code minimum access strategies has resulted in businesses not only missing out on the opportunity to capitalize on consumer spending by people with disabilities, it has limited the ability of those businesses to engage an enormous pool of talent that they could otherwise add to their workforce.
If your business is not accessible, people can’t get in to buy; people can’t get in to work. Simply put, a barrier to a person with a disability is a barrier to making a profit.
It’s time to go beyond the narrow list of accommodations for wheelchair users and view ‘access’ as the user’s full and complete experience of a building.